~ Dinner at Ubin First Stop Resturant ~

Last Sunday, we had dinner at Ubin First Stop Resturant (located in the heart of Changi Village) in celebration of my father-in-law's birthday.

We ordered sweet & sour pork, yam basket, deep fried baby squid, scallop with broccoli, steam prawns, fried noodles and braised fish maw.

The food taste good and I enjoyed the sweet & sour pork most. The yam ring is nice too. The rest of the dishes are ok but didn't leave too much of an impression on me.

We sat in the air-conditioned section and the staff are polite, greeting us as we enter and leave. One of them even asked if the air-condition was too cold for my mil. They attended to our needs and service with a smile. The overall experience was good and it has been an enjoyable dinner for all of us.

The portion of the food is good and our tummies are full. We paid about $200 for the dinner including the drinks and it is about $20 per head (6 adults, 4 children). Although it may not be very value for money, the plus points are the ambience of the surrounding, setting within Changi Village and the service of the staff.

~ Birthday celebration at Crystal Jade Korean BBQ ~

We love to eat and it is great and thoughtful of Hubby to celebrate my birthday with my 2 lovely children at Crystal Jade Korean BBQ! It is our first visit to the restaurant at Nex Mall and I love the food!

It has a good variety of raw meat, vegetables as well as cooked noodles, rice and food. On top of that, each of us was served with a free bowl of delicious chicken soup. Hubby and I had our tummies filled with lots and lots of beef but totally forgotten to wrap it with the vegetable and eat it in the Korean style. The children had ice-cream for desserts and it has been an enjoyable dinner together.

~ Celebrating Hubby's Birthday @ Seoul Garden ~

Last Sunday, we had the "All-U-Can-Eat" buffet dinner at Seoul Garden (@ Downtown East) in celebration of Hubby's birthday. The good thing about dining at Seoul Garden on Sunday is kid (between 3-9 years old) dines for FREE with every paying adult. ^_^

Unlike going to the counters to grab your food and drinks, the outlet at Downtown East has monitors with the buffet menu where you can select your favourite meat, vegetables, yong tau foo, noodle/rice, desserts and drinks. The service crew will then bring your orders right to the table. Diners get to sit comfortably and BBQ their food, saving the hassel on moving around. On the other hand, there might be a longer time for your food when the restaurant is crowded. (especially during peak hours or if the system is down.)

We ordered a lot of meat and the kids had fun eating while Daddy and Mommy were busy BBQ-ing. Denver tried almost all the food and Gladys enjoyed her cup of milo and desserts most! It was a HEAVY dinner but the children still have room for CAKE!!

Birthday is never complete without a Birthday cake and singing Daddy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY song!

Even simple things like cutting the cake make the children so happy! Not to forget having a bite of the yummy Blackforest cake from Bengawan Solo. :) 生日快乐！

~ Astons Express ~

We always see a long queue at Astons Specialities and have long heard about the good review on their steaks. Recently, we saw a couple of Astons Express stalls opened in the neighbourhood coffeeshops and Kopitiam Foodcourt which tempted us to try some of their menu.

Earlier this evening, we went to one of their newly opened outlet at Hougang Plaza and ordered Chargrill Chicken - $5.90, Black Pepper Chicken - $5.90 and Crispy Fried Fish - $6.50 for dinner. (We also get to choose 2 side dishes from a range of selection.)

The chicken and fish tasted alright (no WOW factor though) but it's a pity that the serving looks a bit too moderate. Hubby didn't felt his tummy was filled with the smaller piece of chicken. Nothing much to pick about the coleslaw and baked beans, unfortunately Gladys does not like the french fries (which was a surprise) as it was too salty. I guess the additional salt sprinkled onto the fries has made it less enjoyable.

We were a little bit disappointed but I guess maybe we should have ordered the steak instead. :)

~ Supper Celebration for Hubby's Promotion ~

Just came back from a heavy supper at AMK Central - S11 food center. Hubby finally got his promotion after years of service. That calls for a mini celebration. Anyway, we happened to be walking around the area and stopped by for some food.

Yummy Stingray, Satays and Chicken Wings. Slurp!

~ Kovan Hougang Market & Food Centre is OPEN for business! ~

After going through a couple of months of renovation since April, one of our frequently patronise Food Centre at Kovan is finally open for business again. The food centre now looks brighter with more seatings available. All the food stalls have been shifted and consolidated at the lower level separated from the wet market and shops located on top.

Most of the old food stalls remains while there are a couple of new ones opening. The seatings at the middle section of the food centre is not very well ventilated and can be quite stuffy and hot. On the higher floor, there are more mini shops selling clothing, shoes, cloths, flowers etc and the wet market is also open to the public since the beginning of the week.

With the reopening of the market & the food centre, the crowd has come back and we are back to the times where it is harder to find a carpark lot. :)

~ De-stressing moment @ Sakae Sushi ~

The month of October didn't start well as it should have been. We have been down with Conjunctivitis for 2 weeks at the beginning of the month and I was feeling pretty upset. On the second week when Gladys caught the eye-infection again, I was struggling with a busy work schedule while looking after an attention-seeking daughter.

I felt so bad for neglecting her and didn't even have time to cook a proper meal. Gladys only has bread, cereal, steamed bao and snacks for breakfast and lunch for a couple of days. I skipped my meals and was feeling pretty drained out from work while still recuperating from my sored eyes.

After we all got better, Hubby suggested that we go Sakae Sushi for dinner. I guess he knows that eating my favourite food can help me to de-stress and I definitely need it at that point of time. After skipping my breakfast and lunch earlier, I am totally famished!

I had plates and plates of sushi and handrolls and that really helps to lighten my mood. :) We also picked another new pink plate to try.

Since I was feeling a little moody, I played with my food and made different faces on the sushi plates. I think the waitress who saw me finds me really WEIRD. Opps. :) Which one is representing how I'm feeling? I can't really decide.

I'm glad that Hubby took me out to eat. At least I can take a little break and enjoy a proper meal. Good food definitely helps me to recharge.

~ Shabu Shi buffet lunch at AMK Hub ~

We are back at the Shabu Shi Buffet resturant to celebrate Gladys' birthday over the past weekend. This time we went to the branch at AMK Hub. (Our first visit was at the Hougang branch outlet back in March this year - http://phoebelau.blogspot.com/2010/03/shabu-shi-alice-in-wonderland.html).

Shabu-Shi's lunch buffet pricing over the weekend is $17.90++ for adults and $5.90++ for children which is very affordable for the entire family to go. Choose the soup base that you like and you can start to eat and drink all you can!

Don't get the wrong impression that there is only sushi. Somehow we were too quick and busy 'dumping' the food into the soup to cook that I just didn't have time to take photos. :) Apart from the fried food counter with hot dogs, fried ebi, nuggets etc,  there are dishes of food on the train belt serving assorted vegetables, fresh prawns, slices of beef, chicken, fish, mushrooms, eggs, fish cakes and many more.

The customer service at both outlets is superd! The waitresses are very attentive, efficient and always putting on a smile. :)

Denver & Gladys had fun eating and playing with their food. On the other hand, Hubby and I lost count on the number of plates of thinly sliced beef that we took. :p We definitely had our stomach filled and we were so delighted that Gladys gets to dine for free! Total bill for our lunch is under SGD$50 on a weekend! Dining at Shabu-shi is really enjoyable and value-for-money. :)

~ Happy 8th Wedding Anniversary - Sakae Sushi ~

Today it is our Wedding anniversary for the 8th year. Last year, Hubby was away working in the Philippines. This year, we didn't take leave but took the children out for dinner and spend some time together. Since I won the $50 voucher from the previous months' Sakae Sushi Bloggers Affair Contest, we decided to go out for a special treat on a special day. ^_^

Denver knows Daddy & Mummy loves to eat our sushi with the wasabi so he prepared some for us today. That is so sweet. :)

The sushi are yummy and the children grabbed their favourite from the sushi belt. We also tried one pink coloured plate sushi today. Looks really delicious. Mmmmm.

All of us are busy eating. Denver started playing with the sushi by stacking them up and call it "The Sushi Tower". Well, his tower isn't very tall and he only manages to stack 3. Hahaha. Maybe there can be a contest to see who can stack the tallest Sushi Tower. ^_^

Knowing each other for more than 10 years, eight years of marriage and contented with 2 children. Wishing many more years to come and seeing the children through their growing years.

Happy 8th Wedding Anniversary!

~ Chin Lee Resturant ~

Earlier, we went to Chin Lee Resturant (深利美食馆) for dinner. It's a dinner treat from Bbil and Bsil. Too bad I have not fully recovered and hence my taste bud is not working as well to comment too much about the food. Overall, I think it is not too bad and there is free flow of tea too. There are a lot of patrons at the resturant and business seems to be very good.

Chin Lee is located within the neighbourhood area in Bedok and with the crowd, it is best to call for reservation first before coming down.

~ My Birthday Presents and Lunch @ Nihon Mura ~

Another week to my birthday and I have been looking forward to having lunch with my close friends. They are really nice to make so much effort just to come all the way and plan for this day. We went to dine at the Nihon Mura branch at Jurong West Sports & Recreation centre and they have a lunch special at $7.99++ which includes choosing from a range of main dish (A) , a side dish (B) and a dessert (C).

It is an enjoyable thing to eat, chit chat, gossips and talk about everything under the sun. The other main highlight is of course presenting me with my birthday presents! hahahaha. Wow.. didn't expect to get two. :) They are really innovative when it comes to buying presents. Because of this group of pals, I get to receive stuff that I will never expect myself to buy or do. Now I got a new 'baby' to care for - my little plant. Gladys saw the plant on the table when she got home and says it is a flower. :) She even get ready to water it and luckily I stopped her just in time before my plant falls ill due to over-dosage of watering. hahaha..

THANK YOU ALL!

~ 1 for 1 Lunch treat at Swensen + Sorcerer's Apprentice ~

Hubby and I took leave today just to keep the children company especially so since Denver is still down with a fever. I spent the previous night checking on his temperature and it was going up and down like a roller coaster. The good thing is Denver is older now and he will check his temperature and tells Mommy or Daddy if he feels uncomfortable in the night.

It was pouring early this morning and hence we waiting till 11am before taking him to the family doctor. The kids are so familiar with Dr Khoo and Gladys practically kept herself comfortable (as though she is at home) in the doctor's room while Dr Khoo is checking on Denver. Apparently it is a flu and throat infection and Denver was prescribed with antibiotics, flu and fever medicine.

I guess Denver is feeling slightly down being ill on a long weekend and he misses some of the activities (even though he already had a lot). So we took the children for a 1 for 1 lunch treat at Swensen at City Square Mall. That surely makes them happy. Swensen was packed during lunch hours and we waited for about 20 minutes before getting a table.

Warm water for all and our lunch orders -  Baked Spaghetti Bolognaise for Hubby, Mac 'N' Cheese for Denver, Mega Burger for Mommy and Chicken Mushroom Mayo pizza for Gladys.

Denver enjoyed his macaroni and had his medicine. Gladys had her free cone ice-cream and I appreciate that Denver knows that he cannot take the ice-cream and let her sister took it.

We took the thermometer with us all day just to make sure Denver is feeling ok. So far so good and I love the siblings interacting together. Either they fight or they will hug each other everyday.

Later in the evening, we went to Cathay @ Downtown East to catch The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Initially I thought Gladys will be keeping me busy throughout the movie, but it seems that she is able to pay attention to some of the scenes. Denver enjoyed the show very much and was very contented.

After the movie, he asked if he can go to school tomorrow since he misses it. Wow! I thought children will take this opportunity to skip school instead. I guess that really shows he enjoys school afterall and that is great! So far no fever for the past few hours but we'll check again throughout the night and see if he is well enough for school tomorrow. In the meantime, it is early night rest for the children.

~ Sushi Ginger at Sakae ~

We are back at Sakae Sushi again! hehehe.. Seems like it has become a monthly affair already and there's always something to blog about Sakae. ^_^

Apart from enjoying the yummy food as we are dining, I realised something different today. Usually I'll have some of the pickled ginger as it taste so good and helps to "cleanse" my mouth in between sushi. To my surprise, the usual pink pickled ginger is yellow in colour. It looked like the normal ginger that goes with the century eggs and I started to ponder if it still taste the same. Well, it did... just that I still prefer the pink coloured ones. Hahaha..

Anyway, out of curiosity, I went back home and googled about pickled ginger. According to Wikipedia, pickled ginger is thinly sliced young ginger marinated in a solution of sugar and vinegar and hence it's sweetness. It is known as gari or sushi ginger. Pickled ginger is also said to have many health benefits and one of them is to help destroys the parasites in the body.

The commercially made ones is artificially coloured pink to promote sales whereas the naturally made product is pale yellow to slightly pink hue. Woooooo...Does that mean Sakae is now serving the naturally made ones???! Really cannot judge ginger by its colour. Hahaha (ignorant). ^_^

The other night, we passed by a Sakae outlet (after our grocery shopping) and it was near closing time. I saw an interesting sight that caught my eyes and quickly took a snapshot. :p

It looks to me that the plastic covers are washed and nicely stacked up on the tables and chairs to dry. I thought it was pretty neat as it is similar to how the wine glasses are being stack up - just like those we always see in wedding banquets. Hmmm.. Would the number of plastic covers reflects how many plates of sushi were sold that day/night? :p

~ Farewell Buffet Lunch at Kuishinbo ~

12th July - It has been sometime since I last visited Kuishin-Bo for their 60 minutes buffet lunch ($21.90). Today it is for a special reason.. farewell to our dear colleague - Pailin. She'll be transferring back to Thailand very soon and so a few of us have gathered here to give her a treat.

I always enjoyed Japanese cuisine and Kuishin-Bo has a wide spread of food including fresh sashimi, sushi, tempura, handrolls, seafood, mini paper steamboat, soba, teppanyaki, soups and not forgetting the desserts and free flow of soft drinks, coffee and tea.
Unlike the times when I'm much younger.. eating buffet is not as 'easy' as it was before. :p The amount of food intake has reduced and I have to be selective too. :) It's always good to go buffet in a big group so that we can always share and try more food variety. ^_^

I love the sashimi, sushi and desserts... The mushroom soup is also exceptionally thick, creamy and delicious. Yummy. The only down side is the pricing of Kuishin-Bo getting more and more pricy and doesn't seems to be economical for us to go as a family anymore.

~ Crabs @ Uncle Leong Seafood ~

My team lead is in town and so we took him out for dinner to sample our famous Chilli Crabs. Since he can't really take spicy food, we also ordered the claypot crab bee hoon (just in case). The last time we came to Uncle Leong Seafood was 2 years ago. (http://phoebelau.blogspot.com/2008/06/uncle-leong-seafood.html)

Crabs are still big and meaty, the overall quality of the food is ok but no big surprise from when we tasted it on our first visit. I think I still prefer the Golden sand crab compared to the Chilli crab. Not too sure how Darron felt about his dinner... hopefully it is to his liking.

~ Casual Dining at Sakae Sushi ~

We are back to dining at Sakae Sushi again (within 1 month!). This time, we are here with my two brother-in-laws' family for a simple get together. Since there are 12 of us, we decided to go to the Sakae branch at Hougang Point as usually it is not as crowded compared to the other branches (e.g. Compass Point outlet where there will always be a queue). True indeed, we managed to get 3 tables even though its dinner time. ^_^

There are many purple round banners - "Sakae Sushi Welcomes the World" hanging all around the various outlets in support of Singapore hosting the YOG and welcoming our international guests in August.

We seated down and Gladys said the computer isn't working *again. I do enjoy picking from the ordering system instead of remembering what we would like to order prior to calling for the waiter? However, it would be even better if they can replace the current display and put up with bigger photos and wordings as I feel the current one seems to be a bit too small for me. :p Old liao.

Nevermind, most importantly is the sushi belt is still running. :D It would be worse if both failed. Hahaha..

Instead of indulging ourselves with plates and plates of sushi, Hubby and I ordered Kimuchi Ramen and Katsu Curry Don.

This is my first time having the Katsu Curry Don. Thick curry gravy over the rice and there are lots of meat and potatoes. I thought it wasn't too bad but Hubby still prefers his food to be hot and spicy. :)

Gladys always like to stand on the seat and pop over to look at the other side. Usually I will keep her seated and stop her from disturbing the other diners. This time it's a different case since her cousins are just right behind her. :) They sure made a lot of noise. Opps :p

~ Wedding Dinner @ Imperial Court Shark's Fin Restaurant ~

Just came back from a sumptuous wedding dinner at Imperial Court Shark's Fin Restaurant. We arrived early at the Grassroots' Club which is very near Hubby's office. Of course our good friend, "Ah Bao" looked smart and excited. :) Congratulations to him and really happy and glad that another friend has settled down. ^_^

ROM session start at around 8plus and I thought we probably can't stay long enough since we got to rush back to pick the kids. On the contrary, the service is extremely efficient with the waitress serving the dishes quickly.

Restaurant Address: 190 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, #03-01 (The Grassroots' Club) Singapore 568046

The quality and taste of the food is pretty good. Instead of the usual Shark fin soup, there is Buddha jump over the wall and you can see a full abalone in it. Inside the deep fried yam paste ball there is a scallop inside with a basket of scallop, vegetables on top of it.

I'm not a fan of eating duck meat but the "pi pa" duck's skin is crispy and sweet. Red Grouper on the other hand is average and didn't give me too much surprise.

I love the prawn balls.. crispy and sweet on the outside, meaty big prawns within. YUMMY! The fried rice is delicious and fragrant as well. The finale for every traditional Teochew wedding dinner is their desserts! YAM PASTE with ginko nuts! It's sweet but I would love it even more if it is not so watery. :)

Hubby and I enjoyed the dinner and probably may want to come back and dine again. :)

~ Father's Day dinner @ Sakae Sushi ~

We are back at Sakae Sushi again! Seems like we have been dining at Sakae every alternate month or so. :p This time we are utilizing the $50 voucher which I won in the Sakae Monthly Bloggers Affair in March to treat Hubby in celebration for Father's Day.

To avoid the long queue and crowd, we decided to pre-celebrate a week earlier. :) In addition, I also chose to dine at the Sakae outlet located in Changi Airport Terminal 2. Why?? Apart for plainly trying out at a new location, there are also other various reasons...

1) For a chance to be a Changi Millionaire when you spend a minimum of $60 in a single receipt at all outlets in Changi Airport.(More details: http://www.changiairport.com/at-changi/events-and-promotions/millionaire/faqs)

2) For every $30 spent at Changi Airport in a single receipt, you can redeem two tokens to ride the 12 metre slide located at Terminal 3!

3) Sakae is located near the viewing mall and there are many shops and activities around T2 and T3 where the whole family can enjoy after dining. :)

Here we are!! There is already a queue forming and luckily it is not too long. There is so much space around and the children can't help finding themselves running around.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! Big Hugz from the kiddos.

After accumulating so many dining experience at Sakae, Gladys is now an expert and knows what she wanted. She already set her target on the Tomago sushi and once the plates are within her reach, SWOP.. its on the table right in front of her. Hahaha.. the excitement that comes from grabbing your food.

We had many plates of sushi today...I got so busy with taking the photos till I lost track on which one I have missed. :p

Cups for adults and for our kiddos. :)

I realized for the outlet at T2, they have a piece of damp cloth placed under the hot water dispenser. This is great as many times, the hot water tends to drip or over flow from the cup. In this way, the damp cloth will soak up the hot water keeping it safe, clean and neat. But it seems to me this is not available at the other outlets which we went. Maybe they can consider doing so for every Sakae outlets.

We had a good meal and the bill came out to be over $70! We get a chance for the Millionaire draw and also 4 free rides to The Slide @ T3. Hahaha.. It's not a bad idea to dine at Changi afterall. ^_^