Seoul 2013: 남이섬 (Nami Island)

Hope that everyone had a good Christmas! Happy holidays to all!

The year's coming to a wrap. With all the year end gatherings happening, I may be a lil caught up with things to pay attention to this space for the next few weeks. As I've been neglecting this online area for the past few months, I thought I should at least strive to clear a lil of my massive (you won't believe how much) collection of photos I've amassed so far in 2013.

Besides photos of my baking, there's also vacation photos I've snapped on my two holidays - Seoul in April, and Australia in September. I've only gone through editing half of my Seoul photos, and will probably try to finish it soon so I can move on to the Australia shots (and also, before my upcoming trips in February and March 2014 ha!).

Similar to the 2012 Korea blog posts, I've categorised the photos based on location, and will post them not in sequence of my travel itinerary. My trips to Korea always seem to evolve around food, so there'll be plenty of upcoming posts where majority of the photos will consist of nothing more than food, food, and yes, more food. Thus, I thought I should start things off on a light note, with a post on a popular travel spot in Korea, where the photos will have a dominant focus on stuff other than you know, food. ;)

남이섬 (Nami Island)

Cornflakes Crusted French Toast with Roasted Balsamic Vanilla Strawberries

It's almost the end of November, and it's been quite a busy month. It's my birthday month first of all! Sad to say, it was quite a sad birthday this year as I was sick. I met up with some friends for a birthday brunch over the weekend (my birthday's on a Tuesday this year), and it was during brunch that I started developing flu symptoms. I glugged like tons of water but I guess it was too late, and on Monday, I was in full blown flu mode. The Doc gave me two days MC, so I was on MC on my birthday. Ha! It's my first time being sick on my birthday, so needless to say, it was quite miserable in a way.

I had several activities planned for the week, but cos I was ill, I had to reshuffle a few dates here and there, and even when I met my friends, I had to avoid certain foods. I hate being sick because I normally don't fall sick easily, but when I do, I take quite some time to get well. I can safely say I am just about feeling quite alright now (it took like around two weeks omg!).

Besides my birthday, November's pretty much a birthday month for those around me too. Unfortunately, I didn't stick to the tradition of baking a strawberry shortcake for the Dad (as I did for the past three years). I had plans to bake a rum raisin cake for him this year, but I didn't manage to in the end. Oh well, next year perhaps.

The weekend's here again, so let's celebrate with some weekend brunch-worthy dish. French toast. Cornflakes crusted French toast to be exact.

 Cornflakes Crusted French Toast with Roasted Balsamic Vanilla Strawberries

Drury Lane & Nylon Coffee Roasters

October flashed by before I even properly registered its presence. It was a busy month at work, and yes, I could certainly pin the blame on work being a reason of not blogging, but it was not so. I've mentioned it several times before, but blogging takes a lot of effort and time, and I really do applaud all of those out there who blog for a reason - be it for their passion,  their love for writing, as part of their job, or whatever it could be. 

I started the blog primarily because my love of words. I used to have a habit of writing journals. And yes, to that I mean hand written ones, which is probably not a concept the youngsters nowadays are familiar with. Thus, the blog started out as a means of "keeping up with times". My journal; albeit a digital version.  I must also add that while I love words, I'm neither one with great prose, nor one with much interesting tales to share. 

Over the years, the blog has evolved to become a public platform of sharing photos and recipes. I've actually privatised most of my past entries as this space has actually become quite open, and I was not comfortable with the idea of my life being too open (oh who am I kidding, it was probably to hide the entries where my language and diction was simply atrocious). With the Internet being free-for-all accessible to everyone and anyone, I suppose I should be more cautious in what I reveal to all. I mean, how do I know who is actually reading this post?  

I mean, I could make the blog private if what I fear is fear of being too open. That is something that have crossed my mind yes, but I've gotten used to using the blog as a space to document and share my photos of food and travels. It's where I can record recipes I've tried (and retried several times since), or list down travel notes as a reference to myself when/if I should revisit the place again, or to recommend my friends when they visit.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, although this blog has been part of me for the longest time ever, there is still the possibility of me leaving the space (if i really can't find the time or energy to go on). But till I hang up my quill (and camera), I will try my best to keep this space updated. 

 Drury Lane

Cornflakes Crusted Chicken

These are like super addictive chicken poppers. They are like McDonald's nuggets, or even KFC's popcorn chicken - only they taste much better, and is not made up of weird indistinguishable meat. I won't go into what I've read of fast food chains' meat choices, cos I still do indulge in the occasional fast food meal once in a while, and it's better not over-thinking too much about what I'm really eating yup?

Cornflakes Crusted Chicken

Penny University

Ello! I'm back from the vacation. The (almost) two weeks in Aussie have flew by in a rush, and before I knew it, I landed back in Singapore again. Loads to share, but first of all, here's a quick post to (try) clear my backlogs. A few friends have recommended Penny University, and I finally managed to pay the East side cafe a visit some time before my vacation.

 Penny University

Brown Butter Chocolate Chunks Cookies

I'm flying off to Aussie tonight for a (almost) two weeks vacation! Thus, I'll prob not be updating this space for some time. But in the meantime, I'll leave you with some crumbs cookies.

Everyone loves a good cookie. Especially a chocolate cookie. One that is made with browned butter, stuffed with tons of chopped dark chocolate, and topped with a sprinkle of fine sea salt. Right? Right. Don't mind me. That's just me answering my own question here.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chunks Cookies

Cups and Canvas

The Singapore I knew as a child did not encourage the arts industry. The era that I had grown up with had the old school mentality that one has to be in the medicine, law, finance sector to be considered "successful". Thankfully, we've since progressed beyond that. Slowly, yes, but baby steps is considered a positive change.

 Cups and Canvas

Chocolate Waffles with Nutella Espresso Sauce

I love waffles. So it's really no surprise that I whip out my waffle machine (that I got last year) whenever possible. For my homemade breakfasts/brunches at home, one of my favourite dish to prep is either waffles or pancakes as the "carbs" dish.

Chocolate Waffles with Nutella Espresso Sauce

Dutch Colony Coffee

Managed to drag my pal with me to Pasar Bella one early morning for some breakfast. And to explore that new space of course.

We were there super early, and the stalls had just opened, or were just starting to open. We walked around, and bought several small stuff to munch on. Which means we got to sit at various spots to nosh on our food. A chicken pie from Rabbit Carrot Gun. A ciabatta bun, pain au chocolate, and a lemon meringue cronut from Da Paolo. Yes, I couldn't resist trying the latest fad - it was delish, but no I can't say I'm a convert of the popular croissant-doughnut hybrid.

Dutch Colony Coffee

Brunch: Shakshouka, waffles and salads

It's the weekend again. Instead of brunching out, how about having brunch at home instead? I've been doing once a month (or so) meals at home on the weekends, where I wake up early to prep a meal for the fams.

This was a few months ago, where I just started doing the whole dine-at-home thing. It helps that I get to make use of my food props for real. Like thinking about what plate/bowl to use for a certain dish, and how the overall placement of the dishes should look like. Ha! The inane things I do.

Main dish: Shakshouka

Suprette

Decent place, decent food.

Dinner at Suprette

Cinnamon Swirl Brioche

I'm really bad at public speaking. We had an event at work last Friday, and it was a baking demo. I was the event organiser, and had gotten one of my work friend to share his knowledge about bread baking. Feeling sheepish that I've already asked him for help several times already, I agreed to "co-host" the event with him. Since he was baking bread, I decided to do something complementary and much simpler - homemade nut butters. Oh Em Gee do I really suck at public presentation. *cringes in mortification and tries hard to shove the memories away* On the contrary, thank gosh my friend was a really good speaker so everything went on without a hitch. *phews*

Anyway, back to the bread. I've been baking tons of brioche lately cos the Sister loves her butter, and what better than to bake but a buttery brioche. This is one recipe I've tried some time back.

Cinnamon Swirl Brioche

Matcha Vanilla Swirled Pound Cake

My favourite bakes for the past few months have been easy bakes. Stuff such as pound cakes, banana loafs or breads that I used to pass over for the more complicated entremets. Speaking of which, it's been like a year (?!?!?!) or so since my last entremet. I really need to make one like soon before I forget how to.

Not too sure why the direction of my cravings have turned around so. But I'm certainly not complaining when I have a loaf of this dense, tightly crumbed, moist matcha vanilla swirled pound cake in front of me.

Matcha Vanilla Swirled Pound Cake

Blueberry Streusel Cake

I've been meaning to make these for the longest time ever since I saw the post. My freezer always has a long-standing box of fresh blueberries that I've prepped and froze for future uses. I decided to make this finally and all I can think is - Why did I wait so long?

Blueberry Streusel Cake

Color Run Singapore 2013

I had a really happy weekend thanks to the inaugural 5km Color Run Singapore. My girlfriends and I signed up for the Sunday (it's a two days event) session, which was held at Sentosa Siloso Beach. It's a run where every one 1km, you will be showered with a different coloured powder (thus the event name).

The Before: The White Party

Jewel Cafe + Bar

My cafe buddy and I popped by a new spot a few months back.

Jewel Coffee + Bar

Red Velvet Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Yeah, this was made after I had already made this and this during my previously mentioned cake-baking frenzy. I sorta had a reason for wanting to make this. It was Fathers' Day. See? A (kinda) valid reason; an occasion worthy enough for a cake. Right? Right.

 Instagram-ed

Flock Cafe

So. There's this really nice cafe at Tiong Bahru. I came across it when I was around the area for lunch one weekday. I had driven by, and happened to spot a new cafe around the bend. There are already a couple cafes in that area, so I just made a note to pop by some day.

Fast forward a few months later. I was in the area again for lunch  (I must say I love Tiong Bahru Market for its wide variety of lunch options - it's within drive-able distance from my office too!) and had some time before I gotta head back to work. I decided to pop in for a take-away coffee, but changed my mind to have it there after my colleague said we still had time. ;)

The coffee was good, so I decided to make plans to revisit it with some friends for brunch.

Flock Cafe

Berry Mousse Toasted Coconut Charlotte

There was a short period a few months back where I would just bake a cake every weekend. Just because. No special reason. Well, one merit of being single is that I have plenty of spare time on hand when I'm not out brunch-ing (for once!) and when all my (attached) friends are hanging out with their other halves. I get to indulge in my favourite self-activity. Baking.

 Berry Mousse Toasted Coconut Charlotte

Sookee's big day(s)

I've been missing in action for quite a bit. It's another of those spells I have where I'm disinterested in editing photos and blogging and I'd rather be doing other stuff. Yes, and that includes watching Running Man instead, (I know, I'm such a closet geek) because you know, a girl just gotta prioritise right?

I've been alive and well and doing the usual stuff, hanging out with friends, baking as usual, gymming (whenever I can), work blah. Besides, other than food photos, I do actually have photos of friends gatherings too to upload (omg, that reminds me I still have my Seoul 2013 photos to sift through...all 1000+ of them).

Anyway, I digress. One of my best girlfriends got hitched. Technically, her ROM was last November, so she was already considered married to begin with, but, there was her Hen's party, the gatecrashing, the Indian temple ceremony, and the wedding lunch reception to follow. Everything was within the span of the past two months, and I've compiled the photos I've taken to share them here cos I thought she looked so lovely.

The hen's night

Mango Mousse Cake

My fave social media platform has got to be Instagram. While I'm still on Facebook and Twitter, I'm not really active on both except for using them as means to keep myself updated on the latest gossip vine. Instagram on the other hand, is different. People are visual creatures by nature, the overused phrase "a picture speaks more than a thousand words" is certainly true here. I love browsing Instagram, and I'm almost kinda an Instagram addict. When I'm bored, I reach for my phone to check on my Instagram feed most of the time.

There's so many talented photographers out there who have really beautiful Instagram feeds with their pictures of food, coffee, scenery, fashion etc. I've found that the foodies community in Singapore is actually quite big, split evenly between those who cook really well at home, and those who dine out at the latest hot spots. One of the Instagram user I currently follow is @discotilldawn. She had a really delish looking mango cake recipe up on her blog and I knew I wanted to try making it myself as the Dad loves mangoes and is always suggesting mango flavoured desserts.

 Mango Mousse Cake

Symmetry

IMHO, the below is one of the best brunch places in Singapore.

Symmetry

Brunch: Rosemary roasted potatoes

Since I love being in the kitchen so much, I decided that it would be a good idea to do brunch at home one weekend for once instead of dining out for a family meal.

The first time we had weekend brunch at home a few months ago, this was the result.

Homemade brunch

양념통닭 (Yangnyeom Tongdak)

Korean cuisine is one of my all-time favourite. Besides Japanese that is. I could totally eat Korean food every day and not get sick of it. Both cuisines have a wide variety of foods, yet tastewise, is totally on opposite ends of the spectrum. While Japanese food tends to be milder in taste, focusing alot of the freshness and simple cooking techniques, Korean food on the other hand hits you wham bam in the face with its strong flavours.

After returning to Singapore from my vacation in Seoul last month, I was craving for Korean food and I decided to fry up some Korean style fried chicken at home. There's this restaurant near my place that sells awesome (soy garlic) fried chicken, but the price for the dish is stealthily increasing... Thus, I decided to try my hand at making some fried chicken at home myself.

 양념통닭 (Yangnyeom Tongdak) 

Nutella Swirled Banana Loaf

A hot topic in Singapore lately - the bad weather. The weather lately has been quite bad due to the haze. In fact, the Pollutants Standard Index (PSI) in Singapore hit a record high of 401 on Friday. Never before has it been that bad during the annual haze period, the last highest record was 226 in 1997. So for the past week, we had been breathing in "unhealthy", "very unhealthy" and "hazardous" air.

Thankfully, we had a respite this weekend, with clear blue skies shining through. Friends and family were all delighted, us having once taken something simple and basic such as clean air for granted. Let's hope that the initial prediction that this haze will last for months is not true, and we can all bear through this temporary phase. Stay healthy and hydrated people!

 Nutella Swirled Banana Loaf

Maison Ikkoku

Weekends are made for brunch. How true is that statement indeed.

 Maison Ikkoku

Tres Leches Coconut Cake

There was leftover coconut milk at home. So I thought about what I could make with it.

You know what? I reckon my bakes almost always start from these two reasons - either there was something that I really wanted to get (in season produce), or there was something lying around (leftovers). I wonder if it's the same with you guys.

 Tres Leches Coconut Cake

Triple Chocolate Kahlua Cheesecake

To say that it has been a difficult week is an understatement. But to keep things mess-free for you and me, I shall not rant about it here. Let's just end it at "I'm glad the weekend is finally here.".

Triple Chocolate Kahlua Cheesecake

Asparagus Leeks Roasted Cherry Tomatoes Quiche

I saw a recipe for a quiche crust that didn't use any butter (!). And my curiousity was piqued. I mean, crusts are always about the butter no? And we all know very well that butter is not exactly healthy. So I decided to try the recipe out to see how it taste like.

Asparagus Leeks Roasted Cherry Tomatoes Quiche

The Merry Men Kitchen & Bar

One Friday night, I met some girlfriends for dinner and drinks to unwind.

The Merry Men Kitchen & Bar

Strictly Pancakes

We strictly had only pancakes at Strictly Pancakes. Sorry, just couldn't resist that pun there. It was like totally called for no?

 The Druggie

Passion Fruit Meringue Tart

My friend passed me some passion fruits a while ago as her family had a tree in their backyard. I love passion fruit, and I immediately knew I wanted to make a dessert with them.

Passion Fruit Meringue Tart

Fabulous Baker Boy

I can't seem to keep up with the number of independent cafes sprouting up in our lil island. Ooo, at this rate, does it mean that Singapore will soon catch up with Seoul on being a cafe nation too? The local cafes tend to veer towards food territory (I mean, we're well known for being foodies) rather than the coffee joints favoured by Seoul-ites (who are like coffee people through and thorough).

Anyway, can't wait to make my way through all these cafes! :)

 Fabulous Baker Boy

Bulgogi Rice Burger (불고기 라이스 버거)

I swear this is the best dish I've ever come up with (erm, okay, strike that, just last week I made another finger-lickin' good dish, but hey that's another story). Yeah, so, I stand by my first statement.

불고기 라이스 버거 (Bulgogi Rice Burger)

Choupinette

Oh I've definitely heard about Choupinette. Though it's been around for a coupla years now, and it's located in the West near me, I've never visited the place for brunch before. Friends have raved about how the place had the best eggs benedict on seperate occasions. Aha! I now know why I've not gone there before - it's because I'm simply just not a fan of eggs ben.

Anyway, I did managed to finally drop by the place for brunch last month. What else? To try their signature dish of course.

 Choupinette

Hansang Korean Restaurant (한상)

I'm already having withdrawal symptoms for  Korean food. Sigh.

Before my trip, my girlfriends and I met up for a birthday celebration dinner at a Korean restaurant.

Hansang Korean Restaurant (한상)

Earl Grey Caramel Chocolate Tart

I have actually cut down a lot on baking for the past few months. I probably bake bread more often than sweet stuff (I'm in the midst of trying to come up with a successful chocolate no-knead artisan recipe - works still in progress!) and even when I do bake sweet stuff, it's probably once in a few weeks, rather than once almost every week or so which I used to do.

Even so, my backlogs are still piling as I have been checking out new cafes with friends. I think I'll not be posting on all the cafes I've visited, as in - the ones that I don't think are good, I'll probably just archive the pictures I've taken but not post anything on it. I mean, why bother spending precious time to chronicle something that isn't nice? After all, if you really think hard about it, blogging is really akin to free advertisements to these dining establishments isn't it?

 Earl Grey Caramel Chocolate Tart

Masa Steak & Hamburg

Had dinner here a few months ago to celebrate my cousin's birthday.

Masa Steak & Hamburg

Baker & Cook

I was supposed to meet some friends for lunch on a weekday at Omakaze Burger during the CNY period. Alas, the place was closed (we didn't check the website), and we had to think of an alternate lunch venue on the spot. I suggested Baker & Cook since it was relatively near by.

Baker & Cook

Dean & Deluca

As much as I love food, surprisingly, I'm not someone who will go absolutely nuts over famous new stores opening (so far) on our local shores. Not even when I first heard of Ladurée's opening in Singapore...so needless to say, I wasn't exactly going "wow" when I first heard of Dean & Deluca's opening. The truth was I haven't even heard of the brand before. Ha. Me? A foodie? Yeah right...(not).

 Brunch at Dean & Deluca

Seoul 2012: Cafe Hoho Myoll Hongdae

My final post for Seoul 2012, I'll leave it to this gorgeous gorgeous cafe that I had checked out in Hongdae. In fact, I had actually spent about a day in Hongdae cafe-hopping from one place to another. We started first with Paul & Paulina for croissants and ciabatta, then walked around a bit, before stopping at Snow Spoon for a cool bingsoo treat, then made our way to Cafe Hoho Myoll for coffees and a quiche, before ending our cafe-hop at Publique, where we shared an eclair and a croissant.

Seoul 2012: Hongdae Bakeries

I'll be on the plane in a few hours time! Hoho. 2 more posts to go on my Seoul 2012 trip...

홍대 (Hongdae) is a really vibrant, hip and interesting neighbourhood in Seoul. When I think of Hongdae, the words that come into mind include "hip", "trendy", "youthful", "hip-hop", "artsy", "indie" - you get the gist. I After my first visit in 2011, I knew I wanted to spend more time exploring the various independent cafes that dotted the area. A quick Google search threw up more than a handful of cool places that I was dying to try out, but of course, I had to be selective as it's a short vacation, and I only had limited stomach space...

The graffiti-lined streets of Hongdae

Seoul 2012: 가로수길 (Garosu-gil)

I'm about to fly off for a long-needed vacation in a few days' time (okay, well tomorrow actually), but I've yet to finish uploading my previous vacation's photos. Snorts.

I've more or less sorted out my photos though, so it's just a matter of hitting the publish button. Here's a post on 가로수길 (Garosu-gil) in Seoul, Korea. Garosu-gil is an area in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam (otherwise known as the infamous uptown posh area mentioned in the worldwide phenomenon PSY "Oppa Gangnam Style" video - Seriously? What's with all the furore?). The street name means "tree-lined street" in Korean and it is packed with trendy cafes, restaurants, and various boutique shops.

 Garosu-gil

Beef Kimbap (쇠고기 김밥)

Hello Korea. It's been almost a year. Wait for me, we're to be reunited soon. In the meantime, here's some kimbap I made a while ago.

Beef Kimbap (쇠고기 김밥)

Fern & Kiwi

I've visited Fern & Kiwi twice. The first time, a few months back when my friend gave me a birthday treat, and the second, early this month where I went for a friend's birthday dinner. Both times, I wasn't disappointed with the food (there were more hits than misses). So it's safe to say that it's definitely a place to recommend.

 Fern & Kiwi

Cocotte

Cocotte

Chocolate Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

Oooy gooey cinnamon rolls. Add chocolate to amp up the ooze, and toasted pecan nuts to provide a crunch. Hands up, anyone?

Chocolate pecan cinnamon rolls

Seoul 2012: Edae & Sinchon

As I had previously mentioned in my 2011 post, Edae is like a shopping mecca for women. The two areas, Edae ( 이대) and Sinchon (신촌) are on the same metro line (Subway Line 2) and are just one stations apart from each other. In fact, I recommend alighting at Edae, and then walking around and eventually, you'll most likely end up around the Sinchon area. I'll mostly highlight dining options (aka what I ate) around these two areas cos I wasn't taking pictures of the shops (I was too busy shopping ha!)

Edae

Little Part 1 Cafe

Good food, good beer, good company.

Little Part 1 Cafe

Crepes

Following the Meyer lemon cake, I had leftover lemon curd. So I decided to make breakfast with it.

Crepes Filled with Meyer Lemon Curd, Mascarpone Cheese and Kiwiberries