Say cheese!

That’s my sweet 6-year-old niece Melissa and 9-month-old daughter Matilda wishing me Happy Birthday! Heh! Their cute faces are the best presents I could ever have!

P.S. In case you’re wondering, that’s a mango mousse cake from Four Leaves Bakery.

The image in this post was captured with Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V (review unit from Sony Singapore).

Soon kueh & gu chai kueh, S$0.70 each

Being a true-blue Teochew who grew up helping Mom to make authentic Teochew kueh, I’m very particular about how it should be. Normally, I prefer the traditional Teochew opaque-white dough skin variety over the Hakka-style translucent dough skin type. But I must say that Poh Cheu’s Hakka-style soon kueh is more than decent enough for me to go back for repeat purchases.

Jicama/turnip "soon" kueh

Smooth, even, and with a pleasant springiness, the kueh skin encases a generous amount of moist and flavorsome filling. They have both jicama/turnip (“mang guang” in Teochew) “soon” kueh, as well as the authentic bamboo shoot soon kueh. Both fillings are mixed with chopped carrot, black fungus, beancurd puff, and dried shrimp.

Gu chai (Chinese chives) kueh

The gu chai kueh is equally tasty, except that the chives tend to be a little fibrous.

I’ve also tried their glutinous rice “png” kueh, but that one isn’t really worth the trouble cos the glutinous rice filling lacks fragrance and is too mushy for my liking.

Poh Cheu Handmade Soon Kway Ang Ku Kway
127 Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-230 (Alexandra Village)
Singapore 150127

Mon – Sat: 8am to 6pm
Closed: Sun & public holidays

The images in this post were captured with Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V (review unit from Sony Singapore).

A hearty home-cooked brekkie!

Made a hearty brekkie for hubby today with our new Happy Call Pan (yes, I finally caved in to the craze!). Lightly toasted walnut bread (accompanied by lashings of salted butter), pan-roasted cherry tomatoes, and velvety scrambled egg — all cooked in one pan! A very delish prelude to the weekend!

The image in this post was captured with Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V (review unit from Sony Singapore).

Fried kway teow (this portion is S$3.00; prices start from S$2.50)

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the elder generation of Singapore hawkers. For most of them, there will be no one to take over their trade once they retire, as their sons and daughters have no wish to toil for hours behind the hot stove like their parents have done for decades.

When this happens, a generation of priceless skills and recipes will be forever lost.

Hence, my current mission in life is to seek out as many of these heritage hawkers as I can before they hang up their woks and pots for good.

One of them is Mr Tan Teng Mui, 62, who has been frying char kway teow for more than 40 years. He started his business at the tender age of 18 near the former Thong Chai Medical Institution. In those days, that area was known as Wayang Street (before it was renamed Eu Tong Sen Road). Mr Tan is thus popularly known as the Char Kway Teow Man of Wayang Street.

Since 1987, Mr Tan has been operating at his current location after the hawkers in Wayang Street were resettled due to urban redevelopment.

At first bite, this tastes like your average fried kway teow. But with each subsequent mouthful, it slowly grew on me.

The slippery flat rice noodles are very smooth and moist, contrasting nicely against the al dente yellow Hokkien noodles.

Although the wok hei flavor isn’t very intense, the noodles are sufficiently fragrant. I would have preferred a heavier hand of black sweet sauce and fish sauce, but overall, the sweet and savoury flavors are superbly balanced.

I also like the generous dose of beansprout for that crisp, refreshing touch.

And though I’m not a fan of see hum (blood cockles), I appreciate the fact that Mr Tan and his wife still insist on shucking fresh cockles on the spot for their char kway teow. Most hawkers these days opt for the packaged ready-shelled variety, which definitely can’t beat freshly shucked cockles when it comes to flavor.

Mr Tan also fries up a more than decent plate of fried Hokkien prawn mee. But between the two, the must-try dish is definitely the fried kway teow.

Stall has no English name — Chinese name is thus translated as:

Sheng Cheng Fried Kway Teow Hokkien Mee 生成炒粿條福建麵
132 Jalan Bukit Merah
132 GHK Food House
Singapore 160132

Open daily: 12pm to 9.30pm
Closed on ad hoc basis

The image in this post was captured with Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V (review unit from Sony Singapore).

This website is more like a community for budding photographers to come together and discover the joys of photography together. There will be articles on photography techniques (eg. taking photos of fireworks, macro photography) as well as useful tips and tricks.

My first contribution is an amateur’s preview of the newest Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V. This powerful ultra-zoom point-and-shoot camera has very impressive specs:

• 18.2MP “Exmor R™” CMOS Sensor
• 30x Optical Zoom / 60x Clear Image Zoom
• GPS, Compass and GPS Log REC Functions

Here’s the link to my article on illuminate!

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V will be available in Singapore stores from today 11 April 2012.

French toast set (S$4.00); kaya toast with butter set (S$4.50)

The owners of Ya Kun Kaya Toast really ought to do more stringent QC checks on their franchisees. We’ve tried various outlets, but none can match up to the original store at Far East Square (which is run by members of the founding family) when it comes to consistency.

In this instance, our coffee and tea came lukewarm. For the crispy kaya toast, the bread was unevenly toasted and the kaya unevenly spread. The icing on the cake was my French toast — the middle wasn’t thoroughly cooked. Imagine biting into soggy bread with uncooked egg! Eeeks!

It’s such a sad thing when a reputable brand name is marred by franchisees whose only motive is $$$.

Ya Kun @ SAFRA Mount Faber
2 Telok Blangah Way #01-06
Singapore 098803
Tel: +65 6377 2865

Daily: 7.30am to 9.30pm

The image in this post was captured with Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V (review unit from Sony Singapore).

I'm 8 months old today!

Hello! Long time no see!

Some of you have been asking Mommy where we’ve been and if everything’s ok. Well, Mommy had been sick for a while, so that’s why she wasn’t able to update this blog. But she’s ok now!

Ooh, guess what? Mommy says there’s some exciting new developments coming along. Please stay tuned for updates!

The image in this post was captured with Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V (review unit from Sony Singapore).

Yu sheng 鱼生

But the first course was a distinctly Singaporean Chinese new year dish — yu sheng or lo hei.

The raw fish slices were a little too thin and scant. Otherwise, the rest of the dish was rather predictable.

Appetizer platter

Things started to get more exciting as dinner progressed into more un-familiar territory.

The cold appetizer platter featured:

1. Boiled chicken in chilli oil (very very mild);
2. A light salad of chilled crunchy vegetables (quite refreshing);
3. Lightly spiced fried fish cubes (quite tasty).

Shanghai pen cai 上海盆菜

In recent years, pen cai 盆菜 or poon choi has become a popular Chinese New Year dish in Singapore. Poon choi is a Hong Kong custom, so this Shanghai-cuisine restaurant probably came up with their own version to provide a local festive touch.

The top layer is a spread of baby abalone, chicken, beancurd skin rolls, omelette-wrapped meat dumplings, some kind of fish cake, some kind of meat ball, prawn, fish maw, and mushroom.

Beneath the meat items are stewed vegetables like lotus root, cauliflower, broccoli, and giant red dates.

With so many ingredients, the stock was intensely sweet and flavorful. This was a very hearty and comforting casserole. We’re considering ordering this for takeaway at next year’s reunion dinner (if we’re eating at home).

Braised pork knuckle

Braised till uber tender, the pork knuckle fell apart with a gentle prod. The soft, smooth gelatinous skin collagen of the pork knuckle glided down our throats — such a sinful pleasure but you’d be damned if you let such a delicacy go to waste.

Steamed red garoupa

The set menu actually comes with sweet and sour fish, but they gave us steamed red garoupa by mistake. Not complaining! The fish was fresh and steamed to perfection.

Stir-fried snow peas

No Chinese meal is complete with an obligatory dish of greens.

Xiao long bao

This is Savor Rey’s signature xiao long bao or soup dumplings. Thin and delicate, the skin encased a glob of tasty minced pork and a generous amount of scalding hot broth.

Fried pumpkin cake

Coated with panko, the exterior of these pumpkin cakes were delightfully crispy and not too greasy. The insides reminded us of nian gao 年糕 — sticky, chewy, and not too sweet. Very more-ish, if not for the fact that we were already very stuffed.

Fresh fruit platter

And to balance out our rich and satisfying meal, a platter of chilled watermelon and mandarin orange.

The meal cost around $228. All the items were well-executed, so we were all happy diners. The only gripe we had was that the staff was short-handed so service was kinda spotty.

This was a nice change from the usual steamboat or Cantonese-style banquet dishes that we usually have for Chinese new year reunion dinner. Hope everyone had a wonderful Lunar New Year celebration too! May you be blessed with abundance and good health in the Year of the Water Dragon!

Savor Rey La Mian Xiao Long Bao Restaurant 稻香拉面小笼包馆
3 Kampong Bahru Road
Singapore 169340
Tel: +65 6223 5038

The images in this post were shot with Sony NEX-C3 with SEL1855 lens (on loan from Sony Singapore).

What did you just say, Mommy? It’s New Year again?

Oh, this time we’re celebrating Lunar New Year! Bye bye Rabbit, hello Dragon!

Mommy says we must put on new outfits when we go visiting during New Year. How do I look in my new pink dress and bunny hat?

Happy Lunar New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai! May you enjoy success and good health in the year of the Water Dragon!

祝大家：新年快乐，恭喜发财， 身体健康，万事如意！

The images in this post were shot with Sony NEX-C3 with SEL1855 lens (on loan from Sony Singapore).

Chwee kueh, 6 pieces for S$1.80

Hubby had his usual chwee kueh from the legendary Jian Bo Shui Kueh.

Somehow, I find that it’s oilier and the topping not as fragrant as it used to be. But it still has its following of die-hard fans.

Kopi gao (extra thick coffee with condensed milk)

And to go along with chwee kueh — kopi gao (extra thick coffee with condensed milk).

You Ji

Five stalls away from Jian Bo is this stall. Quite an extensive menu, mainly breakfast fare like chee cheong fun, steamed pumpkin and yam cakes, fried beehoon and kway teow, and bak chang (glutinous rice dumplings).

Interestingly, they also sell gingko nut congee.

Chee cheong fun, pumpkin cake, yam cake, S$3.30

The chee cheong fun was good. Thin, smooth, bouncy rice flour sheets — drizzled with sweet sauce and chilli — reminded me of those excellent ones I had in Penang.

The steamed yam cake had chunks of yam, but pity the texture was lumpy. Same for the pumpkin cake.

Jian Bo Shui Kueh

Here are the respective stall unit numbers:

Jian Bo Shui Kueh
30 Seng Poh Road
#02-05 Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre
Singapore 168898

You Ji
30 Seng Poh Road
#02-10 Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre
Singapore 168898

The images in this post were shot with Sony NEX-C3 with SEL1855 lens (on loan from Sony Singapore).