CNY Visitation - 26.01.09

It's our once-in-a-year grand traditional family event again - Lunar New Year gathering at my maternal 3rd uncle's home.
As usual, my uncle and his family will warmly welcome all their extended family members to their place for this ever important yearly "getogether". My uncle's wife will also prepare her many yummy specialities. Besides, her long time favourite Lohan Chai (a mixed vegetables vegetarian dish) and Fried Beehoon; this year she has also prepared a very exquisite dish -Vegetarian Mutton Curry. Hahaha . . . go ask her for the recipe if you want to. It's simply marvelous.
Other than those yummy food I just mentioned, I must not forget to say there is this maternal youngest (4th) uncle and wife team who can prepare very fantastic Thai cuisine. This time, they have also brought along their specialities, namely the Tom Yum Soup and Thai Transparent Seafood Vermicelli. Oh . . . they were simply unbeatable. Superb! My family, especially my girl, will always look forward to her Seafood Tom Yum Soup.
To top them all up, my dear 3rd uncle's wife has even prepared the complicated "Lo Hei Yu Sheng" the vegetarian way. Surely, everyone will appreciate the time and effort she has to put in in order for us to stir up a "storm of fun".
Well, you will know what I mean if you see the pictures below. Enjoy ...
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Family Reunion 'Tunch' @ The Dining Room

The Dining Room, Sheraton Towers with its cascading waterfalls, rockpools and lush greenery provided an unforgettable setting and serene ambience for our family reunion meal. We were spoilt for choices by their splendid international spread. Not only did we had Asian exotics, Western cuisines and local favourites to pick from, there were also the tantalising sashimi and mussels; and also the exquisite desserts for the sweet tooths.
Since it was the eve of Lunar New Year, items for doing up a "Lo Hei", a chinese raw fish salad dish were also available for patrons who wanted to toss the dish in style.
Hmmm... truly a hearty reunion "Tunch" (lunch + tea).
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Annual Gathering - 21 Jan 2009

Once again, it is our annual get together with our ex-bosses & ex-colleagues. This time round, we had a sumptuous dinner at "Rice Table" graciously treated by our ex-boss, Muk.
So much to eat, so much to talk and share; and so much to laugh about ... Well, let the pictures tell for itself ...

Gd O' Time

"Needing a break that weekend after just the recent going back to a brand new school term and was suddenly piled with extraordinary load of school assignments." So that was my boy's request for last weekend.
Not because of the recent Peranakan Drama "Little Nyonya", somehow we landed at Changi Village in this Peranaka Restaurant called "Gd O' Times" ordering some of their well-known dishes. Nothing to shout about. We were not totally satisfied with the food we ordered.
Other than rather sour, the Assam Fish Head gravy was quite diluted. The Ayam(chicken) Buah Keluah was not adequately pungent & pasty. Another disappointment was their Babi Ponteh . The pork belly used to braise with preserved bean paste (tau cheo), dried mushrooms, cinnamon and bamboo shoots was not at all authentic. The Chap Chye was just ordinary. We enjoyed the Squids in Ink very much . The texture of the squids was right and spongy to chew. The lemon and assam used were well marinated into the squids to give it that distinctive taste. All of us agreed that if we were ever to go back to that place, we must order that dish again.



Dinner was a "So-so" but our family evening walk along the stretch of Changi beach was breathtaking. Especially knowing that we were standing at the eastern-most tip of Singapore; watching the occasional boats moving in and out of the canal into the open sea, looking and listening to the rushing waves. In a moment, all that has indeed taken away that "must-break-free" pang from my boy.