deja vu on the last day of the year.

the old folks have been gone since saturday to do some arm exercises at the jackpot machines in genting, and since the sister's soaking up the sun in maldives (actually no, working her ass off is more accurate), that leaves me home alone for the past few days. the first 2 days went by in a flurry with all the gatherings and i finally stayed home the whole of yesterday and half of today. thank god i was alone but i didn't feel lonely. catching up on all the housework undone and spending time with myself felt like the days when i was back on exchange in maastricht. spent a relaxing morning training at the pool (of which i pointed the middle finger to two cheekopek boys who held their breaths underwater each time i was near) and came back home craving for some aglio olio. it used to be my staple food in maastricht. i'm not trying to brag but it really was delicious haha... what a great way to spend the last afternoon of 2008.

1st dinner in maastricht... and many other times

last lunch of the year... and so velly belly nice

a walk to remember.

you once had such a great fear of water getting into your ears, never dared to venture into the deep end and refused to do even a small leap into the pool. i saw how much you grew - stronger and braver, from saying "i can't" to "i'll try my best". a small victory each lesson brought you to where you are today! looking at you cruise through lap after lap just leaves me in awe, and i could hardly believe you are the same boy 3 years ago, so awkward and tense in the pool. today, i saw you overcome your biggest fear of swimming underwater to complete the test, and i am so proud of you!

all geared up for the bronze survival test!

you were a natural since day one, with near perfect strokes and an amazing ability to grasp the techniques even at such a young age. you're like a dolphin in the water! it was worrying to see you develop a slight phobia about the test, crying and stopping lessons midway the last few times, right up till today when you started tearing on the way to the pool. oh but what a brave young girl you are! not only did you not give up halfway through the test, you even completed it way faster than kids twice your size and age!

proud daddy taking a photo of little miss valiant

check out the height and size disparity =D

constant encouragement for his younger sister

ethan and rachel, you're my champions! =)

yay we did it!!!

why did the gingerbread man go to the doctor's?

because he was feeling crummy. =D

have yourself a merry little christmas everyone!

genesis 39:3-4

Something bright and glowing on top of the multi-storey car park caught my eye as I stepped out of my house lift tonight.

what's happening in the quiet town of anchorvale?

After a considerable amount of squinting, I pointed and exclaimed excitedly to my mum, “Mummy, look! Look!”

a bigass carpark style proposal!

Not to me of course, but I felt really happy just looking at the lightsticks glowing, forming the mega words on the ground. I hope she said YES!

That aside, I got all my results back, and I did mighty fine indeed! It was the most challenging school term from day one right until the very last day of exams, and I knew I just couldn’t pull through on my own. So I prayed “I know it’s going to take a miracle for me to do well this term. But You’ve promised good, so I’m going to just try my best and rest knowing that you’ve got it all covered.” Wow. Jesus got it covered and it was a miracle indeed, it’s amazing amazing amazing! I was left speechless looking at the transcript, unable to justify the grades at all. Of course it’s unjustifiable - it’s called undeserved and unmerited grace and favour. =)

helpppppppppp

invaded by heat rash and it's killing me! i feel like my whole body's falling apart and i can't even sleep properly at night. been feeling nauseous the past few days too. my doctors-in-training, could this be a case of sun poisoning?


Lord, please take it all away.

putting my heart back together.

had a short getaway to bintan over the week, blessed with perfect weather despite it being the monsoon season. jogging alone along the shore with the waves crashing in was a simply exhilarating experience! on the downside, it seems like my photo taking skills have also gone on hiatus. oh welll... =/

angsana pool

kaka the krakowdile

love actually

perspective

rocky road

finally! a post.

wow, the last time i actually blogged about food was on 21st july. i suddenly realised that my blog actually has a trickle of readers and i apologise for the crappy posts that kinda undermined the spirit of snaps and bites. i promise to be back, more vivacious and sassier than ever! ;)

we're on the good food adventure trail!

so anyway, i decided to bring father and mother chew for a good meal over the weekend to thank them for their neverending love and support, especially over the past months. wanted to have some crab tanghoon at ya kwang, only to find out upon arrival that jason the ex-SIA-steward-turned-chef is no longer there.

my pamalee minus a maldives sis

refusing to spend money on lousy food, we drove from geylang to the paramount hotel for some tung lok delights, but got turned away because it was fully booked for the night. what a food adventure the evening was turning out to be! undaunted, we decided to head further down to katong to sniff out good eateries. great instincts and a grumbling tummy led us to kim choo's kitchen for some peranakan lovin'.

this is not in response to the latest mediacorp drama *eww*

kanon's on sick leave with symptoms of slow response and poor focal ability, boo! =( think i'll have to bring it to the doc soon. so please bear with the photos and just focus on the food okkk! here goes...

the queen and her menu

unsurprisingly, the restaurant was decked out in peranakan decor, like a casual cafe. it even has a peranakan museum of sorts beside it. we were served yummy achar as an appetiser. the little saucer of sambal chilli beside it was power packed shiokness!

achar and sambal chilli

meatball soup ($12)

we ordered fish maw soup but they got our order wrong and came with some meatball soup with topshell. the soup was light and refreshing, i liked it very much though i think it's a little too pricey. the sambal petai (aka smelly beans!) is a famous peranakan dish. not everyone will appreciate it as the beans supposedly have a bitter aftertaste, though i didn't taste any bitterness and i LOVED the sambal to bits. this was my favourite dish of the evening hands down.

i lub sambal petai ($8)

ngoh hiong ($8)

my mum orders ngoh hiong everywhere she goes, and she was pretty impressed by the ones sold here. i think the fact that they used really fresh ingredients made it a winner. the egg omelette was normal though the seafood used was really fresh too.

seafood egg omelette ($6)

babi pongteh ($8)

i ordered the babi pongteh because the peranakans do this dish magically. the gravy is like oooh-la-la! my parents really liked this dish too. my only gripe was that the meat could be a little more tender and i prefer the one at chilli padi's nonya buffet better.

the chendol is s.u.p.e.r.b. even i don't drink chendol much and i know on first sip that this is good stuff. it's also got the ten thumbs up from my dad who's a chendol fan. he claims that it's exactly the same as the one he had when he was a child and that they don't sell chendol like this outside nowadays. i think it's because they use gula melaka instead of cane sugar, which made it extremely flavourful without the sickening sweetness chendol often has.

charming chendol ($3.50)

the bill came up to $55 in all for the three of us, which i thought was pretty worth it except maybe for the soup. we had a blessed evening together, and seeing the satisfied looks on the two chews' faces made it money absolutely well spent. =)

kim choo's kitchen
109/111 east coast road
tel: 67412125

***

on a sidenote, check out my winnings at poker last night!

woohooooooo!

now, i'd be happier if they were real cash.