Saying goodbye to our merc clc

With the recent increase in the cost of car COEs and the increase in price of resale car, we found ourselves in the rare and unique position of seeing our year old merc car price appreciate in price more than our purchase price with the new car price of our merc increasing from our purchase price of 103k to 155k. So taking into account the practicality of having a 4 door car and tapping this rare opportunity to sell our car at a profit, we decided to sell our current car and buy a new one. The profit would be enough to offset the recent price increase in cars.

We shop around and bought the VW Golf 1.4TSI Sports as it was the most value for money proposition currently with a good promotional discount and offered surprisingly more technology and pace than our merc sports coupe.Besides we would also be saving $$ with the lower road tax and more efficient petrol consumption too. We had not expected to sell our car so soon after a year but sometimes,realise that one needs to be a little less sentimental when it comes to dollars and cents. We bade farewell together with our doggy Shayna to our dear car with some parting shots and await for our new car to arrive.

Lunch at Bistro Petit Salut

Over the weekend, we went for lunch at Bistro Petit Salut at Chip Bee Gardens on Holland area which serves simple authentic and good tasting French fare. If you ever wanted to try French food but without the intimidating menu or prices, do head down for their set lunch and dinners. About 28++ for 3 course lunch sets and $38++ for 3 course dinner sets - quite value for money and most importantly, tasty good food that fills your stomach and is really comfort food.
For starters, we recommend the Burgundy escargots(see below) which is really soft and filled with garlic and spiced flavor. We couldn't get enough of it and wished there were more than the 5 escargots per serving.





For the main course, we had the following :


(Above) Seafood Canneloni ( Soft baked pie with seafood stuffings in it )


(Above)Braised pork knuckles french style


(Above) Catch of the day - tender and fresh fish fillet

For dessert with the complimentary tea or coffee, we had the following:


(Above and Below) Strawberry Sorbet



(Above) Sweet and rich Choux puff


(Above)Brio Che Perdue - Bread and Butter Pudding

We like the quiet relaxed atmosphere experienced there during lunch but dinner may be a little more crowded.You can find out more at their website at : http://www.aupetitsalut.com/bps/aboutus.html

Good Food !

Food galore - We have been indulging in good food these days especially during the past long weekend. That's motivation for our weekly exercise together at East Coast Parkway to shed all the kilos gained!
First stop, we celebrated mother's day at Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant at Beach Road. Sumptous


You can pick and choose a wide range of live seafood at Ah Yat from Alaskan crabs to lobsters to sea slugs to a variety of fish.


First was the lobster cold dish which was a refreshing start served with slabs of lobster meat and fresh cut fruit cubes.


Traditional longevity bao with sweet paste filling inside


Standard course of shark fin soup. Absolutely delicious!


The real deal here! real shark fin found!


An ordinary dish though - the standard chicken dish


Steam soon hock - soft, fresh and piping hot. Really good.


Scallop pieces were sweet and brocolli soft to the bite


Very rich and sinful! crab with roe! can be abit gelak after some mouthful! stil prefer the chilli/pepper versions.


Mushroom was gigantic but soft to the bite! Abalone well textured !


Noodles - quite full by the time we got to this to really appreciate it


Dessert was ok, nothing to rave about.



Next food point for the weekend was at Blk 85 Redhill Close Hawker centre where we found a stall selling very good quality and tasty chinese dumplings such as xiaolongbao, guo tie etc. They open at 11.15am onwards and be prepared for a queue!


The xiaolongbao here is the best we have tried, tasty, juicy filling of meat and with a soft yet firm textured skin.


When you bite into the xiaolongbao, beware, the gravy soup from the meat is gonna spill out. Watch that shirt or blouse of yours!


Delicious bite shows the generous filling inside.

Another stop was the Hakata ramen at Yoshimaru Ramen Bar at Holland Village.








We also had an accompaying side dish of shabu shabu beef salad.