Korean fare @ Doong gi

Being again Mother's Day weekend, Gayle's sister and us brought Gayle's parents to have a Mother's Day treat at the well known Korean diner along Upper East Coast Road - Doong gi, formerly known as Togi. This Korean diner is frequented by both Koreans and Singaporeans alike in search of authentic, delicious, non-pretentious home styled Korean food. We have frequented this diner quite some time back before they renovated and changed their name and recommended it to Gayle's parents.

At the start of the meal, they served us the usual series of cold starters (above), such as spicy anchovies and garlicky, hot kim-chi. We ordered just enough food for the five of us and it turned out just nice, any bit more and we would have been too stuffed. We ordered two servings of Bulgogi Bi Bim Bap ( pork and chicken) seen below.

fried squid with pork belly served with lettuce ( like a korean version of popiah), addictive kimchi soup, and a platter of assorted pancakes featuring their speciality - Oyster pancake.

(Above) Waiting patiently for the camera flash to go before digging in!

@ Brotzeit for German fare

As it was mother's day this weekend, we brought Eugin's mother to Brotzeit at Vivocity for some German fare. Brotzeit is known for it's authentic German cuisine accompanied by it's good brew of beers. As it was just the three of us, we ordered two main dishes to share which was just right as we didin't want to overeat and feel stuffed as a result. We ordered a first course of Würstelplatteauthentic sausage platter with spicy chicken sausage, lamb sausage, mini pork cheese sausages, weisswurst sausage and garlic sausage with sauerkraut and mustard Sausage which could actually feed three of us.

The second course was Brotzeit's speciality - Pork Knuckles (Below) which is not printed on the menu and you can request for it. The skin was really crispy and fragrant and the meat was quite tender and juicy.

(above) Even the sauces for the sausages looks so good!

We also ordered Paulaner's Weissbier seen above( 0.3l is just right for one person who is a light beer drinker - they have different sizes) to try their beer which to a non-beer drinker like me was the nicest beer in fact that I have tasted, slightly sweet without that bitter aftertaste. It's better to arrive there earlier for lunch when they open at 12 noon so that you can get a better seat indoor with a view of Sentosa and less crowds means a more peaceful meal and the food gets to you faster. It was a good meal and we plan to go back there soon to try the seafood platter which looked really good which we saw being served at the next table and to try their beer once again. It was a good and satisfying meal under $90 for three persons. You can drop by their website to take a look at their menu. http://www.brotzeit1516.com/menu.html

(Above) Evidence of a good meal ! Every last morsel finished

Pastry Treats @ Obolo

(ABOVE) New addition to the cheesecake collection at Obolo - Fraise comprising of strawberry infused mascarpone mousse crowned with strawberry-banana gelee atop a layer of moist and tender vanilla genoise and ivoire crunchy feuillitine base, accompanied by two macarons - Green Pistache ( Pistachio Buttercream ) and Brown Hazelnut Chocolate.

As Gayle is very interested in baking and looking for inspirational, tasty pastries, we have been visiting Obolo Gourmet Cheesecake Patisseries & Desserts located near Katong, at 452 Joo Chiat Road, situated within a row of old shophouses in the East to try out their cakes and macaroons. Their cheesecakes are just right - not too rich and light enough not to feel stuffed after eating them. They also look delicious to eat.

UOB credits cards can get you 10% discount off the total bill for bills above $20 which should be easy to total up since all the treats there look real good and taste good too. Best time to go is weekday noons as it may get crowded at night or duuring weekends.

Carpark though is difficult to find in Joo Chiat so you may have to park the car a little farther and walk, which isnt too bad since you can work up an appetite for the cakes and desserts. If you are taking public transport, bus services 10, 12 and 14 bring you there. Alight at the stop along East Coast Road, just before Katong. Seen below is our purchases for this weekend. Savoury treats, pretty to look at, delicious to eat.

(Above and Below) Mango Passion cheesecake featuring fruit infused baked cheesecake on a biscuit crust

(Above) Macarons - Purple Rose Buttercream and Yellow Mango Passion

You can visit their website on http://www.obolo.com.sg/ .

Crustacean Dinner at Ritz

To show my appreciation for Gayle for being so nice to me and also to celebrate my recent job promotion, we went for a splendid crustacean international buffet at Ritz Carlton Millenia's Greenhouse restaurant this week.

(Above) At our usual spot, the same table when we were here previously but now with more cushy chairs.(Above) A closer peek at what we ate.

As we are both avid seafood fans, we had a 3hr makan session, gorging on boston lobsters, fresh oysters, crabs, succulent mussels and scallops. There was of course also sashimi, a mainstay of many buffets.

(Above) A display of crustacean highlights - Lobsters,crab claws,assorted sashimi,raw oysters,mussels and scallops

The seafood was very fresh, especially the lobsters which were poached freshly on the spot. The baby lobsters were more tender than the boston lobsters so it depends on whether you want more meat or less meat but more tender.

(Above) Boston Lobster - very fleshy and fresh!

I had my raw oysters with a tinge of lemon juice. Fresh and without any fishy taste. What we like is that the seafood is really fresh, doesn't taste fishy and the meat is tender. The scallops and mussels also had roe which is just sinfully delicious.

(Above) Me having my fill of mussels

The service was very good. The service staff exercise initiative and served us complimentary english breakfast tea. The dessert section was really another rich experience. Those who are into strawberries and chocolate desserts would have thought they had gone to heaven at Ritz. The pastry designs inspired my dearest Gayle and she complimented the pastry chefs there whom she chatted with when they were replenishing the dessert trays.
(Above) Gayle smiling before her crustacean treasures.

There was also a quartet playing live jazzy and soulful music which really made the night an enjoyable one, with occasional playing of different versions of the birthday tunes for those who were celebrating their birthdays there. You can get the violinist or guitarist from the quartet to go right up to your table to play for you if you desire.

All in all, we really had a rich dinner. All in all, it cost us slightly over $150 for 2 persons after a 15% discount from UOB credit cards. Considering the amount of good seafood we had plus the good ambience and service,it was value for money.

A gift from my wifey

Surprise surprise, Gayle bought me a Gucci wallet to replace my old wallet from Braun Buffel that was bursting at the seams. We had been looking at wallets while we were in Japan but found those that we liked overpriced there. We finally found a wallet that had one of my preferred colours for wallet - grey and with enough pockets for all the cards and a photo slot.

(Above) Good array of pockets to carry all my cards plus a slot to slip in our photo which I always carry around with me.

I must buy her a good dinner at least to thank her! Very touched cos it's from her hard earned savings. That is why I always tell myself I have the best wife in the world.

Our new car

We took delivery of our new car - a metallic Orbite Black Mercedes CLC 180K coupe this week and have been very happy with the feel of the car and the drive which is very smooth and the direct steering system, sourced from the SLK steering rack, is very responsive and reassuring. The car corners well with firm but comfortable suspension. The car's wide array of safety systems like SRS,BAS,ABS,ESP makes us feel very protected on the move and the car is well insulated from road noise.

We upgraded the wheels and rims to 17inch from the OEM 16 inch at Poh Heng Tyres at AMK. Poh Heng is well known for good pricing for it's range of rims and tyres and Justin from Poh Heng provides good service. He stayed open into the late night to check that the tyres were fitted properly. We did a road test for this and he asked me to contact him if I had any issues after that. We also did a avant garde blue tint solar film at Cool n Lite at Paya Ubi where you can get between 10 to 20% discount for packages. I changed the mufflers at Autobacs and the service was quite good as the mechanic there went with me to look at the mufflers, try out the different mufflers and polished the mufflers for me. For the car's paint protection, I went to Toughseal in AMK Autopoint. We also went to purchase a customised 3M car mat at a wholesaler at Ubi Industrial estate. Gayle and myself got a good deal for the trade in of our mitsubishi 'i' and for the purchase price of the CLC, getting a good discount for a new car. Those who are looking for a merc at C & C, you can contact our Sales Rep - Luno Lim at 91290205 or luno.lim@cyclecarriage.com.sg. We are recommending him because he gave good professional service, drew up a customised price package, liase with our bank to remove a loan redemption penalty, and did his best to cater to our requirements and give the best possible deal he could and has offered personal after sales service such as collecting our car for delivery for servicing etc.

(Above ) My dar dar at the controls

(Below) Enjoying the car

(Below) Interior console of the CLC. The radio display is very retro. We like the maple wood inserts. The car's built in Bluetooth handsfree phone is quite useful for answering calls in the car.

Our CLC coupe from the rear. Driving the car takes some getting use to since the rear windscreen is high booted and field of vision is narrow so reversing the car and overtaking requires a more careful look at your blind corner. All in all, we are looking forward to more road trips in our new car.

Bidding farewell to our 'i'

As this is the last week we have our little red Mitsubishi 'i' with us since we have traded it in for a new car, we decided to take some photos with our bubbly car which has seen us through our dating days through our marriage ceremony until now. It's been a car filled with many happy memories in it. While we leave our 'i' with some sadness but fond memories, we are also looking forward excitedly to our new car - a Mercedes CLC180 kompressor coupe.