lavanderblues

Thursday, May 31, 2007

yum cha!

monday denoted the last day of csfc @ sgh for cg6, and we comemorated it by meeting up before our tutorials at jumbo seafood at the serangoon garden country club for a sumptious dim sum lunch =) we ordered many many dishes, with jerry's 20% discount, it came up to only $12 per pax! the pictures here are all blue tinged unfortunately, because of the weird blue lighting all over the restaurant.

the winning egg tarts. super nice especially when they came out fresh and piping hot from the oven, with wobbly eggy fillings. we ordered seconds - and thirds of this. =)

lousy xiao long bao, which were very much bigger than the din tai fung/crystal jade size that we're used to, but not at all nice. the centres were mushy and oily. ugh.

pictures around the table.

zj and i with our frog egg-slime dessert (i forgot the real name, but its less disgusting-sounding, i promise) thats good for your complexion.

our osces ended today. cant say that it went well, since i forgot that the sciatic nerve is easily injured in the hip joint, and the various types of nerve palsies. what i thought was elbow xanthomata was actually neurofibromatosis? and i really couldnt see anything wrong in the cxr. ahwells.

lin~*
1:04 am

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

friday: cg6's outing to bowling & pirates =)

at billy bombers, where we filled up on chicken and sides ravenously at lunch at 330pm after our day ended in sgh. finished so incredibly stuffed at 4pm that the plan to go for martinis and steak sandwiches at mortons' was ditched.

bowling was next. christine surprised us all by trashing everyone and getting an over-100 points score.

we even went to the arcade, making up for the adolescence that was never there. tried to play with the para para machine, but it took 2bucks and more than a few tries for 4 medical students to figure out how to use it. and in the end it just wound up with each of us taking one sensor and waving our hand under it. i discovered that im pretty good at daytona too!

i even challenged lawrence to it the next day, and i -almost- overtook him - something that has never happened before. he usu trashes me by many many laps. but i didnt get to beat him as he somehow managed to overturn me as i was overtaking him. boo.

meet bobby:

dinner at dian xiao er, with their excellent herbal roast duck, and jerry's gorgeous gf shirley for company =)

i enjoyed pirates tremendously, even though my friends dozed off partway, i loved the costumes and props and cinematography. the rocking of the ship scene was amazing too. haha. calypso was disappointing. and i was devastated at the ending. shant spoil the surprise for you if u havent seen it. =)

lin~*
8:38 pm

Monday, May 28, 2007

happy birthday dear liyana =)

to dear liyana, happy 21st! we had a impromptu celebration at menotti's on saturday for their half priced desserts after 10pm for the sweet birthday girl. hope you liked the fcuk tshirt! =)

lin~*
9:41 am

Monday, May 21, 2007

as bean wld say, now that lawrence is back, let the "heyhey" photos innundate the blog!! *laughs*

lin~*
12:02 am

Sunday, May 20, 2007

dinner at metropole herbal restaurant

we recently rediscovered an old favourite at a new location - the old imperial herbal restaurant at metropole hotel, recently closed their old strategic location, and reopened at the top floor of vivocity. but this outlet is now revamped, with seafood and other nonsense, and the unique flavour of the old place that i grew up eating all lost. however, luckily for the old diehards like my family and many of my dad's other business associates, part of the crew (including our very favourite manager, doris) broke off and started their own restaurant - the metropole herbal restaurant at a swanky new location in clarke quay. all the old favourites i loved are still there, including the egg white. and there are fantastic new dishes to try too. =)

egg whites - with other herbal-sounding ingredients in a potato nest, now served in a cute ice cream cup. we'd eat this almost everytime we went to imperial herbal.

the most fantastic "kong bak pao" ive ever tasted. i could wax lyrical about this for hours. the meat was sooo succulent and tender, and completely slid down my throat, and the sauce it was braised in was soooo good i literally licked it clean. (ok i didnt exactly lick, but i used the mantou to wipe it clean of the last drippings of flavourful sauce.)

the best flower mantous ive eaten. the flower patterns in the buns are amazing! and they impart an amazing texture to the bread. *shudders with joy*

original peking duck, with the chef flown in from china to roast the duck and slice it in front of the guests who order it. extremely flavourful and tasty.

home made sesame buns, really nice =)

i realise that this is my third food-centric post in a row, i apologise. it was just that i was looking through my iphoto, and the only photos that ive been taking lately are of the food when i eat out. so that's the only thing i have to post about. ahwells. and my prose is really bad, im in a half asleep stupor and am only barely able to exclaim weakly with the memory of the food each picture brings.

lin~*
11:34 pm

lunch at hongkong kim gary cafe @ vivo

lawrence is back! he touched down in the wee hours of friday morning, where i went with his dad to receive him. we then met up again at noon on friday for lunch after i left sgh early for once =) lunch was at the hk cafe in vivo, as he heard from lynn that it was fantastic. and i always have to give fantastic food a try. so there we were.

the lunch sets are pretty value for money. he had a "mark six curry" which is a tasty curry with 6 ingredients and i had "hot spicy noodle soup" which was very typical of me. the teh ping was fabulous, and my noodles came in a super duper ginormous bowl which filled up the entire of my side of the table. =)

i am always amused by how hk cafes serve instant noodles with sausage, or egg, or luncheon meat etc as part of the menu. i am even more amused by how some people order these. they are so easy to prepare at home! at least this place was honest. they are called "nissin noodles" in the menu.

lin~*
11:24 pm

birthday dinner at prego

i had a very nice dinner at prego with my parents last thursday after a long day at sgh. we ordered our favourite dishes, which thankfullydidnt disappoint, and it was a great evening to be had by all. it was preceded & followed by shopping at the robinsons sale too, where i got a pair of nice orange heels =) we even bumped into selene, jem, auntie kimsiang, meredith and denise, which made the evening all the more fun.

i thought that the food we had was spectacular. with lobster tagliatelle, braised veal in saffron risotto, and my favourite kind of pizza whose name i cant remember, but i like it all the better for the fresh rocket leaves on the crispy hot base that adds a fresh crunch in the mouth.

lin~*
11:09 pm

Thursday, May 17, 2007

cg6 "night call" at sgh

impromptu decision to go back to sgh for night call at 1030 pm saw me rushing back to the hospital after shopping for close to 6hours in town. at least the rest got to go home and shower up. we changed out into scrubs, and waited around for our tutor. managed to see a paraumbilical hernia in the OT just before repair. then supper then home to sleep. and as a result i was super tired today. =)

ah wells.
happy birthday to me! =)

lin~*
12:30 am

Sunday, May 13, 2007

my 21st bday party =)

*warning* long post ahead!
(had to sort through almost 300 photos, but there were so many nice shots of many people im afraid i wasnt very selective oops)

it was an amazing birthday party on saturday night to celebrate my upcoming birthday on thursday =) i really couldnt have asked for more; it was exactly as i had envisioned it! we did everything ourselves (even made my own bday cake =P) as i wanted it to be sweet and meaningful. unfortunately i couldnt invite many other people whom i'd like to have asked as i ultimately decided that i wanted a very small intimate party of about 25 (inclusive of family). many apologies to everyone.

prep work:
it took my mum and i several weeks of planning, with shopping in the weekends at various places like concourse, holland v and little india for supplies. and the night before was spent baking the choux pastry for cream puffs, and on d-day, mum and i rose bright and early to start baking the cheesecake brownie and peach cupcakes for my bday cake =) i designed everything myself, from the invite cards to the printed menu, and even the cake too =)

i was so happy strewing gorgeous red rose petals on all the tables, with floating candles and tealights and oil lamps all over the garden, which i felt made my normally frumpy backyard extremely atmospheric. everyone was supposed to come in their interpretation of the theme - "flirty summer breezy nights", a phrase i felt embodied the idea for the evening garden party =P and everyone looked fabulous =)

the menu was home-cooked, and included,
appetizers: nachos&salsa from margarita's, cheese sticks, and 2 types of bruschetta which were made by my mum.
mains: bbq lamb, salad and andrew's delicious aglio olio
desserts: my cheesecake brownie, creampuffs with peach slices and peach cupcakes w mascarpone frosting which was my bday cake =)

everyone "helping" andrew with the pasta, which thanks to him was cooked on the spot and served piping hot!

myself, huiling and yun helping to prepare the salmon&asparagus bruschetta

mirri likes the heart shaped balloons on my mango tree

uncle stephen and auntie kimsiang (selene's parents) who've been figures in my life all through my years were kind enough to come for my party too =) dad & mum entertained them at another table =)

after dinner and desserts outside, we moved into the dining area for cake and li&wenbo's songs =)

li sang twice that evening. this was "i hope you dance", originally by lee ann womack =) so sweet of u babe, thanks!=)

i felt this was a very nice shot of everyone helping to light the 21 sparkling candles on my bday cake =)

my peach cupcake w mascarpone frosting birthday cake, with a cupcake for each person in attendance and 21 sparkly candles =) the candles really had sparks flying from them!

part of my birthday gifts - the nine west bag i really really liked, and a braun buffel wallet frm the medicine bunch. sel and her parents gave me a silver "h" pendant frm tiffany&co, fiona a long chain necklace she made herself, huiling a bag, and yun, a really gorgeous wooden windmill she assembled herself. thanks dears for all the gorgeous and thoughtful presents =)

i also got a pink ballet slipper pinata which we had some fun with. i got blindfolded first and they teased me for a super long time. at one point in time i think i almost whacked jerry w the bat too. then we led zj all the way to the pond, but fortunately for him he was astute enough to feel the edge of it and not step into the water blindly. fiona also displayed suppressed angst in hitting the pinata =P it was ultimately broken by joel and joshua =)

the party was nicely rounded off with li and wenbo's rendition of "say a little prayer", with hilarious backup by marcus and bean =)

we definitely couldnt have pulled it off without all the lovely people in attendance that night who were all so sporting and helpful =) im especially grateful to my mum and maid who slogged the entire day to make the entire thing come true, and am super grateful to shiyun and huiling who helped assemble the appetizers and set up when mum and i were running late and getting flustered, andrew for cooking all the pasta when we couldnt do it cos we were so busy =P, my uncle for setting up all the tables and balloons and for bbqing all the delicious lamb we got to eat =), the guys for carrying my grandma up and down the stairs so that she could be there in the midst of the action, and everyone else for being sporting and helping out randomly throughout the night =) it was amazing to have everyone there and i really appreciated it so much, for giving me such a beautiful 21st party. thankyou =)

lin~*
11:07 pm