Sleepless in Seattle

Where did summer go? I blinked and it was gone...I spent most of my summer busy on my internship in LA. The 3-hour (at least!) commute everyday was something that I was definitely not used to, other than that I had a great time interning and learning new stuff!

I went to Seattle last Saturday with KL. The two of us haven't had a proper vacation since...hmmm? Ever? :) This post is going to be filled with pictures, so be prepared!

Seattle by night, as seen from the ferry that KL and I took on our way to Bainbridge Island:

Morning on Bainbridge..KL and I were ecstatic to discover that blackberries and apples were growing all over the island!

What's a trip to Seattle without a visit to Pike Place Market?

The very first Starbucks store..it was crowded crowded crowded and the baristas were throwing the customers' cups over to the brewing station once the order was taken. They dropped my cup... -_-;;

Anyone knows why there's a pig in Starbucks?

Speaking of pigs, I made it a point to hunt down the Maximus Minimus food truck after seeing a feature on it on TV. The first thing that I saw as I turned a corner was its snot..how cute!

I love that its license plate says "Some pig"...a reference to Charlotte's Web?

Eating the pulled pork sandwich from Maximus Minimus by the viewing gallery at the Pike Place Market, with ginger lemonade and sweet, tangy slaw:

The pastry counter at Piroshky Piroshky, a Russian bakery at Pike Place Market. It's perpetually crowded whenever we were there, could be because Anthony Bourdain featured it on his show before. KL and I bought a savory chicken, mushroom and rice piroshky to try...it was okay :/

Chowder, seafood bisque and classic clam chowder to be exact, from Pike Place Chowder:

So good in the cold weather that KL and I went back the next day for more!

Double chocolate gelato from the Chocolate Box is super yums!

How cute are the chocolate truffles from Chocolate Box? A milk chocolate bunny and bittersweet dark chocolate lab:

A shoot of Seattle's underground..it was visited by Ghost Hunters from the Syfy channel before..so do you see anything in the photo??

Vampire killer kit...for the evil type I guess, not the sparkly pretty type :)

The biggest puffer-fish that I have ever seen at the Seattle Aquarium. He swam over to check me out as I was taking his picture!

Random shadow play:

Barefooting it all over Seattle in my Vibram Fivefingers.

Space Needle!

Snoqualmie Falls. KL and I completed a hike at Snoqualmie Pass.

Loading up on the caffeine. KL says there are always pictures of me eating and drinking on every vacation we take. Fo'sho!

The facade of the Experience Music Project building. Love the colours.

Waiting for my plane to take off....bye bye Seattle!!

My Birthday Surprise!

I survived the first year of my MBA school and the quarter officially ended with the last paper on Wednesday!

And to top it all off..today's my birthday..FIFA's celebrating it with me by holding the World Cup on this very day...lol :)
I was woken up at midnight by KL who prepared a very nice surprise for me:

Awwww...and not just this, he also baked cookies for me. Soft chewy with a molten chocolate core..so sinful but I love it so much!

KL's planning something for tonight...it's a surprise for now, but I can't wait to see what he does!

Cream Pan

May is almost over and I am nearing the end of my first year in MBA school. Where has all the time gone?!

Still over the weekend KL and I decided to check out a very famous Japanese bakery in Orange County. Very famous, because if you check out the bakery, Cream Pan, on Yelp, there's nothing but endless raves about their baked goods, especially their strawberry croissants. Needless to say, I had to experience the food for myself - what could be so spectacular about strawberry croissants?

The place is really nondescript, with no indication of the culinary treasures inside :P Coincidentally it's tucked away in the plaza next to Honda-ya. When I was there, I got the legendary strawberry croissants, an azuki (red-bean) cream pan ("pan", パ ン is Japanese for bread), a peach danish and a pork-katsu sandwich box.

Peach danish:

Pork-katsu sandwich, a little pricey at $6 but chock full of ingredients!

And the baked goods, the strawberry croissants and azuki cream-pan. Because of all the hype over the strawberry croissants, KL and I decided that we could not share and we each had to get one.

Close-ups- first, the heavenly azuki pan!

...and the delicious strawberry croissant:

Verdict? Strawberry croissants - GOOD! The crust's flaky and the cream sweet but not overly so, balanced nicely by the tangy sweetness of the strawberries. But the one that I enjoyed most of all is the azuki cream pan. In fact, KL did too, so much so that we ended up fighting each other to eat it. The sweet red bean paste complimented the fluffy light whipped cream perfectly, all encased in a crispy pastry shell. Definitely try out these two items if you ever stop by Cream Pan.

My outfit for the day, harem pants are perfect for pigging out:

Wearing American Apparel cardigan, complexgeometries top, H&M harem pants, Ann Demeulemeester lace-up sandals, Balenciaga clutch.

I have to say though, if you want to try out the food at Cream Pan, BE THERE EARLY.
These pictures were taken during our second trip there, the first time we went to Cream Pan was in the afternoon and their shelves were swept clean. Seriously, now I understand why!

In the upcoming weeks I will be holed up in a study room somewhere finishing up on group projects and mugging for exams, so expect slooooow updates :/

Cafe Blanc

I love love love sweets.

Cakes are probably the most wonderful type of food because not only are they yummy, but they look so beautiful as well. My favourite dessert place in Orange County has got to be Cafe Blanc at Newport Beach. KL calls the plaza it's located in a double trap because Cafe Blanc is right next to a bridal gown shop and I like to go there sometimes to drool at the gowns whenever we stop by. ;)

I believe the shop's run by a Japanese chef and his rendition of French desserts are so delicate, not too sweet and just perfect! Since Easter was just round the corner, Cafe Blanc offered a cute Easter bunny cake which was almost too cute to eat! It was really yummy though with a crisp white chocolate shell with a creamy lilac berry mousse. I almost felt bad destroying the cute bunny cake..but it was too delicious to be missed! The strawberry shortcake on the other hand was light and refreshing, amazingly its cream layer was light and fluffy...perfect fruity desserts on a sunny day! The raspberry gelato that came with the cake was sweet, but not overly so and even had chunks of raspberries inside..see, I am getting my daily servings of fruit!

My camera wasn't with me when we dropped by that day, but I am sure that KL and I will be back again and I intend to take a picture of Cafe Blanc's cake counter...each and every yummy cake that they make looks so perfect and beautiful!

What I wore:

Rick Owens gray leather jacket, H&M leopard scarf, Heimstone silk tank, American Apparel tank, Drop crotch pants from Etsy, Rick Owens mummy wedges, Balenciaga bouton d'or work.

Slowly but surely, I am easing leopard stripes into my outfit and my Rick Owens mummy wedges are the most comfy pair of wedges that I own. Someday I vow to own the ankle boots version as well!

The Singapore Report - Food pictures galore and my very first giveaway

Hello everyone!

I have been absent from my blog for quite sometime but I am so deliriously happy to be back in Singapore. It's damn good to be home! I had forgotten about the heat and how densely packed this little island can be, but nothing beats eating Mum's cooking after being away from home for nearly 2 years as well as being in the company of my family again! The highlight has got to be meeting my baby nephew Tristan for the first time, I am constantly amazed by how cute and smart he is, he has everyone in the family eating out of his hands.

To share some of the joy, I am pleased to announce this blog's very first giveaway together with Chickdowntown.com. Some of you might have read about this website before from other previous blog giveaways and Chickdowntown is known for stocking trendy items such as the coveted scarves from Sir Alistair Rai and BB Dakota Clothing. I will pick one reader's comment on this post as the winner and this person stands to get the BB Dakota Battalion jacket in black:

Credit

I love the gold braided details and marching-band vibe of this jacket! It can be worn over pants or dresses and would be a fun signature piece to have for Fall. I am sorry to announce that this giveaway is only limited to readers in the US however :( Check out Chickdowntown's Twitter page as well as their Facebook page to be kept up to date on their latest finds and promotions!
This contest is open till Saturday, 1st August 2009, midnight PST and all US-based comments up to this deadline will be considered.

Now to offer everyone a peek into a day of my life when I am in Singapore, these are photos from when I was out for lunch together with my sister. We choose to hang out at Orchard Road, which is a well-known shopping belt in Singapore. Lunch was at Sakae Sushi, which is a successful Singaporean conveyor-belt sushi franchise store that has taken off in Asia.

We picked the branch at Wheelock Place which is located at the start of Orchard Road. To me, Wheelock Place unofficially marks the start of Orchard Road and we fueled up for the day as we attempted to tackle the shops and malls ahead of us:

Potato croquette and agedashi tofu - deep fried and so unhealthy but I love it! I tell myself that anything tofu can't be thaaaaaat bad!

Octopus sushi - this was my first time trying it..apparently my sister is a fan. I am very partial to seafood and I enjoyed this one immensely. It really tastes better than it looks! ;)

Salmon sashimi and soft-shell crab handroll - perennial favourites, give me wasabi and I am a happy camper. And why can't all crab shells be soft? One thing I hate about eating crab is having to crack open its shell, so the soft shell crab suits my lazy self just fine!

Chawanmushi - a steamed egg dish flavored with toppings like mushroom and fish cake. It's comfort food, done Japanese style, to me.

After lunch, it was off to do a bit of shopping!

This picture shows the start of Orchard Road itself. The building in the picture on the right is ION Orchard, which just opened last week. I haven't been there to check out the place yet, but I guess it will host the usual mix of designer boutiques and mid-range brands that Orchard Road malls is known for, despite its hype :S

Stopped by Topshop and M)phosis, which is a chain of clothing stores in Singapore.

For those who are visiting Singapore, I urge you to check M)phosis out, it stocks interesting, asymmetrical drapey pieces in a limited colour palette consisting of black, white, pink, grey and yellow. The prices are reasonable and I always pick up a few pieces whenever I visit. Not this time though, as I am on a student's budget ;) Topshop didn't yield anything interesting for me too, I'm not sure if that's due to my mentality of a self-imposed shopping ban or just that there aren't anything interesting in the stores lately.

But we did stumble across a food festival when we were at Ngee Ann City (a shopping mall in Orchard Road).

This mall frequently holds events in its atrium and I guess we were lucky that it was a food festival that day! (Translation: lots of yummy sampling and delightful sights and smells to be had!)

Cute Japanese candy in all their colourful packaging:

The selection was mind-boggling especially since I had to make-do with the limited selection in US!

Hong Kong street food!

Food on a stick is just great for walking around and eating..some of the food sold included pig intestines, cow's stomach, pig's skin and the usual fried chicken, fishballs and cuttlefish balls. The pastry counter on the right had me salivating, I have such a soft spot for Cantonese pastries.. it was a visual feast!

A dorayaki machine in action:

Dorayaki is a type of Japanese pancake with a sweet red bean filling in the middle. I love to eat it with a cup of strong green tea, because the taste of tea balances the sweetness of the red bean paste. But I didn't get any that day because of.....

ICE CREAM!

Straight from Singapore's very own ice-cream factory, Udders. There are a host of weird and wonderful flavours at the stall. Wonderful because they have decadent toe-curling liqueur flavors like orange-choc bitters, amaretto black and lychee martini! Weird (to some) because they also carry local flavors such as durians (Mao Shan Wang and D24) and cempedak which I found to be the highlights of their ice-cream selection. Personally, I loved loved loved the Mao Shan Wang（貓山王）flavour, so much so that my sis and I purchased a tub home after sampling what Udders had to offer:

Mao Shan Wang is considered an extremely high-quality durian cultivar in South East Asia. I realize that durians can be a controversial fruit to some. Some people love it, while some people just hate it with a passion. Me? I belong in the first group! Hey, I grew up in Singapore and I can never understand Singaporeans who do not love durians. That's like a Frenchman who doesn't love cheese!

Check out the creamy, luscious scoops of yellow goodness:

Last spoonful, good to the very last aromatic mouthful:

The taste is hard to pin down in words, but it's wonderfully complex with layers of sweetness, creaminess combined with the milkiness of ice-cream. For any adventurous foodie who happens to be in Singapore, this ice-cream is a must-try. Heck, for those who truly dare, go for the actual fruit itself!

P.S. I will be replying to all my emails and comments shortly! Sorry for the delay, but I guess you can say that I was in a food coma! ;)