bbq @ east coast park

It was a perfect night for a bbq with good friends at East Coast Park. It was nice hanging out there at night with the view of the ocean.  This definitely needs to happen more often!

carpenter & cook: bakery meets vintage

After hearing about this cafe from lady iron chef’s blog, I was so excited to check out Carpenter & Cook here in Singapore. I loved all the mismatched vintage furniture including chairs with crosses carved out on the back because they must have been from a church. Our table had this antique foot pedal thing on the bottom because it must have been a sewing table. All around the cafe we saw vintage pieces like type writers, scales, mirrors, clocks and more that are on sale and add to the decor. The inside of the cafe was  a bit smaller than I expected. It probably would not be a good place to go if you have a really big group of people.

All the food is baked at the cafe. They had a good variety of baked goods from quiches, breads, passion fruit tartes, croissants, scones, muffins and more. My blueberry crumb muffin was definitely the best muffin I’ve had in Singapore so far. The chocolate caramel sea salt tart was my FAVORITE! I loved the sweet and savory taste of it. It melted in my mouth. The passion fruit tart had a unique and sweet taste to it. They also sold a variety of homemade jams and biscuits  as well. I would definitely come back here again!

Carpenter & Cook is located on 19 Lorong Kilat, #01-06, Singapore 598120.

Jurong Bird Park

On Saturday, I had a chance to visit the Jurong bird park here in Singapore for the first time! A special thanks to my Petrina who got us free tickets! I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I was pretty impressed. It was pretty big and had a lot of exhibits. Unfortunately, it rained and we had to cut our visit a bit short, but we still got to see a handful of exhibits and one of the shows. I would definitely have to say that the penguins were my favorite! Next on my list, is to go to the Singapore zoo and the newly open River Safari to see the pandas!!!

 

Vietnam Park 4: Inside Hanoi

Here is my final post of photos from my trip to Vietnam. Hanoi was such a fun and unique city to visit. I loved all the food, culture and colors. One of the nights we were there, we randomly saw a parade happening. It was great seeing all the people dressed in their traditional clothing.  We also got to see the outside of the Ho Chi Minh Museum. The museum was unfortunately closed on that day.

Vietnam Part 3: Halong Bay

Wordless Wednesday: Intertwined

Vietnam Part 2: The Food

Yes, this might be the important of my posts on my trip to Vietnam. This is all about the food I experienced there. I always loved Vietnamese food that I ate in the States. However, I quickly found out that the food that I liked to eat from Saigon Grill and other Pho places were different from the actual food in Vietnam. I’m assuming that they change the food a bit to fit our western palates a bit.

There were certain dishes I was expecting and I didn’t find them to be quite the same in Vietnam. Our first night, we asked the hotel front desk for a recommendation for a good dinner place. They pointed us to a street and said this was where the locals eat. So our first night there, we had our map in our hand and attempted to navigate through the confusing and busy streets in the old quarter. We luckily managed to weave our way through endless scooters and dark streets to find the street. We didn’t realize that it wasn’t really a restaurant inside, but there were multiple food stalls outside on the sidewalk with small stools and tables (very close to the street) that we would sit on.

We randomly chose one of the places, and sat down. They asked us what we wanted  and pointed to the menu, which listed 4 items which we couldn’t read. Then we said we wanted the chicken dish. They asked if we wanted rice or noodles. We said noodles and hoped for the best. After a few minutes, we were given two large bowls of pho with chicken. It was delicious. There was a clear and refreshing broth filled with thicker flat white noodles and pieces of chicken breast. It didn’t taste like any of the pho I had back at home and it only cost about 2 US dollars.

The next day, we participated in a cooking class. Again, we weren’t really sure what to expect. It cost $30 per person and it would be in a restaurant near us. My friend Laura and I got picked up and taken to the restaurante, blue butterfly. We arrived and our instructor greeted us. We were the only 2 in the class! He had a lot of the ingredients set up already like the meet and some vegetables. However, he took us on a walk to the market to buy the rest of the ingredients. The market place in itself was an adventure. We saw all sorts of things, which I’m assuming were meant to be eaten, like turtles, eels, squid, frogs and even some kittens. I’m hoping the kittens were for pets?

After our walk to the market place, we picked up noodles, sliced green papayas and a few other vegetables. We started cooking. We made spring rolls, green papaya salad and lemon grass chicken with chillis. It was fun being able to participate in cooking some authentic Vietnamese food. Our chef created some fun designs with the fruits and veggies to decorate our plates as well. We followed a recipe for 5 servings and in the end it was only my friend and I that ate the food. We ended up having way too much food! Hopefully, I’ll be able to cook up some of these dishes on my own now.

   

Vietnam Part 1: Old Quarter Charm

I stayed in the Old Quarter area in Hanoi during my trip. I had the opportunity to walk around a lot and see the many streets and sites of this part of town. There was a lot of flavor and charm in this part of the town from the busy streets, to the markets, old buildings and all the people. I tried to capture some of it on camera, the rest you’ll just have to see for yourself!

More photos of the food and Halong Bay coming soon!

wordless wednesday: rice packets

singapore tunnel art

Yoo-Kyung and I had fun exploring Singapore during her visit. We walked from the Fullerton Hotel to Clarke Quay and found some fun tunnel art along the river. I love these unexpected finds!