chilis @ jcube

went down to jurong east area cause need to send my bf watch for repair... wanted to eat at IMM but change of plan & went to chilis @jcube instead..... personally I quite like Mexican food, I guess the seasoning is nice & then more variety to the food.... there are quite a number of Mexican restaurants in SG but I think chilis is one of the more convenient stores since they have opened several outlets by now.... back to the food.....

skillet queso

 definitely my favourite dish at chilis, is like a must order for every meal... it is beef cheese dips + corn chips + salsa... really love this dish but normally cant finished with just two of us... but good to share

chicken club quesadilla

we decided to try a new quesadilla this time... is chicken club.... I would prefer our old favourite, some apple bake bacon or something... but this dish is relatively healthy since is grilled chicken....however, the chicken is very dry.... like super dry kind.... so deh deh.... I didn't like it so wont order it next time

another good thing about eating at chilis is the waiver of service charge unless you have more than a party of eight people which is something I like... cause I will save 10% of the bill ma.... & normally there isn't a long queue for chilis, at least for weekdays dinner, so is a good place to chill out with some friends =)

FOOD

back to review on some of the food that I ate yesterday.... went down to orchard to buy xmas presents for my friends, as usual everywhere is packed with people but lucky we had our dinner early so we didn't have to fight with a lot of people....

1st stop = Sapporo petit doughnut @ taka basement

 

wanted to try this store quite sometime ago but normally we are quite full so didn't get the chance.... actually is nothing really fancy about it but then as long as something comes from japan... the packaging just makes it look much nicer & tastier... there are total of 8 flavours: custard, cheese, chocolate cream, strawberry milk, red bean, pumpkin cream, cafelatte cream & apple cream... the doughnuts are really petite... bite size.... taste wise I would say is not too bad but is so small that, you hardly get much of the filling... & price wise is on the steep side... 8pieces for $4.80.... 60cent/pc.... for something so small, is definitely too expensive but I think is ok to try it once... just try something new....

2nd stop: MEDZ @ orchard central basement
is marche style but I feel is on the cheaper ends & focus on mediterranean food.... same concept, go around the stores to order anything you like, pay with the card & get the "token", when it light up then go get your food... simple concept.... I would say the price isn't much cheaper from a normal restaurant but you don't need to pay service charge so that is like 10% discount already... so I kind of like this place....

 our all time favourite = rosti.... for rosti with sour cream, it cost $5.90... is for 1 pax, I think the diameter is about 15cm, but I think is ok to share....

 the little stone on the table which indicate the seats were taken... quite a cute thing actually

 the purpose we went back to MEDZ is because of this = calzone... we wanted to try last time but we already ordered pizza so is kind of stupid to order calzone which is somewhat similar... first impression... very big curry puff... which is somewhat like that

we ordered pesto chicken... erm.... the chicken tasted kind of dry & blend but is healthy.... my favourite thing is the cheese... I like the mozzarella cheese... so yes.. that's why I like to eat pizza =) this cost $13.90.... I wont say is very expensive

3rd stop: toast box at robinson basement
we had the rosti & calzone for dinner... honestly that was not enough for 2 adults but yesterday I wasn't feeling well so for my appetite was enough but not so for my bf ma... so we crossed over to buy drink from cold storage cause the drinks are super expensive at MEDZ... after that we saw toast box so had a snack there....

I think I tried the peanut butter toast before... ok.... quite generous with the spread but I think if there are more peanut chunks on top will be nicer.... for $1.70.... I think is ok....

donating blood for the first time

is my first time donating blood so i thought i should blog about it so that i can remember this special day.... actually wanted to donate in oct, the day i submitted my thesis but was busy then after that got sick then lazy then scare... so in the end, dragged till today then finally fulfill my own promise that to celebrate the submission of my thesis, i will donate blood....

let me just sidetrack a little, the reason i want to donate blood was because of a documentary show that i saw some time ago... the blood bank do need more blood as many patients are suffering from those blood diseases and they do need blood transfusion to survive... then i saw those poor people trying so hard to survive, whats the big deal for a healthy individual like myself to just donate 400mL of my blood.... just 1 pack of blood, it can be used to save up to 3 lives... how meaningful is that man..... it may sound very cliché but really thats what i think so that sparks me to seriously go take action

i mean to many people, donating blood is no big deal, but it is to me cause i very scare of pain... when i was young, i cry & scream & refuse to let the doctors to draw my blood.... i was so violent till i think about 5 adults have to pin me down just to poke my finger to take a few drop of blood... really pathetic but i am that scare of pain.... i am not afraid of the sight of other people blood but i find it very gross to see my own blood flowing out... as if like part of me is leaving my body... literally it is since the blood is indeed leaving my body.....

ok... so i went to the NUH blood donation center, filled up the form, measured blood pressure, jab the finger to test iron content & finally seated on the crouch...... THE crouch.... i was like almost hyperventilating.... the nurse told me just to relax... i tried but nah.... NEVER!!!!! but i am so much older now, so of cause dont need people to pin me down to poke the needle.... the first jab was the local anesthesia, ok... quite painful but still managable... then come the BIG needle... but hey... the anesthetic effect was quite good, can feel the needle poke in but no pain.... then have to pump the ball so that the blood wont clog... i thought that would be one of the longest & most painful  5-10min of my life... but nope... actually not that bad... of cause still worried & scared & nervous but really was not as bad as i imagined......

the bandage

 some of my friends asked why no colourful bandage... i was like "er... does that matter?".... i thought the purpose of blood donation was to save more lives? who cares about colourful bandage!!!! i think i am consider quite healthy and young so after resting about 10min & had a cup of milo, i felt quite normal... but of cause the arm is still numb

the needle hole

after about 3hr, i took off the bandage...the needle hole was about 1mm diameter but can feel abit of pain....

really proud of myself for donating blood.... as this experience was not as bad as i imagined... i might consider doing this as an yearly activity.... should not be so ambitious to donate every 3months... afterall, i am still afraid of pain.....

mustafa

continued from the earlier post about the GOKUL restaurant that i tried.... so after we ate, we decided to have a short walk to digest the food before going home... again.... shua ku me have never been to mustafa... i have heard alot about it but never stepped into the building before...

the building actually looked very different from what i imagined it to be... since it is situated in little india & generally served the indian community, i would expect the building to have more indian style decoration but nope... it just look like any other shopping center..... my friend warned us to only go in if we have in mind something to get or see but we just ignored him cause how different this shopping center can be & he was right... mustafa is HUGE!!!! other than there was ALOT of people, there was ALOT MORE products on the shelves!!! i was really shocked in that place... i am like inside a SUPER HUGE giant/ntuc xtra.....

shuku-ness aside... i am really amazed by the products they sell... really anything you name it, they have it & with many variety.... especially the supermarket, i saw many things that i have never seen before in other supermarkets, even those high class ones like jason or market place... they just cant compete with the amount & variety of products mustafa has.... we saw many new drinks, food, sauces, spices... i think i could spend a whole day just looking at the stuff....... but 2 things caught our attention...

1st = ginger beer!!! ntuc also got sell but then not this brand.... so must buy & try... my friend saw cherry coke... also something amazing.... there are also other drinks we never seen before.... 1 word : amazing....

2nd: kraft sauce.... of cause the sauce isnt special, i believed can find it at most supermarkets but what make this bottle special, was the price.... i could not believed my eyes when i saw it.... make a guess......  S$5??? S$4??? S$2.50?????
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dehdeh..... is S$1..... seriously... 1buck!!!! never seen such cheap sauces before!!! i mean got reason cause is expiring in Feb 2014... but hey...... still damn cheap!!! even tried once, throw away also worth the price ma....

in short, mustafa is an amazing place but really just too many people... you can hardly move around especially with big trolleys... but you can sure find WHATEVER you want to buy..... despite the recent unfortunate accident that happened on last sun... little india is still an interesting place to venture into but do take precaution like in any other crowded places.....

Gokul

it has been awhile since i last wrote a food review... last time i wrote like tonnes on openrice due to the rewards but kind of died down for quite awhile due to my busy schedule.... but went down to this pretty nice restaurant last week so i guess should let more people know about this wonderful place.... 

GOKUL, there are two outlets and i went to the one at 19 Upper Dickson.... is actually intro by my friend cause he went down with his girlfriend before & suggested we go down to try together.... although i have stayed in SG for almost 15yrs, i have never stepped into little india before.... not being racist here but just that i dont venture into other communities cause most of the time i go to a place is to shop, at least window shop & i cant find what i like in that area.... so random talk aside... my nice friend drove me & bf there... the roads there are kind of messy & lots of vehicles around so just be careful when walking around

the restaurant

the restaurant is pretty cozy... look like those family business style... clean place.... toilet is clean too which is something i really appreciate... the food actually look like any other indian restaurant that you can find BUT is vegetarian... those mock meat looks damn real!!! can take a look at some of the pic i took of the menu

so after looking at the menu, we just let our friend recommend us some of the nice dishes that he tried.... & another nice thing about this restaurant is that they serve free flow of parpadum... i dont know how to spell... but is the cracker thing.... pic reference below

parpadum or whatever way to spell it

really LOVE it... i always love this cracker!!! & free flow of this is like HEAVEN!!!! YEAH!!! so ya... other than that we ordered several dishes to share....

indian rojak

 is my first time trying indian rojak... my bf quite like to it but then i always get turn off by the super heavily coloured food so i never gotten to tried it...but this is the vegetarian version so i guess isnt the same as what you find at normal coffee shop.. i like the beancurd slices but other stuff are just average for me... my bf love the sauce, he say very nice... but personally i prefer chinese rojak

sherlak paneer or something

 this thing is very nice but sinful... is like nacho cheese sauce with feta.... can imagine the amount of fat content inside.... the sauce is very creamy, cheesy so i LOVE it.... but of cause just eating the sauce isnt that nice... is best when eat with naan....

plain naan

they served quite a variety of naan but my favourite is still the plain naan.... it goes so well with the cheesy thing we ordered... super nice.... last time i quite like prata... but when i know about the existence of naan about 2yrs ago... bye bye prata... naan has taken over your place.... it is also healthier than prata since it is baked... really nice.... we also ordered two curry puff but i forgotten to take pic of them.... the potato 1 is really nice... the crust tasted so buttery.... sardine 1 was ok but remember... is mock sardine but it tasted & looked like real sardine... amazing.... so we ordered all these stuff to share for 3 pax & is actually quite filling

masala coffee

to end off the meal, we tried the masala coffee... i was really curious about it since masala is like for food, never knew that it can be for drink.... verdict: is actually quite nice... it doesnt have a very strong coffee taste & the masala spice smelt like cinnamon... it actually reminded me of the himalayan tea that mcdonald had couple of months ago... i guess is good for a non-coffee drinker like myself

1 more amazing thing about the restaurant is this while husk like stuff... it was at the cashier... i actually saw it at other indian restaurants before but never knew its usage... so we asked the cashier & she said is something like a mouth fresher.... WOAH!!! we learn something new!!!

taobao shopping!!!

like most girls, i love to shop... which girl doesnt like to look & buy pretty stuff... but the difference is that i have stopped shopping in singapore... the things here are just too expensive & not suitable for my liking... so couple of years back, i have started to embrace online shopping from taobao ... taobao is like a shopping HAVEN!!! you name it, they have it & what makes it best is that the things there are much cheaper than what you can find in singpore or anywhere in the world!!!!... of coz other than china & some other countries....


trust me... after you shopped on taobao, you wont like to shop in singapore... well at least for me... now taobao has started to ship internationally but shipping is still quite expensive so normally i buy through agent then ship my stuff over.... personally i engage daigou service.. i believed there are many taobao agents around now but i am quite happy with their sevices & prices so nah... not going to change another agent... normally i use sea shipping cause is much cheaper than air shipping, approx half price but of cause have to compensate with a longer waiting time.... but hey,.. save $ lea... & normally i will buy things in advanced so sea shipping is my preferred option.....

so now.... back to my this time loot.... muahahaha i LOVE the things i bought.... take a look below...

look at the amount of stuff i bought... 1 coat, 1 knit jacket, 2 top, 1 scarf, 1 hat, 3 pairs of shoes, 8pairs of socks, 1 wallet & 2 necklaces... & guess the total price??? S$300? S$400? S$500???
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WRONG! everything including the shipping of approximately S$10+ (this time got 50% discount) & 6% agent fee.... all those things cost S$150 in TOTAL!!!! amazing isnt it??? where can you find such cheap stuff in SG? no way!!!! with such amazing price & pretty stuff, how can you not love taobao.... i dont see the reason to resist.... UNLESS you are the "i only want authentic goods & superb quality items" then ok... sorry... high chance you wont like taobao... but... is good enough for me....let me share the close up pic of some of the lovely stuff

my 3 new pairs of shoes... the pink fur boots will be for my taiwan trip... S$5 only!!!!

my pretty shoe... so CUTE!!!

my kawaii peter rabbit socks.... 

i strongly urge and encourage people to shop on taobao.... my logic is why pay more for something that isnt what i like & when i can find cheaper alternatives.... to end off.. let me share the taobao sellers whom i gotten my stuff from

1. peter rabbit socks
2. liz lisa necklace
3. super cheap snow boot
4. strap top
5. blue sneaker
6. brown coat
7. brown shoe
8.hat + scarf.. they sell very nice mori style clothes
9. wallet... lots of rilakkuma stuff
10. knit jacket + top
11. harajuku style clothes

for link #11... i didnt make any purchase there this time but i really LOVE their clothes!!! so cute!!!!

bored

it has been like years since i last blog when it was like the trend to haf 1 during my JC time. wanted to start one earlier in order to motivate me while writin my thesis... ambitious me wanted to "review" at least one article/day in order to complete my intro earlier.. but obviously tt didnt happen, as a result, submitted my thesis late... wth.... who to blame... my own lazy ass.... BUT i shall still continue to b ambitious since i still need to read to prepare for my presentation..... ALSO... wan2 share some of the wedding info/tips tt i haf as i m preparing for my own weddin =)

so IF anyone do read my pathetic blog... hope it wont b too borin for u as i doubt there will b any fancy pic to show