A Week to Ponder

Currently, I'm still trying to do some magic on the kitchen. The meals are mostly basic though but I think I'm doing okay. I'm also on a budget trial and error this week. So far, I think I can limit myself to a certain amount every week. I just need a little restraint on the 'gimiks' with the highschool barkada here. I admit our Friday dinners are still worth it.

We had dinner at Miss Clarity Cafe , a local family restaurant that serves American-French food. I shared a big set meal with Reena. We first had some salad then the main dish which is Old Macdonald with extra rice to share - this meal is a smorgasbord of chicken, sausage, lamb, beef, bacon, french fries. Lastly, we had chocolate ice cream. It was a fun and delicious meal.

After church last Sunday, we all went to hang at Bukit Batok (Jabeerdon's place) and played PS2. And here's a picture of Reena and me competing on Crash Bandicoot Racing and yes, we are concentrating like hell.

It's also Vesak Day (Buddha's Birthday) today, which means holiday in Singapore. It was another day of rest (well more time to finish chores). :)

Food Trip

This week I tried my hand with cooking. I decided to cook the minced pork that my mom and I bought back when she was here.

Beef with minced potatoes

I bought some the next day at the office. Some of my office mates said that it was not bad. Hmm...What does 'not bad' mean? It's just edible yet without taste?

Okay, my next meal (which were not done consecutively). I cook when I have time or when I'm not tired.

Fishball Sharksfin Soup

I usually cook enough for two meals. If I wasn't that hungry, I eat bread. (walnut banana bread or peanut butter & jelly sandwiches). During office lunch hour, I usually eat near the office in Balestier Road. There are some small chinese restos that serve food around $3 to $7 (P90 to P210). That's relatively cheap in Singaporean standards. I usually stick to $5 and below. I had a very savory mutton one lunch time (recommended by one of my office mates). It was cheap as well coz I had mutton curry, garlic spinach, one piece of meatball, and rice. It only amounted to $3.50 and it was quite filling.

Fridays are days when I have little splurges in the food department. This Friday, I met up with my high school batch mates and we had dinner at Hot Tomato Express. Okay, no pics. It was a last minute thing so we didn't bring any cameras. The four of us in the table shared meals. We had tomato soup, one whole spring chicken, sirloin steak with pasta, and seafood risotto. Hmmm...yep, dinner cost us around $11 each person. Not so bad.

Here's a link with the review of the place:

It was on Saturday after I opened my new bank account when I did a little grocery shopping. I wanted to buy orange juice and bread. That's it. But I decided to buy beef since not all supermarkets sell them. The consumers here are more into chicken first, pork second. Then, I saw this delicatessen inside the supermarket that had some Danish streaky bacon and the price wasn't bad. So I got some. One of my food weaknesses is bacon, I admit. My sister said it takes around 7 years to digest. Darn, right? But who doesn't love bacon? No pics of the bacon. You've seen bacon so no need for pictures. So I had bacon with eggs for my Saturday lunch. I also cooked this meal (image below) so I will do one cooking for the day. It saves time and less washing to do.

* This one I don't really know what to call. I just tried it. And yes, it looks like the first one above but this one with mushrooms.

Tonight, I had carbonara pasta with toasted bread. No pics since I actually forgot to take one. I already gulped the whole thing before I remembered. It wasn't a big production since I made use of a ready-made sauce that my mom bought as well. It was a little tangy (maasim). I added some parmesan, italian seasoning and it was good for me.

This was one week's worth of food tripping. I do hope I don't get too fat here. Hmm...but people are here are skinny. :) *Yes, I'll keep telling myself that.

Solitude Continued

It was an emotional roller coaster (probably due to my nearing monthly visitor). But I believe it's because I'm homesick.

Still, I had an eventful week. I itemized each with a corresponding title. :)

(1) BOOK CRAZY: I bought a book because of the very tempting sale that was presented before me. Here's the book that I bought at 20% off.

* I have the first book prior to this one and I loved the detailed storytelling and imaginative narration. I'm not even halfway and I'm hooked.

(2) LEGALITIES: I have my employment pass already. It was officially approved last April 29 which means I can now stay here in Singapore. :)

(3) MOVIE-GOER: Another exciting event that happened was I got free tickets to watch Ironman at the Grand Cathay last April 30. It was my first movie experience here in Singapore. Unfortunately, I misplaced the movie ticket due to the hubbub as we entered the movie house. I usually collect movie tickets. Oh well.

(4) FRIENDS: The next day was spent at Bukit Batok where we had our Labour Day swimming party. We had lunch and merienda prepared by one of our very own chef Jason.

(5) SALE: Today, I went to the Fox Warehouse sale at Tampines Road. I didn't really expect to buy anything but I did. I was able to get 4 outfits for myself and one for a special someone. :) Good thing I did since it was worth it. This penny-pinching, expense-scared (takot sa gastos) girl got what she was waiting for. Here's one of the tops I bought with the Fox label.