Dearie's birthday :>

Was dearie's birthday last Friday. Though I gave him the tiramisu already, on Thursday, I decided to bake another something for him! Hehe. Check out the orange cake with cheese cream frosting, chocolate chips, raspberries and grated orange skin on top!

Though it didn't look so nice, AHEM. But it tasted nice! I was surprised :p cuz it was my first attempt in cake baking. It had a nice orange taste, the cake was yummy and moist, and the cheese cream on top tasted delicious. Oops, self-praise is international disgrace!

Then on his birthday, we ate at Imperial Treasure restaurant at Takashimaya for lunch. It was my third time trying dimsum there.

Loved the mini egg tarts. The crust and egg were perfect.

Har gao was NICE! It has a nice thin skin, and fat bulging prawn inside which explodes in your mouth, YUM.

See the close up? I didn't lie to you about the bulging prawn!

The siew mai was above average too, but I think the har gao was better.

This is the BEST liu sha bao I've eaten in Singapore and comparable to the best liu sha bao I've eaten in Hongkong! The custard was creamy and flowy and hot, and melted in your mouth. It tasted sweet and yet had the salted egg yolk taste at the same time. Perfect!

Zha liang. Rice roll wrapped around you tiao (fried dough). It's DELICIOUS and one of my favorite dim sum dish.

I didn't try the carrot cake and the pork ribs cuz I was full already.

The service was not that great, so I will rate it 3.5/5. But you can't get so good and affordable dim sum in other restaurants around town! Imperial Treasure can be found at: 391 Orchard Road #05-12/13/14 Ngee Ann City.

For dinner, we decided to go to Union Farm Eating House which is pretty famous for its zhi bao ji (paper wrapped chicken).

The bee hoon has this plain but nice taste.

Egg noodles. I found it below average.

The kailan vegetables were HORRIBLE (in caps). They tasted uncooked, hard, raw, like grass.

The zhi bao ji which many people come to order and takeaway. I think it's not bad. Tasted slightly oily but the chicken was quite yummy. Since the chicken is pretty small, you can eat like 5 pieces easily.

Close up. Looks oily eh?

Union Farm Eating House can be found at 435A Clementi Road. I like the ambience as it's tucked away in a corner, like a kampong style restaurant which is seldom found in Singapore. However, the food is only so-so. If you visit, must try their signature dish i.e. zhi bao ji, otherwise there's no point visiting. I will rate it 2/5.

Happy birthday to ME!

it was my birthday three days ago, just one day before public holiday deepvali. I always look forward to birthdays as it means something special to me. But as you age, you are in a dilemma. Although you look forward to it, you also dread it because it's one year older, GEE.

A lovely balloon and 20 pink roses surprise from dearie! Mum received it from the deliveryman for me.

My beautiful pink roses!

Love the beautiful bouquet wrapping which was pink as well.

On my birthday itself, we ate at New york new york, but didn't take pics. I had fish and chips, he had chicken and potato wedges. He also had ice cream, chocolate sauce and fried bananas!

I was NOT satisfied with the meal at all. So on the next day, we went to Garibaldi's at Purvis Street.

Tiramisu at Garibaldi's on public holiday night. The tiramisu was aight, nothing worth mentioning. I think the tiramisu I made was richer and tasted nicer, haha! So thick-skinned eh?

And we also had the yummiest chocolate lava cake ever and the best ice cream ever! I believe it's hazelnut ice cream. Wow, the ice cream tasted like very rich ferrero rocher chocolate. It smelled so nutty and fragrant and tasted DIVINE. Also, the chocolate lava cake was warm and yummylicious. Best ever! Even though the prices at Garibaldi's are really quite steep, you die-die must try this dessert in your life!

Finished it all up. Just short of licking the plate clean. We also had a nice fish we shared, but unfortunately, the photos were corrupted after changing my phone. He bought me Samsung Note II! Finally, I can say goodbye to SII which was a little spoilt already.

Loving my new gadget! It's so fun to play with! Having been an ex apple and samsung user, I must say samsung is way better than apple! but there are pros and cons, i remember it was easier to sms on apple. But other than that, i'm so totally samsung all the way!

Garibaldi's can be found at: 36 Purvis Street #01-02. It has a very romantic ambience and the service is top-notch. I must say, the service is one of the best so far I've encountered. I will rate it a 3.5/5.

First attempt at making tiramisu!

This was my first attempt at making a tiramisu! And of course, it was for dearie. Although his birthday is still about a week away, I decided to give him an early birthday surprise!

Placed raspberries on top of the cocoa powder into a gigantic heart! Are you not touched?! Lol.

Close up. Seems like I was too generous with the cocoa powder, haha.

We were thinking where to put the birthday candle. Actually we blew it together. Cus my birthday's like tomorrow and his is four days later.

He said it tastes quite nice. I was like don't bluff, haha. To me, it tasted too cheesy and didn't have the coffee fragrance or taste. I also didn't put in egg yolks or liquor. Hmmm, since this is my first attempt at making a tiramisu and also first few attempts in making anything at all, haha, I guess there is still lots of room for improvement! Laters.

DIY pancakes for you?

Such an interesting eatery we came across the other day, near Halloween's. We were first attracted by the halloween decorations. There were not many restaurants around either. Hence, we decided to try out this pancakes place where you DIY your own pancakes!

Check out the cute Halloween's decoration. 

Trick or treat? For me, it's always a TREAT, duh!

I love the cute wallpaper and concept where NOOK, the pancakes place, is like an imaginary town.

Glad we came across this interesting pancakes place by chance.

Getting ready and waiting for our pancakes...

Are you ready?!

We ordered two different batters - one is banana, one is original I believe. I can't remember. The orange one on the left is the banana flavor. We had different  mixes like oreo bits, walnuts, caramelized apple slices and maple syrup.

Pouring the original batter.

Two small pancakes.

Pan fried till they are golden brown? Hmm, and abit burnt for the left one, lol.

We forgot to put the ingredients while frying the pancakes, silly us! So we had to put the toppings on top, gee whiz.

A heart pancake dearie made for me! Actually he made all the pancakes. I just sat, watched, enjoyed watching, and enjoyed eating. HOHO.

It actually looks nicer this way eh? The uncooked one doesn't look so nice. This one looks like it has many smaller hearts in it. 

Overall rating for the food - 2/5? I didn't enjoy the pancakes that much at all. Nothing special about the batter. Nor do I remember the banana batter to be unique taste. The toppings were boring, but to be fair, I can't remember what other toppings they had. I won't go back SPECIALLY to eat the pancakes. However, it is such a fun place to be in on a chilly Friday night. You can hang out there with your loved one or friends. With such a unique concept, I would rate the restaurant an overall 3/5. 

Nook DIY House Of Pancakes can be found at 21 Lorong Kilat #01-03, Bukit Timah, Singapore. It is in walking distance from Udders at Bukit Timah.