Teck Kee Buns II

Went back to my favorite bun place the other day! Yum yum!

You know, I was trying hard to look for their signboard so that I can take a photo of it, I was unable to do so! Hahaha! Hmmmmm. So, I took this instead. (But the man told me that the signboard is outside the building after I complained to him. So, look out for the signboard outside the building then. Hehs.)

Look at their buns! This is so Singaporean! Hehs. I loveee it!

It's actually my first time visiting the shop, so I was so excited when I saw the old looking kitchen of theirs. I have a fetish for old shops you see.

And they have this mirror that I cannot fathom the use of. To, expand the visual space of the shop? Haha. No idea. But well, it gave us a chance to look at our hair/camwhore while waiting for our orders though.

So, since we are back with a growling stomach (due to not eating much the whole day), we grabbed a bun each (ok, I grabbed 2). Haha. Ate them right on the spot (well, almost!).

As usual, the buns were heavenly to me, but 'it's-just-another-bun' to the man. Haha. You seriously don't see our Lotus going after all the buns we buy! But she remembered clearly that this place sells nice buns. The moment we alight from the bus, she told us to buy the buns immediately! And after finishing the big pork bun, she was still yearning for more. Well, so I have no choice but to share my lotus bun with her. Haha. (We love flour related products. Hahaha!)

Look at the Lotus paste. Yum yum. I love the fact that it's not too sweet and not too not sweet for me (?). Hahahahaha!

Another look at my lotus bun under different lighting. Haha.

Ok, I guess I had reviewed about a few buns the other time. I still want to erm, show you some more buns photos. Haha. (You know, my camera just came back from coma, so, I have to snap snap snap and snap!)

Char siew bun

Red bean paste bun

Insides of the red bean paste bun

I was trying so hard to decided which is my favouritest bun. I simply could not do it.

Char siew bun is nice because of the meat inside. But I felt that the bun skin is nicer for the lotus paste and the red bean paste. But the lotus paste and the red bean paste are pastes, so they should not be compared with the meat. (Well, I like all 3 you see.)

So, since it's not too big and not too expensive, when my mama asked me what I would like to have, I told her I want all 3 of them. Hahahahaha! =D

Till the next time I eat them again! WooOooHoooO!

Papaya Milk

Hahaha. It have been myth to boost your bust line. But seriously, does it realllly? No, I don't feel so. Lol.

My first encounter with papaya milk was at Taiwan (the 7-11 version). Back then, I still have the 'turn-off' thoughts because I generally do not like the taste of milk. But boy, the first taste changed my perception of milk, or rather papaya milk immediately.

I tried it out of coercing by the man. You should have seen the facial expression change. Haha. It turned from 'Argh, I'm doing it for you. This is so scary.' to 'A! This is nice!'. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Missed it a lot after I came back to Singapore. BOY! I'm so so so so so happy when I saw this when I was shopping at Cold Storage one day!

It was 3 for $3, so it is $1 per packet, which is $1 for 250 mL of papaya milk. Hmmm. A little expensive, I would say. Well, if you compare it to the ones we got it from Taiwan!! Haha. It's the same brand! Just that the packaging is a little different.

Love the texture. It's a little thicker than the normal milk you will find. And I love the union of papaya and milk. The sugar level was okay for me (considering that I don't really like sweet stuffs). The smell was nice. And the man love it. Haha. What's more, I am imagining that the bust line myth is real. LOL!

Give it a try!

Duck Rice at Holland Market

I love going to the Holland Market for lunch when I'm free! That's because I can save quite a bit of lunch money. In addition, I can get better hawker food! Wooohooo!

One of my favorite stalls there have to be the duck rice stall. You will notice that many of the tables have red plates/bowls on their tables. Well, that's because, a lot of people actually order from them! There's always a looooong queue. Well, not a visible queue because they offer to bring the dishes to you instead. And you will know there is a loooooong queue because we have to wait exceptionally looooong for the food and that you will see a lot of 'waiting numbers' at the stall itself.

I love the kway chap, but maybe we should leave this to another time. Let's talk about the duck rice first.

The last time we went there, we ordered half a duck with several other side dishes since we have a party of 4. Well, inclusive of 5 rice and a lot of soup, it only cost us $19.60 (if I did not remember wrongly).

Well, braised egg is always a must for me when I order duck rice most of the time. Haha. I love it despite the fact that I usually leave the yolk out. Haha. They all taste the same to me, so I have no much comments about it. But I love the eggs with darker colors. The ones that my mama braised at home is usually very lightly colored. LOL.

Ok, that aside, the main thing is our duckie!

Ok, the presentation may not be very pretty (oh come on, what do you really expect from hawker centers?!). BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT! Once you taste it, you'll realize that the meat is pretty tender. I like I like! I've recommended a few friends to try it and they also felt the same thing. WOOHOO! Yums.

And what's more, I love the rice (sorry, I forgot to take a photo of it. LOL!). Rice grains itself is pretty normal I think. But they spread a gravy on top of the rice to make it taste really nice. Well, I personally like to have gravy or soup over my rice. And that's why it's my cup of tea. SO! If you like dry rice, I guess, you may not enjoy it ba.

Yum yums!

And well, when I eat alone, I will tend to order a plate with an egg. That's about $2.80 if I did not remember wrongly. WHERE CAN YOU FIND SUCH CHEAP FOOD NOWADAYS?! Haha.

Nearest MRT: Buona Vista Station
Direction: Walk out of the station and cross the road somehow. Walk towards the market. The hawker center is at level 2. There should be only one stall selling duck rice and kway chap.

Teck Kee Buns

Apparently, this shop had been around for very very long because my parents were like "A! Teck Kee buns!" when we were around there. Haha. So, they went to buy some buns while I was waiting to pay for the photos.

(I apologize for the super lousy photos. My camera needs to enter ICU already. =( )

I find this really cute leh. Haha.

It's quite interesting right? I mean, how many shops actually have their brand on the paper? And, isn't that logo super cute? Haha. Never expect something terribly nice from a skinny chef. Hahaha. I can see that the bun is going to pretty delicious. LOL!

Char siew bao

The char siew bun was the first one I tasted. Piping hot from the shop. Wah! It took my heart away immediately. Hehs. I've always been a fan of char siew buns and I personally love the skin much much more than I love the meat. LOL! But I think both the skin and the meat tasted equally nice! The meat was not too sweet and not too 'not sweet'. There's substance in the meat! And oh, the skin. It took my heart away. Haha. Right texture, right hardness. I have no idea why but I can taste the minute difference in the hardness/softness of bread/buns. Lol. It cannot be too soft and of course it cannot be too hard. This skin passed my criteria of the right softness. Hehs. YUMS!

Red bean paste bun

Red bean paste

Yums. Same great skin and the red bean paste was good too!

Big chicken bun

Wah. The chicken. Wah. Slurps. Hehs. Woah. LOL! And I ate it when it was really super hot! Juicy juciy chicken! But I'm upset because I wish that the skin is a little thicker. Haha.

I found egg inside! Hehs.

I didn't get to try the lotus paste which is one of my favourite bun. Another time!


I've just labeled this place as the place that sells my favourite bun in Singapore. Haha. Not every shop is able to be labeled this ok?! Hahaha. Even Lotus also like the bun! She can finish A LOT!! Hahaha.


My mama had already placed ordered with me because I'll be going back that place 2 more times in near future. Haha. I cannot wait to buy them too! Hohohohohoho! I'm so willing to sacrifice my fiber rich breakfast for these yummy buns. Hahaha.


And oh, I have no idea how much it cost because I was not the one who bought them in the first place. Hehs. And my parents don't remember the price too. I shall find it out soon enough!


Address: 1365 Serangoon Road Singapore 328244

Udders Ice Cream

Hohoho. Nothing beats ice cream in hot and sunny Singapore. Right? LOL! And ice cream is also a kind of mood lifter. But because ice cream is so loaded with calories, we should not waste our calories on normal ice creams, right? Hahaha.

I welcome the invitation to Udders ice cream! Wooohoo! Do you know that it is actually a Singapore brand? Hehs. Most of our ice cream shops are from all over the world ba.

I have to pose under it! Haha.

The deco of the shop is rather simple. Haha. Just a few chairs and it's always filled. Not very tastefully decorated at the counter. But because of a personal touch to it by the customers, I think it's rather cosy and welcoming. Haha. I love chalkboards!

Not nicely taken. Boo. =(

They offer quite a range of flavors!

Seriously, will we smell of durian when we burp?

Yum yum. Thank god we have 6 people. This means, we can share 6 different flavors! Wooohoo!

You don't call me a glutton for nothing. Haha.

So, we tried mango, chocolate, hazelnut, orange chocolate, tiramisu and snickers bar.

Mango and snicker bar.

Hazelnut and chocolate

 Final verdict. I like the ice cream because the texture is so smooth! I don't really get this soft texture with most of the ice cream I've tried so far. Not even the big brands with loads of chains. Flavor wise was pretty strong. You can really taste the things that's supposed to be in your ice cream. For example, the tiramisu tasted almost like the cake! Coffee coffee and coffee. LOL!

I love the mango sorbet because of the refreshing taste. It's really good. All thumbs up by 6 of us! Haha. And the hazelnut too! You can find the hazelnut biscuits inside it. Woohoo! And I'm the only one who fancy the orange chocolate because I'm a great fan of orange chocolates in the first place. Haha. But everyone's complaining of the strong alcohol taste that I did not managed to capture. *Hmmmmmm* As for the rest of the flavors, I felt that it's just, ice cream lo..

Hehs. It is true that they offer a lot of special flavors that most ice cream shops does not offer. However, I felt that those that they offer tasted (flavor wise) pretty similar to some of the big shots around.

What won my heart is only the texture of the ice cream (very very very important in the food I like!) and perhaps the large range of flavors ba. But still, good job done. I'll still visit it again when I feel like eating ice cream.

Address: Here!

Wee Nam Kee chicken rice at Novena

I had tried their chicken rice way way back in history. I think when I was pretty young and my taste buds had not actually developed too much yet. LOL! I remembered it as a very nice chicken rice place. But well, this had been put to the back of my mind till W suggested going there for our foodie tour 2010.

Well, the man put it as the first stop of our day long of itinerary.

It was pretty crowded when we reach. But, the crowd managed to disperse pretty fast. LOL! There's quite a few young faces. So I guess, reviews about food really do spread. Haha.

It was super super warm by the time we got our seat. Hehs. Because we are a little pressed for stomach space (we have a day long of food battle!), we only ordered half a chicken to be shared among 6 people. Haha. They allowed us to take half of each! It seriously looked more than half a chicken, right? Hehs.

Hmmm. The chicken was not too bad. But I have an issue with the bones. Haha. It's so difficult to savor the chicken when there's so much bones. Boo! I seriously seriously feel that it would have tasted better if it was de-boned. Hahaha! But wells. We should not complain too much about it. Well, personally, I felt that it wasn't really fantastic. Not fantastic enough to be included in our foodie tour! Haha.


The rice was okok only lo. And so was the chicken. I felt that I actually enjoyed the one at Yishun central much much more than the Wee Nam Kee. Even the one from Woodlands Blk 167. Well, remember to factor in the traveling effort and the sweltering heat! Haha!

So, no, I would not love to return again. Unless I'm very near that place and I'm so hungry that I need food immediately. Hahahaha. But heys, I'm not saying that it's not nice ok? It's just that I had tasted better ones. This is still much better than the normal ones you get around Singapore. Hahaha!

Address: 275 Thomson Road #01-05 Novena Ville Singapore.
Nearest MRT station: Novena

Pu Tien @ Kitchener Road

Not too sure if you guys have noticed it, but there's quite a lot of Pu Tien branches around Singapore now. Hehs.

I thought the deco of the restaurant usually look pretty nice. Haha. But I had never ever entered it before. And since I was looking out for a Chinese restaurant to bring my family for my birthday, why not? And the flagship shop should be the best. So, off we went! =D

It wasn't really nice to be munching on these peanuts because we have to peel it. Haha. I'm super lazy you know? But I think, the peanuts are actually better than the canned ones that we usually eat. LOL!

The captain kept asking us to order the set meal for 8 because it is actually more economical for us. And they actually gave us the choice to exchange some dishes on the set with other things that we want. I thought that was really nice because I did not wanted the set for it does not contain some of the things I wanted to eat! Haha.

We took the 198 set. And it came with 4 appetizers.

'Cold-Duck'

 I forgot the name for it le. Haha. Xian Shui Ya? Haha. Should be ba. Well, it's a cold dish, and Lotus actually said that the duck was not cooked! LOL! But heys, this was nice! Nicely flavored! Yums. My man's favourite out of the 4.

Seaweed

We added this dish at the last minute. Boy, thank god we did it. Haha. I love it! It has a very nice aroma. The crispy small prawns on top made the taste even better!

Braised Pig Intestines

Woah. I love this! The intestines is so biong-biong! Hahaha.

Cockles

Woah. This was the top of everyone's must eat when we open the menu. Haha. And it turned out to be pretty good! Hassle-free too! We don't have to peel it like when we are eating it at home or at hawker center. Hehs. YumS!

And that's only the appetizers ok? I was already feeling really happy and contented!

Fish with peas

The fish was really really soft. I like it! And I wonder how did they get the proportions of the sauce? It's almost perfect I would say!! Haha.

Shark fins

I'm not really a fan of shark fins, mainly because I don't like the thought of the sharks being preyed because of the fins. And also I am such a commoner that I don't really enjoy these kinda shark fins. I prefer those that we cook at home, or rather those that resembles dong fen. Haha. Not too bad though.

Steamed Prawns

I'm seriously not fans of prawns when I'm outside because I don't like to dirty my hands. Haha. But they sorta shelled it, so it is possible for us to peel it using the chopsticks and the spoon. But the thing is that ar, it is still a little difficult to do it. Maybe it's that fresh ba. Haha. Pretty normal I think.

Lychee Pork

This is crazyly nice! Haha. I loveeee it! Not just because of the flavoring, but because I think the meat was so soft. My mama don't like it because she find it too soft though. Well, it all depends on individuals ar.. But the thing is that, we do agree upon the fact that the meat is soft! Haha. I exchanged this with some vegetables on the set menu. Which was really nice of them to allow it! =D I'm going to order this again, definitely! YumS!

Stir-fried yam

This is another signature dish of Pu Tien. And damn, it's not found on the set menu too! Haha. So wells, we ordered it as an ala carte. Hohohoho! First mouth and I'm hooked! The yam inside was sorta mashed. And then the outer layer was not cripsy but hard enough to make it a nice texture. And there's a sweet coating around it. I felt that I was on heaven. LOL! I wanted to finish the entire plate myself. Well, if I had space in my stomach of course. Haha. Lotus love this too! Haha.

Pu Tien Lor Mee

Yea. This is another signature dish. I actually thought that it was not too bad even though the rest thought that it was pretty normal. But I was very amazed with the ingredients they use because I found clams and dried scallops inside! Woah! The noodles they use and the color of the dish is very different from the normal lor mee we eat outside. I welcome the change. But, I still love the vinegar taste from the convention lor mee.

Garlic Spring Chicken

 Nothing much about this chicken. But no complains of course! The skin is crispy enough, which is good. The meat was pretty tender too. Maybe because I ate the drumstick? Haha!

Fungus with lotus seeds

The collagen loaded dessert! Haha. I welcome the refreshing coldness of the dessert. Haha. I like the texture and I think the sweetness was just right for me. Yums.

Oh, did I mentioned that the chrysanthemum tea was really nice? Haha!

Well, I spend a total of $260 to feed 7 adults and 1 child till their tummies and shirts nearly exploded. LOL! Although we may be able to find some buffet places around this price, I still think, I would choose this. Haha. One, my parents prefer Chinese food. Two, I go for quality and not quantity. I wonder how does the Pu Tien buffet fares though. It's around $40 per pax I heard. Haha. Not ready to do it though. I can never survive in buffets. Hahaha!

I would label this place as a must-try! I cannot promise you the quality of other branches of course. But the Kitchener Road branch left us really happy and satisfied. My god. Haha. All their dishes' seasoning was so fine-tuned. Be it sweetness, sourness, saltiness. Wooohooo! I'll definitely go back again in future. Haha. Yums!

=D

This was how I celebrated my 23rd birthday.

I always thought I have to go Thailand just to eat them!

Haha. I have been missing Thai food ever since I left Phuket. The images of our last dinner just keep surfacing, but I haven't really found the chance to go ThaiExpress (haha, my favourite place!). I had a pleasant surprise when my brother called and told me that Rainie is going to cook for us. And, I get to place my order! Hohohoho.

No idea why but the first thing that came to my mind was Phat Thai. Oh, it's a must eat at Thailand anyway. Beautifully done, isn't it?

Phat Thai

To be fair, the one we had at Phuket was way nicer. But, this was not too bad either! Just that it was one of the first dish cooked. Thus, it got a little dry after being exposed to the air for too long. But it made me happy enough. Hehs.

Mummy asked for mango salad, another must eat over at Thailand!

Mango Salad

Woo. It's so spicy but we cannot stop eating it. Yum yum. Haha. My mama just learned how to cook from her. Hahaha. But, less spicy pleaseeeee.....

And then she cooked the stir fried pork with basil leaves. It was the first dish we actually had in Phuket because we were that hungry and the place was just outside our hotel. Hahahaha! Yums. I thought hers was better, but a spicier version. Hahaha!

Stir fried pork with basil leaves.

And then, the legendary seafood tom yum soup.

Seafood tom yum.

Erm. It look as spicy as it taste. LOL. Or rather, it tasted as spicy as it looked. I was never a great fan of tom yum soup anyway. But, I'm still attracted by the spiciness ALL THE TIME! ARGH! Is it possible to have the same taste, without the spiciness??!! Haha.

She just felt like drinking this soup. Haha.

I thought this was the end of the Sunday dinner. Who knows, I had another pleasant surprise on Monday! Hohohoho! The super super super super super nice thai steam fish. Gosh. The soup was so well done. The fish is so pretty. Haha. It really tasted the same as the one we had the last dinner! YUM YUM! I would have finished everything if I did not have to leave for the family. Haha.

Steam fish.

And to top it off, I asked for pineapple rice today. Haha.

Pineapple rice

Look so pretty right? I was so surprised at how pretty it look. Well, considering the fact that I'm eating at HOME. Haha. The pineapple was really sweet! I like. Erm, mama added a little too much water for the rice though. But I still think it was pretty nicely flavored and I haven't ate so much rice since so long ago! Hahaha. I love the taste that the leaves gives. Hehs. I fell in love with it after tasting it for the first time in Taiwan. You must understand that I am someone who don't like vegetables once upon a time. I must be growing old eh? Haha.

I really really want to learn how to cook all these stuffs from her sia. Haha. The man is going to be so proud of me! And, he will probably stop asking me to eat out! Haha. He have not satisfy my emotional need of wanting to cook for him. LOL! He always tell me it's cheaper to eat out. Hahaha! I have loads of chance to learn it in near future. Ha!