Who Exactly is Hiro?

Hey there! My name is Hiro and i stay in USJ. I am not just a Hipopotamus but also the master of disguises.

Voila, i have been transformed into William Shakespeare, wearing this ultra bulky neck adornment as part of my every day wear. Boy, it makes me hot~

When it gets too hot, i put on my shower cap and head to the showers for a nice cold jet of water running down my back.

I have been in Malaysia for a while and am now adapting to the Baju Melayu tradition, wearing this piece of songket across my body. Dikir Barat, anyone?

Do i look funny wearing a skimpy skirt without a top?

Alhamdulilah, i am now a Taleban member, staying somewhere in the vicinity of Afghanistan?

 

When December approaches, i put on my nicest hat and celebrate Christmas!

La Cocina Part Two

This is the continuation of my tapas meal at La Cocina. As i was saying, the candlelight there was so dim my food all turned out the same shade of brown. Even this Baby Squid in Cream Sauce. With its rich and creamy gravy, this dish has baby squid sauteed with shallots, garlic, herbs and cream sauce.

You know, this looks like those sweet potato cakes you find from those Malay stalls in Taman Gelora, but it's not! It was the Chicken Croquette- Spanish style of fried chicken with herb, deep friend and served with garlic mayonnaise. Yummmmmm~~~ 

Now now now this is one of the gems of the night - Fresh Button Mushrooms (Champignones Al Ajillo). This wonderfully fragrant tapas with a nice mushroom crunch is freshness sauteed with garlic, onion, herbs and olive oil. A must try!


They serve unlimited servings of bread to go with the tapas. Their bread is soft and fluffy on the inside, yet crunchy and smells incredible on the outside.


I was delighted to see Pina Colada on the cocktail menu because it is my favourite. Considered a 'girly' cocktail, Pina Colada is concocted from Myers dark rum, Triple Sec, pineapple juice and coconut milk. Oh yea.....

Lastly, the highlight of the night is their dessert - Brownie served with Vanilla ice cream. Ohh La La.... their brownie is the fudgie type, moist and chocolatey. The best part is the yellow sauce covering the plate. It tasted like the 'C' you put in Kopi C.... i licked this plate clean!

La Cocina Part One

Upon my arrival in KL, my sister Crispy whisked me off to La Cocina for my Spanish Tapas experience. This charming, rustic restaurant is small, cosy and has a soothing ambience with its dark lighting.

Ki Yaw's Spanish Armour - made up of Vodka, Fresh Strawberry, Triple Sec, Lime Juice & Sugar.

We begin our meal with a Soup of the Day - Spanish Corn Chowder. It has a hint of sweetness in it, and is lightly sprinkled with black pepper. Something nice and warm to lace the stomach before our dinner.

Sorry, it was too dark in the restaurant. This must be the New Zealand Mussels, cooked in tangy Spanish Sauce.

Crispy's Margarita ( Shaken) - made up from Tequila, Triple Sec and Lime Juice... hmmm....pretty similar to Ki Yaw's cocktail.

 

I hardly touched this one because it is Soft Shell Crab, something i didn't like the taste of and also because of the way these crabs were cultivated. This deep-fried soft shell crab or Cangrejo Fritos is basically the crabs coated with flour, deep-fried and served with garlic mayonnaise.

Prime Time TV Magic

This year's Dinner & Dance meant more to me than the previous others because this year, I was part of the organising committee. It was a long, hard road, with lots of struggles and overtime put in. In the end, the resulting affair had some flaws, but what a sense of achievement!

The theme of the night was Prime Time TV Magic, and people were encouraged to put on their TV personality costumes. Everyone in the committee dressed up in all sorts of crazy get-ups. I was a female dracula and this is my male counterpart! Haha.... We both purposely got ourselves heavy eyeliners for the Gothic look. He even put on black nail polish!

The Managing Director and his Vice Presidents all came in hilarious costumes, ranging from a cowboy to Phua Chu Kang to Army Daze to a dashing pilot, and a Red Indian! They put together a performance dancing to YMCA!

Check this out : The younger generation from the QC department didn't really bothered getting into the theme! Ahahahah.... ask the boss to cut their pay!

Isn't this an pretty sight? Yvonne came dressed as Little Nyonya, Andrea as the fair and beautiful Snow White while Tze Ching, the Red Hot Devil! Smokin'!

The attendees that night sure enjoyed themselves, plus we had some good prizes to give out too!

 

The Managing Director, before he switched to his Cowboy costume, was Man In Black. The funniest thing was all the Engineering men also came in Man In Black suits, i guess it's the easiest thing to get from their wardrobe without costing a cent more.

Shopping Kaki (Part 4)

Situated in the vicinity of Farrer Park MRT, in Little India is this relatively new mall- City Square Mall. This is more like an eating haven than anything else. It's far from home, but i've been here two times. Probably not for window shopping, cos the variety of things to see here is pretty low, would still recommend this place for trying out various eating places.

Far East Plaza, a place for Ah Lians to hang out....ho ho ho.... no lah...it's cos this place is filled with cheap bargains and somewhat younger clothes. It's like a air-conditioned pasar malam. Having said that, i do come here to hunt for low-end shoes, ridiculously cheap manicures and cheap clothes.

Junction 8 in Bishan always gives me claustrophobia cos it's never empty. Everywhere i walk in here i always bump into someone else. It was extended few years ago, but still unable to hold the crowd in the area. In terms of shopping and eating, it has a pleasant mix of both.

Jurong Point is Datin's hang-out place haha! From the tiny suburban mall it started out to be, i think it has expanded exponentially over the years. One of the better suburban malls ( along with Tampines Mall). It's a one stop get all kinda place.

 

Po Mo used to be known as Paradiz Center. It's a small place tucked in a quiet corner near Cathay Building. It has a few good eating places if you want to beat the crowd on weekends in the town area.

Dinner @ Tea Cosy

The dinner we shared at Tea Cosy was perfect, in one word. The girls and I shared a starter, the Pan-fried Foie Gras Taster - a small taster portion of the famed goose liver pan-fried till golden brown on the outside and creamy on the outside. Such a non-animal friendly dish, but yet delicious. However, i don't think i can eat too much of it, the creaminess of the liver makes me feel sick after a few spoonfuls.

Out of the two girls there, one is pregnant and the other just recovered from gastric, so they selected this caffeine-free tea. The Flower Power is a caffeine-free remedy of 7 flowers that helps to relax the mind and brings comfort to the stomach.

The other two of us had their coffee. The aroma was fantastic and the brew had a great aftertaste. Overall very good coffee!

For those of us who had the 4-course set dinner, it came with this Homemade Creamy Mushroom Soup. The soup was just the right temperature, but you better finish it fast before it chills. The plate is awfully shallow!

The Grilled Chicken with Spicy Tomato Sauce , served with pilaf rice and seasonal vegetables. The portion of rice was just right for us, and the slight spicy taste of the tomato sauce helped boost the appetite as well.

This Grilled Chicken Fillet was grilled to perfection with special sauce and served with pasta and seasonal vegetables. The sauce was delectable and complemented the healthy grilled chicken well.

The Pan-Fried Cream Dory served with grapefruit mayonnaise, mashed potato and seasonal vegetables. The dory was a tad dry, but apart from that the mashed potato was simply melt-in-your-mouth goodness!!

Steak and Potatoes - grilled marinated prime ribeye steak and savoury fried potatoes slices served with a side salad. The steak was juicy and really flavoursome. With the whole bowl of salad, this main course is really quite worth its while.

Move on to dessert, baby! This is the Chef's Special Sweets for the day - Fruit Tart served with Vanilla Ice Cream. 

 

The other two girls shared some scones. Boy, i must admit i was very full at this point i couldn't touch the scones, but it was such a wonderful meal. A little beyond the normal budget, but the place, the food, the owner, everything was just how it should be! I give it 5 stars....hehe....

The Funny Side of Formula 1

A very refreshing clip, where you get to see the other side of Formula One. The last stupid guy that fell down upside down is Kimi Raikkonen xD

Old Friends, New Place

Early May this year, my friend Tong Wooi dropped by in Singapore for a short few days. We had a night of reunion and i remembered this beautiful shop i once went several years ago, Tea Cosy.

Like it said on the front door - Cafe, furniture and all things angels. That's what it had inside, but not only that but lots more like friendly homely service plus superb food!

They had angel figurines that came in all shapes and sizes you almost can feel like you're in heaven!

 

My secondary school mates and I had a great time. This place is not crowded and we could sit and enjoy our nice meal in privacy. This photo was taken at a corner recommended by the shop owner, just before we left the place after sitting there for close to 2.5 hours....Impeccable!

Saizeriya Italian Food

A few days before D&D, my friends and I were at a far end of Singapore to hunt for their costumes. After the arduous task of picking several costumes in an entire shop full of props and clothes, we finally headed to dinner feeling famished. We got in at Saizeriya Restaurant in City Square Mall. For every order of main course, we topped up a bit of money for a free flow drink. After the zapping session, we were so thirsty we went for several rounds of drinks and after the meal went for their espresso machine for coffee....all free flow! Haha...

This place specialises in Italian food. This large dish is their Mediterranean Paella - with rich ingredients of shrimp, Asari Clam, squid and tasty rice. Everything came piping hot and was such a comfort to the hungry belly.

This is the Soup Spaghetti with Asari Clam. The soup was rich with herb and wine taste that it made up for  the slightly fishy taste of the clams. The spaghetti has delicious clam seafood in mushroom soup.

 
Lastly, Salmon Cream Spaghetti - Norway smoked salmon with spinach and special cream sauce. The looks didn't look like any good, but this was one of the surprises of the night. The cream sauce was light and the salmon was smoked to perfection. 

Mint Museum of Toys

One of my resolutions has always been to finish touring the museums in Singapore. I just got one notch higher by visiting the Mint Museum of Toys. I've been wanting to go, but the entry ticket is not worth its price, in my opinion. Finally, i saw an offer online, selling for half price at $7, so i figured, go lor....

This museum has soooo many toys it filled 7 levels. However, i must say that i am displeased with the fact that they don't have any descriptions of the toys, just a neat display in glass cabinets. After 7 levels of staring at them, you tend to get bored, without any further information.

I love this case filled with fluffy, huggable bears!

I finally found a case filled with toys from my childhood. The 'snake & ladder' on bottom left looks exactly like mine! Also the 'batu serembans' and that round doll on the top left also reminds me of the red one i had....haha... i must be getting old, now that MY toys are in the museum!

 

That reminds me, i used to collect matchbox cars. They are the most fun toys, i cherished them more than my Barbie Doll, even~