Simple American in Singapore, Part 2.

The Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee. Stall #02-17.

(continued from Simple American in Singapore.)

After a very short weekend in Singapore, Simple American and his missus returned yet again to the garden city of Singapore. Given the short duration of their time in Singapore, what would leave them with positive memories to reminisce many years later? 

Our visit to a hawker centre

Enjoying treats to good food at one of our popular hawker centres came to my mind! The dictionary's definition for the word "hawker" is "a person who travels from place to place selling goods" (source: The Free Dictionary). Based on this definition, we would have expected a hawker to be someone who peddles from places to places to sell goods. However, in today's Singapore, the word "hawkers" commonly refer to people who sell food or goods in purpose-built facilities called hawker centres.

It is intriguing for me to read about the history of hawker centres in Singapore. In the days of my parents' childhood, street hawking was very common. Many people were travelling from streets to streets selling goods and services. However, one of the problems created by street hawking was poor sanitation. This posed to be a threat to public health. To improve the situation, between 1968 and 1969, there was an island-wide registration of street hawkers being carried out. From 1971 to 1986, the government constructed purpose-built facilities called the hawker centres to house these hawkers. These hawker centres providing marketing and eating facilities for residents of the public housing estates.

Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee stall. Stall #02-17.
Photo by Simple American.

My pick for our overseas friends was the Hong Lim Food Centre and Market at Blk 531A Upper Cross Street. It was situated in the heart of Singapore's Chinatown and was reasonably nearby the hotel that my friends were staying. My key recommendation was the Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee. For S$3 per plate, the stall serves an outstanding plate of delicious Kway Teow Mee, also known affectionately as Char Kway Teow.

Mian Jian Kueh from Granny's Pancake. Hong Lim Food Centre.
Photo by Simple American.

At the Hong Lim Food Centre, we also saw many other wonderful food treats such as the Mian Jian Kueh (pancake), curry puffs, and more. Simple American's missus shared that in her birth country, Mian Jian Kueh were available from the street-hawkers. I felt grateful to our hawkers for serving us with food at reasonable quality, affordable price and with good enough standards of hygiene.

Photo by Simple American.

Exploring South Bridge Road

After a fabulous treat to breakfast with my friends, we explored Chinatown. My original intention was to bring them to the Thian Hock Keng temple. It is one of the most important Hokkien temples in Singapore. Many Chinese immigrants would visit this temple to give thanks to the Goddess of the Sea for their safe voyages. However, due to the interest of time, we only had the opportunity to explore a part of the Chinatown, mainly along the South Bridge Road.

Traditional handmade BBQ pork slices from Kim Joo Guan.
Photo taken by Simple American.

During our stroll along South Bridge Road, our guests got themselves delicious traditional handmade BBQ Pork Slices from Kim Joo Guan's flagship store at 257 South Bridge Road. We also visited the Birds Nest Gallery inside Eu Yan Seng's International Ltd's Corporate Office at 269A South Bridge Road. We caught glimpses of Sri Mariamman Temple (the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore) and the Jamae Mosque. 

Jamae Mosque.  218 South Bridge Road.

Sri Mariamman Temple. 244 South Bridge Road.

Although I was well aware that Simple American and his missus were pretty full from our breakfast, I thought it would be worthwhile to get them a few egg tarts from Tong Heng to sample. Located at 285 South Bridge Road, Tong Heng has earned a good reputation of serving one of the best egg tarts in Singapore. Food that is made with good pride and love somehow tastes delicious.

Tong Heng's egg tart.

Tong Heng.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.
Taken by Simple American.

We did not visit the famous Thian Hock Keng temple. We did visit the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and also explored the adjacent Sago Street. A brief visit to Tai Chong Kok seemed to have brought nostalgic memories to Simple American's missus. For me, it was somehow heart-warming to see moon-cakes even though I confess that I have been consciously not eating moon-cakes so as to keep to a low-sugar diet. The moon-cakes reminded me of the occasional times during my childhood years when we could enjoy the moon-cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Moon-cakes from Tai Chong Kok.
Taken by Simple American.

The coffee treat

Simple American and his missus love having coffee. Simple American's missus spotted the Nanyang Old Coffee at 268 South Bridge Road and they generously gave me a treat to a tasty cup of coffee. There is a humble-sized coffee-museum inside this establishment. Somehow a visit to the coffee-museum further enhanced our brief break for coffee at the Nanyang Old Coffee. 

Lunch at Bras Basah Complex

For our lunch, we visited the Bras Basah Complex's Coffee Express. Simple American and his missus  ordered desserts while yours truly ordered noodles from the Parklane Teochew Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle stall. 

After lunch, we spent some time exploring a part of the Bras Basah Complex. I felt that this neighbourhood was quite a convenient and friendly one to live in.

Friendships are strengthened. Memories are created. May Simple American and his missus have a meaningful and memorable visit to the South-East Asia, including Singapore. Other bloggers from Singapore have also brought them to other parts of Singapore for interesting experiences.

Hopefully I did not work Simple American and his missus too hard physically during our adventures about Singapore. I am notorious for travelling long distances on foot during my adventures about Singapore. Whatever it is, may our overseas friends remember fondly, the taste, the smell, the sights and the friendly people of Singapore.

Simple American in Singapore

Breakfast at Chin Mee Chin Confectionery.
This coffee-shop is affectionately known by many as CMC.

One of my blog-friends, Simple American, and his missus, visited Singapore during two of weekends this May. His visit has brought together once again a group of bloggers from Singapore.

A morning along East Coast Road

On their first morning in Singapore, fellow blogger Eastcoastlife took Simple American to the Chin Mee Chin Confectionery at 204 East Coat Road for breakfast. This confectionery is a landmark coffee-shop in that neighbourhood. It is well-known for its kaya, a kind of custard jam.This confectionery roasts its own coffee beans and bakes its own confectionery. It is a lovely place to enjoy a simple yet savoury breakfast. Many thanks to Eastcoastlife and her husband for a generous treat to breakfast.

Breakfast at Chin Mee Chin Confectionery with lovely company.

After breakfast, we visited the Katong Antique House. This is a very beautiful place to find Peranakan related artefacts. I was impressed by the collection of antiques, beaded slippers, porcelain wares and more that were spotted in this shop. The Katong Antique House has an interesting collection that makes it good enough to be considered a mini-museum.

Eastcoastlife has written about our adventures with Simple American and his missus here: Singapore American's Singapore Holiday - RT.

Exploring Singapore

In the afternoon, Simple American, his missus and I explored a part of Singapore.

Merlion. Taken by Simple American.

One of our first stops was the Merlion. This sculpture with a lion's head and the body of a fish was created by Singapore sculptor, Lim Nang Seng, in 1972. Merlion spurts out water from its mouth with great might. My glasses were partially wet with droplets of water from the Merlion's mouth.

The Merlion Park is a good location to catch good glimpses of the nearby Esplanade on the Bay, the Marina Bay Sands, The Fullerton Hotel, and the Singapore Flyer. After the visit to the Merlion Park, we took a stroll about the Esplanade Park. This park is one of the oldest parks in Singapore and many historical landmarks such as the Lim Bo Seng Memorial and the Cenotaph can be found here.

Lunch took place just below the observatory wheel of the Singapore Flyer. We visited the Singapore Food Trail and met up with yet another friend whom Simple American had gotten to know through blogging too. It is fascinating to learn how blogging has connected people of diverse nationalities and backgrounds together.

It is my humble opinion that the Singapore Food Trail is one of the places to enjoy a collective of interesting and delicious local hawker fare. We treated ourselves to the Fried Oyster, the Satay Beehoon, Bak Kut Teh and Popiah. In the company of friends, lunch tasted extremely wonderful.

Sultan Mosque in the background. Taken by Simple American.

Malay Heritage Centre. Taken in Apr 2013.

After lunch, we visited the Kampong Glam district. We walked along Arab street to take a good glance at the various textile shops. That afternoon, we enjoyed the view of the Sultan Mosque from the Bussorah Mall. The Sultan Mosque is regarded as Singapore's principal mosque. I particularly like the architecture of the Sultan Mosque which somehow reminded me of Taj Mahal, doesn't it?

After taking a good glimpse of the Sultan Mosque, we visited the Istana Kampong Glam which is now the Malay Heritage Centre. There is a sense of beauty in symmetry from the Palladian-styled architecture of the Malay Heritage Centre. I imagined that a life living in this building as a member of the royalty would have been dignified and blissful. Won't you think so?

Teh Tarik.

Our visit to Kampong Glam was made complete with a treat to tea at the "No Name Teh Sarabat Stall" at 21 Baghdad Street. This is one of the place in the city area where one could find very tasty tea served in the most no-frills manner. I am deeply grateful to the gentlemen who passionately served good tasting tea at affordable rates at this sarabat stall. They reminded that a life of service may seem simple, yet it can be done with great pride and the attitude of excellence.

The dedicated gentlemen serving tasty tea at 21 Baghdad Street.
Taken by Simple American.

Dinner together
In the evening, various bloggers met up with Simple American and his missus at the Banana Leaf Apolo restaurant (54 Race Course Road). It was a meaningful time to get together with one another. I particularly like the Fish Head Curry from the Banana Leaf Apolo restaurant.

Breakfast on the Beach the next day
The next day, Eastcoastlife planned a special breakfast on the beach for Simple American and his missus.  She and her husband were very thoughtful to buy breakfast from some of the most reputable food stalls along East Coast Road. Many thanks to Eastcoastlife for a memorial experience enjoying breakfast on the beach.

We hope that Simple American and his missus would have positive memories of their visit to Singapore to savour.

To be continued: Simple American in Singapore, Part 2.

It's Alaturka again!

17 Nov 2008: I had a meal at Alaturka again. This time, I have had the pleasure to have the company of Pinkie who blogs at her private blog, Love always....

While I have been reading her blog every now and then for the past three years, we hardly have the chance to meet up to chat and get to know each other better face-to-face. I'm glad that I have the privilege to spend some time with this fellow blogger finally. It was a long overdued meet-up. In August 2008, Pinkie had requested that I 'jio' her (i.e. bring her along) when I next visit Alaturka. This visit to Alaturka with Pinkie took about three months to materialise. I suppose it was worth the wait?

Pinkie was lucky! She managed to get to drink the Iced Apple Tea. The last time that I was eating at Alaturka, with eastcoastlife, the Iced Apple Tea was not available. Personally, I prefer the hot apple tea because my throat seems to get irritated easily when I drink too much cold drinks. I find Alaturka's apple tea to have a nice fragrance and a rich taste. It's worth a try.

We decided that we must take a picture of the Iced Apple Tea to satisfy the curiosity and yearnings of eastcoastlife. That is if she still cares about drinking Iced Apple Tea from Alaturka. I don't know how it tastes like, so I shall wait for Pinkie to make comments on this. Now, let's cheers to good health and fine food!





Other than the apple tea, we ordered the Lavash, chicken musakka and the coban salata. The coban salata was a healthy choice. Pinkie's strong observation skills got her to notice that one of the guests ate an entire coban salata dish by himself! In contrast, Pinkie and I had to share the same dish so that we could finish it.

I was impressed how Pinkie's strong observation skills enabled her to notice the various ways different guests ate their lavash. It seemed that different guests ate it in different ways. Hmmm...so it seems like I have got the wrong way of eating lavash. According to this Wikipedia site, the "soft form of the lavash tastes better and is easier to use when making wrap sandwiches". Does that mean that I should eat the lavash like wrap sandwiches? Truly, I have no idea how to eat the lavash the authentic way. Maybe Alaturka could consider giving a short "Introduction to eating Turkish food the Turkish way" briefing for any guest who is curious? This is a way to educate its guests and make the dining experience memorable.

On the side, in my attempt to learn how lavash is being made, I've managed to find a YouTube video on this subject. Be patient and enjoy this video for 12.5 minutes:


Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvC1yJUErDw




I am biased. When it comes to the musakka from Alaturka, I think the mutton version is still nicer than the chicken version. Anyway, the chicken version was acceptable though I would rave more about its mutton musakka. The presentation of the musakka is nice, and I noticed that many of the guests would order the musakka!

If you ask me if I would go back to Alaturka again. I would say that I would. The apple tea is nice. I heard from my friend, XS, that the Turkish coffee from Alaturka, is nicely rich too. Pinkie suggested Alaturka can be a nice place for tea. I shall consider going to Alaturka for tea one day. In fact, I realised that visiting Alaturka brings me fond memories such that I am likely to visit it just to trigger and to relive those fond memories of my past experiences eating there. I suppose I am quite a nostalgic being.

Here's the address of Alaturka and its contact number for those of you who would like to visit it one day:

Alaturka
Turkish & Mediterranean Restaurant
16 Bussorah Street Singapore 199437
Tel/Fax: 62940304

Last but not the least, wishing you delight simply by looking at nice food.

Jeremy and Jane in Singapore

Jeremy and Jane visited Singapore earlier this month. Jeremy has a well-written post on his trip to China and Singapore. Please check it out here: Visiting Kunming and Singapore. There are some great photographs.

I particularly like the way that he concluded his post with a photo of a painting titled Kindred Spirits Series No. 5.

Bloggers meet

Here's to welcome fellow bloggers, Jane and Jeremy to Singapore.

Mistipurple and I had dinner with them at Singapore Zam Zam Restaurant (697 North Bridge Road). I have had some good company this evening.

Below are some photos to share. Some of the photos were taken a few weeks ago when I was nearby the area where Jane and Jeremy are now staying. The photos of the food were taken during the meet-up, and I have something to share: Jane takes lovely photos of food.

May Jane and Jeremy have a pleasant stay in Singapore.

The Happy Birthday tune

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J1NH8ytfy0


A humble video production of a rendition of a Happy Birthday tune played on the double bass. This is to wish Msfeline a Happy Birthday, and Kunstemaecker a belated Happy Birthday.

It was a challenge to record oneself on video single-handedly. Furthermore, I was playing strictly by ear without any score to refer to. I may not try to record myself too often due to logistic constraints. The embedded version of this video is only available for limited period.

Actually, I like this rendition and version of the Happy Birthday tune to mine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPJ34Q4LN8s

For more double bass videos in which I have played, you may wish to check this: http://dbassists.blogspot.com/search/label/Our%20video

The start of a new week

I don't know about others, but for me, Sunday shall be the first day of the week. Today is the start of week 31 of the year 2007.



I was at Bugis Junction this morning. It was a pleasant surprise when I saw a heritage exhibition at a corner of Bugis Junction. It was an exhibition that featured the wedding ceremonies of the Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians.



As I had some time on hand, I walked to Bugis Village to see what was available there. It was about 9.20 a.m. when I was there and most of the shops there were not opened yet. Anyway, the scene below caught my eye, so I took a photo:



Afterwhich, I found my way back to Bugis Junction. In case you are wondering why I had went to Bugis Junction early on a Sunday morning, I was there to have breakfast.

A good breakfast starts the day on a good note. Furthermore, breakfast is the favourite meal of the day of yours truly. I was privileged this morning to have the company of Carcar. We have had a delightful breakfast at The Coffee Connoisseur at Bugis Junction. The cafe has a cosy and welcoming ambience. I like its fairly spacious space.

If it is quiz-time now, I shall ask my readers what you see in this photo:


Obviously, the answer cannot be a superficial one. My model answer shall only be revealed when I get 30 comments for this post. I beg your pardon that no clue shall be given.

Anyway, back to the food, I recommend breakfast at The Coffee Connoisseur for I think the breakfast sets are generally value-for-money for the taste, the serving, and the ambience of the cafe.



Orange juice was served with the American Breakfast that I had ordered. Maybe my mind was too focused on enjoying my breakfast, the photo below that I had taken did not seem to do the food enough justice, didn't it?



Over breakfast, Carcar and myself engaged ourselves in conversation. I realised that both of us shared a common trait: We were both eager to take photographs of the food when the food was served!

I have managed to capture Carcar in action using my digital camera.



***
After breakfast, Carcar demonstrated to me how one can buy durians from one of the nearby durian stalls. She looked like an expert at this. I stood beside her wondering when I would master the art of doing so.

By that time, the wind started to blow very strongly. There wasn't anything special about the wind. However, it was quite a pleasant treat to the eyes to see purple-coloured petals falling onto the ground because of the forces of the wind. Some poetic moments can help make life a little more bearable.

Soon, the rain started but it did not seem to dampen anyone's spirit. We travelled and found our way to Eastcoastlife's home.

Eastcoastlife and her husband have been very good hosts and they make good company. If not for the fact that I had an important mission of keeping time for Carcar, I might not have realised how fast time can simply fly.

Many thanks to Eastcoastlife and her family for their hospitality. They treated Carcar and myself to some good food, including the famous Katong Laksa.



The food wasn't the key part of what has made the day a good start for a new week. I would think that it was the company that had mattered. Thank you Carcar, Eastcoastlife and family for the company today.

Last but not the least, may Eastcoastlife's foot heal soon, in the pain-free way.

**
For a few more photos, please click here.

Tigerfish, the Thinking Blogger

Congratulatons to Tigerfish of teczcape-an escape to Food - recipes, cooking, reviews for being awarded the Thinking Blogger award by Eastcoastlife.

I take my hats over Tigerfish for her creativity in coming up with so many recipes so regularly. What's more, the dishes that she came up with look yummy!

For the folks who love cooking based on a recipe, or if you simply love food, please do check out Tigerfish's blog.

(Up on my mind, I would like to recommend JY and Emily to check out Tigerfish's blog.)

Of nostalgia

29 Jun 2007.

I was on my way to Chun See's home located nearby Sixth Avenue. Chun See had kindly and generouslyagreed to a Yesterday.sg gathering at his place.

While it was my first time to his home, the journey to his home has brought a sense of nostalgia. Both the schools that I had attended during my secondary and junior college days were located fairly near the area. Reflecting, it is strange how our memories could work. For me, if I were to walk or take a ride that passes by a place where I have had spent time at, the memories would start to be recollected. If I were to think deeper, I would realise how my past could have led me to become the person I am right now.

On the journey to Chun See's home, I recalled the times that I had to wait at the bus-stop outside the then-The Chinese High School. In my times, the reason that would have brought me there during my secondary school days would be because there was a combined sports meet. The journey also reminded me of the times when I would have to alight at that very bus-stop to walk across that overhead bridge that would lead me to the junior college that I had studied in.

Anyway, I had managed to alight at the right bus-stop and found my way to Chun See's home. His home is like a mini botanic garden, I would say. I was quite attracted to the Pitcher Plants and Venus Flytraps in his garden.




By about past 7 p.m., quite a number of the Friends of Yesterday.sg had arrived. Dr Tan Wee Kiat gave me and the rest of the Friends the privilege to view the proof-read version of his upcoming book. I've found it quite a witty and humorous read. If you would like to know why, do check out this book when it's published.





More of my sense of nostalgia was triggered when I saw a Yangqin sitting in Chun See's living room. I do not play the Yang-Qin, but seeing it reminded me of the good times that I have had as a member of the Chinese Orchestra when I was much younger.





Anyway, the food offered a nice form of distraction to get me back to reality and out of being stuck in nostalgia. Yummy. Thanks to Chun See and his family for being hospitable hosts.






At the meet-up, Dr Tan played beautiful music on the harmonic to delight everyone. I like the part whereby he played one piece of music without having any of his hand on the harmonica. Cool technique!

The sounds of the harmonica somehow reminded me of the days when I had to learn to play the harmonica when I was a student in Secondary Two. I quite like to listen to good harmonica playing, but I have never like the part about having to clean one's harmonica after every use.





Dr Tan had also made me feel jealous when he showed everyone that he could carry two harmonicas all in one of his pockets. I play the double bass but I can never carry even a single double bass in any of my pocket. Whatever the size, I love playing the double bass.



A double bass, standing tall at about 2 metres.


Just before I left for home, Marvin, director of the Museum of Shanghai Toys made my day by agreeing to my request to allow me to take non-flash photography should I visit the museum. This gives me more reason to visit it soon, with my friends. And thanks to Marvin, the Yesterday.sg gathering at Chun See's home has been documented on Museum of Shanghai Toys's blog.

Dr Tan very kindly gave me and Preetamrai a lift on his car, and I love the music from 92.4 FM that Dr Tan had played in his car. Alright, I have a liking for music written centuries ago for I have been playing such music for a couple of years in a Symphony Orchestra.

I don't know why, but I am left with a conclusion that even though I am living in the present, my life is still quite interconnected with my past. Nostalgia seems to be the word for the day.

***
Also see:
Yesterday.sg Meetup No. 4
Photos taken by Kenneth
Yesterday.sg gathering

Reading Eastcoastlife's life experiences

Earlier this week, Eastcoastlife has been awarded the prestigious Most Commendable Blogger Award for the month of May 2007, by yours truly.

I suppose one of the most valued prizes that Eastcoastlife would be delighted to receive for the above award would be my continued support and readership for her blog? I am far from being a star blogger, but I am quite a selective reader when it comes to reading blogs. *ahem*

If you are care to find out what I have been reading, one good place to start with will be Eastcoastlife's blog. For her recent posts, she has been sharing about her real life experiences. There are some good writing on these posts, and her posts got me thinking. For the past few days, my mind has been urged to think of issues from a more macro and systemic perspective. One of the questions: How to put seemingly small forces together to win the battle against some of the ills of the society? Maybe I am yet a wise one, I am still searching for clues. Eastcoastlife has won my respect with her determination and strength.

Do check her blog out: http://eastcoastlife.blogspot.com

If you like her writings, you can make her blog one of your favourites by clicking on this link. (Note: You'll need to be a registered member of Technorati to do so.)

Searching.
The brochure and map of Joo Chiat that Eastcoastlife had kindly given me.

Exclusive feature of The Popiah Party

Eastcoastlife has been very kind to invite several bloggers to a Popiah Party at her place. This post shall be an exclusive one, since I figured that all the other guests won't have experienced the popiah party the same way as I did.

The other invited bloggers were:
Chris

Paddy Tan - BAK2u and his wife, Izel

Victor
Cool Insider
and some of them came with their spouses and children.


Maybe I am generally not a party-person by nature, so folks, please pardon me if I were to disclose to all of you that the Popiah Party was my first Popiah Party in my entire life after having lived more than two decades.

For the benefits of those who like to find out what a popiah is, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popiah, "it is a fresh spring roll... As a fresh spring roll, the popiah skin itself is not fried."

If one were to read more about the ingredients used for the fillings of the popiah, one might realise that it is actually quite a healthy food. I also realised much later that it must have been rather time-consuming to prepare the fillings in the first place. The turnip and the carrots have to be sliced or grated; the eggs have to be boiled and mashed, the Chinese sausages have to be sliced fine, then the lettuce have to be torned into portion.

I beg your pardon please, I would have rather buy popiah from a popiah stall so as to save all the preparation-time. As such, I am grateful that in this world, there are people who are willing to put aside time to prepare good food for people around them to enjoy. I know my maternal grandmother is one of those lovely folks who do so. So here's a special thanks to these people, and that includes Eastcoastlife.

Eastcoastlife's husband probably realised that I was rather helpless with making my own popiah, so he kindly made me one delicious roll of popiah, sliced specially for me. While he was making the popiah, I tried to watch from afar how the process was being done so that I could attempt to do so on my own, later.

Here's my very first attempt in making my own popiah using the prepared-ingredients provided:




To serve as a comparison, I shall show you a photo of a popiah that I have bought when I was at a shopping centre, Coronation Plaza, for a quick dinner:

Popiah from My Cosy Corner, Coronation Plaza.
I guess I still have to practise more before I get the skills to roll nice-looking popiah. But if you were to know me well enough, I will rather practise more on the double bass!

There is something special about the popiah skin. These are handmade popiah skins from Kway Guan Huat located at 95 Joo Chiat Road, made the traditional way. The skin has a unique texture somehow. Do read Victor's post: Joo Chiat - Past and Present (1) to find out more about Kway Guan Huat.

The handmade popiah skin.

Courtesy of one of the guests, Paddy Tan - BAK2u, who kindly became my model, I have the privilege to put into photographs some of the initial steps of making a popiah. Now, I shall leave it to your imagination to figure out how to roll a popiah.

I can't help but to write about the kueh pie tee casing, which I learnt were purchased from Kway Guan Huat too. The kueh pie tee casing at the party today has a very nice, crunchy texture. I learnt that these kueh pie tee casing were freshly made just in today morning. Gosh, Eastcoastlife has certainly pampered her guests today.

Kueh Pie Tee casing

Kueh Pie Tee

Despite having an injury, Eastcoastlife nevertheless went the extra mile to prepare for the guests a strawberry cake, mango pudding, pizza, porridge and her speciality durian puffs!

The strawberry cake has a nice fragrance though I find it rather sweet for my liking. The pizza was average, and Eastcoastlife was telling us that her son makes much better pizzas.





Cool Insider's son seemed to love the wolfberries that Eastcoastlife had generously sprinkled over the delicious porridge. I must say those wolfberries tasted wonderfully nice. They are so good that you can simply eat them on their own.

The Wolfberries

Like any party, there were social exchanges going on. I prefer to be a listener for today. We even had the honour to tour Eastcoastlife's place.

Since I don't have any other plans for the rest of the day except for practising on my instrument, the double bass, I wasn't in a rush to leave and continued to stay after all the rest of the guests had left. The reward for doing so was that I had the chance to taste Eastcoastlife's durian puffs. To clarify, it was definitely not intentional on the part of our generous host that I was the only guest who ended up sampling these durian puffs.

These durian puffs are very delicious and yummy! You can see that a lot of durian puree had been used to fill the durian puff such that the puree oozed out so beautifully as one bit on it.

Eastcoastlife's durian puffs, made with tender-loving-care.

Special thanks to Eastcoastlife's husband for his patience in helping me hold the durian puff.

Eastcoastlife revealed to me the secrets behind her delicious durian puffs: She only uses the best, freshiest and tastiest durians to make the puree. In addition, she added coconut milk to enhance the taste and texture of the durian puree . Her husband also revealed that he and Eastcoastlife think that Bentong durians are the best kind of durians around. In fact, they find Bentong durians taste better than D24 durians. I learnt that Bentong is a town in Malaysia.

I was pleasantly surprised that the creamy texture and rich durian taste of the durian puffs continued to linger in my tastebuds even after I had bid farewell to the host and her family.

In addition to the durian puffs, I had the pleasure to taste a salak, which is also known as a snake-skin fruit. If you were to take a closer look at the skin of the fruit, it really does look like the skin of the snake, doesn't it?




It has a crunchy texture and a mildly sweet taste. Today's my first time eating a snake-skin fruit. Thanks to Eastcoastlife for giving me this experience. I learnt that this fruit is commonly found in Indonesia. Her domestic helper advised her that the sweetest salak comes from Bali, Indonesia.





Eastcoastlife and her husband also shared with me photographs of their son when he was much younger. I can sense that they have taught their son very well, and they are proud of him and his achievements.

I learnt that their son sometimes help to take guests to visit various parts of Singapore. I figured that their son may know Singapore better than I do, so I better catch up in touring and learning more of Singapore before he surpluses me too much.

Time had passed so fast that I did not realise that I had spent about five hours at Eastcoastlife's place. Fearing to hold the hosts up too long, I bid farewell. Furthermore, I have to make time to practise later the night after visiting the library@esplanade.

Here is a special word of thanks to Eastcoastlife and her husband for being wonderful hosts. Thank you very much.

***
(Edited)
Here's what the host and the other guests have to share about the party:
My 1st Bloggers' Popiah Party by Eastcoastlife
Popiah Party - EastCoastLife's house by Paddy

***
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popiah
http://www.chennaionline.com/hotelsandtours/recipes/recipes/recipes21.asp
http://www.stomp.com.sg/stfoodiesclub/taste/14/index.html
Joo Chiat - Past and Present (1) by Victor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salak

Also read:
Kuih Pie Tee. Recipe by Amy Beh