What Do Chili Crab & Pool Time Have in Common? (March 13)

 

Our friends are finally here! Tavia and the family got in late Saturday night.  We hung out Sunday morning and afternoon and had a great time.  The pool was the answer!  Here are some shots of the girls having fun getting ready and at the pool. Thank you to Carrefour and Toys R Us; they both saved me by having the perfect pool toys!   Ahhh…to be a kid again. 

 

We headed out to dinner around 6pm and I thought it would be a good idea to show them the nearest grocery store and the MRT, but when we got to Clarke Quay and started walking to Roberston Quay I think they were starting to question my judgment.  Yes, it ended up being a little too long of a walk and the girls were too tired…but, the food at Red House was worth it!  Yum, doesn’t even start to describe it!  We had Garlic Baby Kai Lan, Fried Spinach Bean Curd, Black Pepper Prawns & Chili Crab with Fried Buns.  Oh my…this ended up being a great dinner and the walk home, not too bad!

We walked back to Clarke Quay and took a Bumboat ride down the Singapore River to the Merlion.

Once we got to the Merlion I realized something was missing – where was the Merlion?!  Then, I found out.  As part of the an art exhibit (& an effort to make money) the Merlion is now “covered” by a structure that is acting as a hotel until May 13^th.  Why?!  I think my taste in art differs a little…however, I have heard the hotel has been booked, so there you go!  The other unfortunate part is that Tavia and the family won’t get to see it before they leave!

I wish I could say I planned it but, no, it was just serendipitous that there ended up being a laser show off of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.  Take a look!

Perfect night!  I don’t think it could have been better – yes, it could have been.  Just one person missing!  You know who you are!!  

Lamb @ Birgit’s

Paul and I are not lovers of Lamb, but Birgit made a great leg of lamb the other night!  Yum!  It was a good bye dinner for Matthias.  We had a great night!  Here are some pictures from the night…

Lagnaa? Oh yeah!

Paul and I had a great Northern Indian meal the other night; it’s a small place in Little India on Upper Dickson Rd.  We highly, highly recommend it!   

We were introduced to Lagnaa with some friends – thank you!  We had a great time and fantastic food: Spinach with Cheese, Chicken Masala, a 3-Lentil Dish, lots of Naan and our favorite, the Tangy Pan-fried Dory Fish with Peanuts - Kachang Puli Meen – yum!

We started with a crispy snack ( I don’t know what they are called) and they have numbers on them – the owner said it was because Singaporeans like to gamble and the baker puts numbers on the crisps.  Interesting…I don't - I'll have to ask again...

So, along with the menu choices, you get to pick your spice level (1-10).  I was okay with 3, but Paul, S & H could have gone much higher!  Below you see a picture of clothespins noting the level of spice that people have been able to handle.  You’ll notice that the highest spice level has NO clothespin on the line.

Passion for Pink Charity Dinner

I was honored to have been invited to Passion for Pink Charity Dinner on Tues, March 8^th. The event was held to commemorate the 100^th International Women’s Day in aid of the Himalayan Women’s Health Project.  All proceeds went to this group of Doctors who sacrifice their lives to travel to extremely remote areas in the Himalayans.  I was very impressed by these women (since this was a women’s only event, the male doctors that are also involved, were not present).  Their presentation graphically exhibited some of the conditions that most of us in industrialized societies never see: cleft palates (Dr. Elliott noted that these are usually fixed within 3 months) and so on.  Below is a picture of how crude some of the conditions are but they are able to sterilize all instruments effectively even though it's outside and over fire.

 

The dinner was hosted in the private residence of H.E. Janne Julsrud, the Ambassador of Norway to Singapore.

The dinner was sponsored by

Mika Tomiyama -Norwegian Seafood Export Council

Flora Loh - Top Wines

Chef Samia Ahad – Coriander Leaf

Chef Forest Leong – Sam.Leong @ Forest Cooking School

Chef Janice Wong – 2 am Dessert Bar

(From Left to Right: Dr. Elliott, Mika, Flora, Forest, Samia, Janice & H.E. Janne Julsrud 

The night started at 7pm and I didn’t get home until 1am.  Lots of food and wine and great company!

Click on the picture below for the detailed menu – it’s too much to write here.

Here are some pictures of the dishes throughout the night.  My two favorites were Samia’s Salmon Mole with Pickled Carrot Relish & Forest’s Salmon Belly in Hot & Sour Clear Soup with Mushroom (Thai Tom Yum Style).  I never thought to use Salmon in Tom Yum soup, but now I’m going to – it was fantastic.  I was thrilled to have Samia’s Cured Salmon again with, my favorite wine of the night, Zaccagnini Aster Spumante Rose.

The desserts were phenomenal!  Chef Janice, a young Singaporean Chef, has quite a talent.  See her desserts below - it's art and very yummy!

Before dinner we watched a presentation by Dr. Myra Elliott & Dr. Chua Yang.  As I noted before, the pictures were quite graphic but they told the story of how remote some of the areas really are.  In Ladkh (also known as Little Tibet), the road is only two-way maybe 4-5 months out of the year (to trade products/vegetables).  Meaning, the villages are snowed in most of the year.

(Dr. Myra Elliott)

 (Dr. Chua Yang)

I met some wonderful women at the dinner and enjoyed getting to know Beth, Kjersti & Beth.  I look forward to seeing them again very soon.

Samia’s crew was on hand in force and I got some great shots of them and wanted to share.

(Joline, Me, Samia & Sanjay)

(Sanjay, Joline, Hussein)

(Me, Hussein)

Here are some pictures of the residence, decor & attendants.