My Homemade Birthday Cake, 2011, Singapore

As I was home in October, my birthday month, I'd planned on asking my mom to bake a pandan chiffon cake with fresh cream and dessicated coconut :) It had been ages since my mom had baked this cake, so I was really looking forward to it!

YUM! YUM! YUM!

Durian Mango Ice Dessert, ABC Hawker Centre, Singapore

After our lunch at Long Beach Restaurant, we adjourned to ABC Hawker Centre for dessert.

At first, when my mom recommended the durian mango ice dessert, I was highly skeptical. I mean ... durian AND mango? Hmmm ... But since my mom recommended it, I gave it a try, and surprisingly, durian went well with mango! :)

Long Beach Restaurant, Dempsey Rd, Singapore

This was one of the best meals I had in Singapore during my recent trip home. One of Singapore's signature dishes is the black pepper crab, and this was the main highlight of this meal at Long Beach Restaurant.

But of course, we couldn't just have crab :) We ordered some delicious tauhu/beancurd with pork floss ...

My other favorite seafood dish - sotong kia/ deep fried baby squid ... soooo good!

Black pepper crab!

Asparagus in a garlic sauce ...

This meal really hit the spot! :)

Molten Chocolate Cakes

My friend, who had earlier introduced me to Laurent Bernard Chocolatier, had wanted to try her hand at some baking, and since we hadn't been able to try Laurent Bernard Chocolatier's chocolate souffle, I thought why not try baking some molten chocolate cakes? After googling for some good recipes, I decided upon this one by Paula Deen. A 5 star rating by over two hundred people couldn't go too far wrong? Turns out they were right :) For the first time after several failed attempts using other recipes, I finally got the molten chocolate cakes right!

When I saw the rather dry and cracked tops, my heart sank as I thought they would be overcooked and the insides wouldn't be molten. Then I turned them out ...

And sliced into it ...

Wonderful!!!

Jamie Oliver's Mothership Tomato Salad and Marinated Mozzarella Salad

While I was home in Singapore, I caught an episode of Jamie Oliver on Asia Food Network, and simply had to try these recipes:

Mothership Tomato Salad ...

Marinated Mozzarella Salad (I substituted creme fraiche with plain yogurt) ...

Served them together on sliced baguettes ...

Simple, yet so tasty!

Canele & Birthdays, Singapore

October, in my family, means birthday celebrations cos 3 of us have birthdays that fall in October :) This month, we got a gift consisting of macarons from Canele ...

A very well received Opera Cake, also fm Canele ...

And a NY cheesecake, from Canele as well ...

I think it's safe to say that we all loved the cakes :) My lil niece was literally drooling over them!

Laurent Bernard Chocolatier, Portsdown Rd, Singapore

While I was back in Singapore, a good friend took me to this dessert place at Portsdown Rd. I was pretty fascinated cos it's located in a rather out-of-the-way yet very charming place, nestled in an extremely old estate where former black-and-white colonial houses were located. The name of the dessert place: Laurent Bernard Chocolatier.

We ordered the chocolate tart, and we had wanted to try their chocolate souffle. However, the chef wasn't in that day to make the chocolate souffle, so we settled for their black forest cake instead.

I must say I was impressed by their chocolate tart. I've tried chocolate tarts before, but this one really stuck in my mind. I was expecting ... well, chocolate on a tart, and was wondering what the fuss was about this particular chocolate tart. Then ... I took a bite, and I knew why my friend had driven all the way here to treat me to this chocolate tart!

It wasn't just any other chocolate tart! The tart shell was unusually crisp and there was a layer of caramel between the tart bottom and the layer of chocolate that gave it that extra oomph! I liked it so much, I went to their outlet at Takashimaya, Orchard Rd, to get another one before the end of my stay in Singapore :)

Black Forest cake ...

A nice little courtyard behind the eatery ...

Some old buildings in the vicinity reminiscent of the black-and-white colonial bungalows ... they now house art studios, small businesses etc ... very charming ...

Directly opposite Laurent Bernard Chocolatier was Colbar, which I'm told is pretty popular due to its very retro interior (unfortunately, I was caught up with looking around and forgot to snap pics). It reminded me of what our old classrooms were like in the 1970s.

From the outside, it sure looked like our local neighbourhood provision shops (or "mama" shops) in the 1970s.

Goodies fm USA & HK

I was away from my Taipei home for a month, and when I came back home a couple of days ago, Hubby had proudly displayed all his purchases for me from his trips to USA and Hong Kong on our coffee table in the living room!

I must say I was impressed! :)

So, apart fm the numerous mags, here's a closer look at what he got:

First up, oven gloves from Pantry Magic in Hong Kong.

A friend of mine who's a wonderful baker (kuddlethechoice.blogspot.com) had recommended these gloves to me, and as I bought what I thought were the last few gloves for her from Pantry Magic in Taipei, I asked Hubby to get a couple for me if their store in HK had any. And here they are! The reason why my friend thinks they are so good is that they are silicon on the outside and cloth on the inside. The cloth lining makes them softer and easier to grip trays in the oven, while the silicon protects the hands from oven heat better than cloth oven gloves.

I've been a Rosebud Salve convert ever since I had a bout with a really dry lip last year and tried practically all kinds of lip balms, none of which worked, till I finally found this Rosebud Salve. The only problem was it only came in a little "jar", which wasn't the most convenient. So, when I discovered it now came in a tube, I decided to try it to see if it's the same as the one in the jar.

And some healthy stuff too ... Flax Seed powder fm GNC. In view that lately everyone around me has been getting increasingly health conscious, I decided to get into the mode as well, and asked Hubby to get these fm USA. They are good for the colon, the digestive system, as well as for helping to bring the triglycerides down.