pimped

Pimped my phone with a new neon skull sticker… yeah, just because I kinda like how it looks! 

the shorter end of the stick…

I’ve never been the confrontational sort of person.  Being the eldest in the family, I sometimes might be unreasonable but I always give in whether I like it or not.  That’s what life is about at times, don’t you think?

So even though I don’t like just that thing out of the 101 things, it doesn’t matter what I feel.  Cos at the end of the day, you win!

New footwear

Move over Havaianas for footwear from holster is now making a beeline to occupy my wardrobe space!

More about holster – holster is Australia’s leading jellies footwear brand with designs that are swoon-worthy to cover you for the beach and beyond.

Many of the mommy friends on this What’s App group-chat that I recently joined were raving about their pair of holster’s. Well, I couldn’t resist checking them out and so I dropped by to the not too big store at Forum last weekend. To my delight, they were holding a sale at the atrium and were clearing some of their older stock.

Eyed this pair of studded holster’s in silver which is pretty much my style and would look great not just for the beach but also for day-to-day use.

And I paid S$29 for them after the discount (usual price is S$49 if I’m not wrong). These definitely looks much edgier and suited for daily use rather than the flip-flops that my Mom usually frown upon.

Great deal huh?!

I hope these pair will serve me well (ie: don’t hurt my bunions please) and I’m already eyeing my next pair of holster’s! Hehe

Tokyo eats: 龍吟 [Ryugin]

Super back-log post that should be posted 3 months ago!  Yikes!

I must have passed the exteriors of the restaurant on a weekly basis when we lived in Tokyo for it was near my yoga school.  When I found out what lies beneath, I wanted to go try out Ryugin before we left.  But we never did quite got a chance.  That was in 2007.  5 years on, I still wanted to make a trip down to Ryugin.  The Man never quite understood my fascination with wanting to try the place until one of his friends raved about his dining experience there.

Thereafter, it was a scurry trying to secure the reservations at Ryugin which we eventually got.  Woo hoo!  Happiness! 

It is rather impressive that Ryugin only opened its doors in 2003 and in just 10 years, owner and chef, Seiji Yamamoto has managed to secure 3 Michelin stars for his restaurant.  Specialising in modern Japanese cuisine, chef Yamamoto use of fine Japanese ingredients in his cooking is beautifully plated and presented in each of his dishes.

That evening, we had the Early Spring Menu where the dishes signified the ending of Winter and the coming of Spring.  Not quite knowing what to expect (I didn’t want to spoil the surprise by doing massive online research of the restaurant), all of us were definitely in for both a visual treat and feast.

Changing from Winter to Spring:

Seasonal vegetables with “Pine Nuts” dressing and sip of “Burdock Root” Soup

2 kinds of Calf Sweetbread – Sweetbread egg custard and deep-fried sweetbread

An interesting twist of the use of sweetbread.  I especially enjoyed the deep-fried version which was crispy and somewhat crunchy.

We noticed that when the dishes are set in front of us, the serving-ware would somehow be a little moist.  Puzzled as to why this was the case, I asked our server what the significance was.  Turned out that in ancient times before serving the food to the royalty, the kitchen staff would need to spritz the serving-ware before serving it.  If the serving-ware had been touched after the water has been spritzed, it would mean that the food had been tampered with.  Interesting tit-bit learned that evening.

Ichiban Dashi Soup: Spring “Wakatake” with “Kuruma Shirimp” Ball

Beautiful bowl with intricate dragon artwork imprinted on it and when revealed, it housed this really fragrant soup with the shrimp ball.

Assortment of Sashimi Ryugin Style

Don’t expect to find the usual sashimi here at Rygugin.  Sashimi is anything but usual and we all loved the twist that he did with the sashimi platter.  The presentation, the seasonings, the textures were all beautifully done to show off his mastery.

“Kinki fish” from Hokkaido Grilled on Charcoal

Interesting side dishes that were served along with the kinki fish – grilled eggplant with stuffing, boiled daikon soup served like a drink and my fave of the trio was this pickled green apple with ginger flavour that was tangy and crunchy to the palette.

“Chicken wing tip” stuffed with sharksfin in rich chicken essence and chopped vegetables

Wagyu Beef fillet grilled on charcoal with assorted vegetables

My shot of the wagyu beef fillet sure didn’t do this dish any justice but this was sinfully good.  Feeling stuffed by now, I could only manage 2 pieces and palmed the rest off to the guys on the table who happily ate the seconds without any form of protest.

Signature dish “Sanshoo pepper rice” with season vegetables in Spring presentation

Rice that looks almost too healthy and too good to be true.  Managed just 2 bites and left the rest untouched simply because I was too full.

At this point, the server asked if we were all full and if we were like to have another special dish.  I declined the offer but the rest of the table wanted to see what the chef would whip up for us so they nodded their head in joy.  This special sakura ebi with rice was given to some of us and it turned out to be far more enjoyable that their signature rice dish (IMO).

Now, on to desserts.

Tangerine Candy

When cracked open, our served dished out the candied tangerine to be place on the nitrogen ice-cream.  A huge fan of all things citrus, this was clearly a winner for me. Baked Ginjou Sake “Oyaki Souffle” with feathery “salted” soft served ice-cream

And what do I make of this sake souffle?  Honestly, it was one of THE best desserts I’ve had in a loooong time.  Love that the souffle had a hearty dose of alcohol in it (yes, one could get sufficiently intoxicated if you are allergic to alcohol) that was well-balanced with the right amount of salt in that feathery soft-serve ice-cream.  I wish we had seconds of this dessert instead.

Overall, a wonderful time spent at Ryugin and I’m giving it a two thumbs up for this three Michelin star dining experience.

龍吟, Ryugin

Address: Side Roppongi Bldg, 1st Floor, 7-17-24 Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo　106-0032

Reservation available time : 11:30am-6:00pm
Tel:+81-3-3423-8006

Michelin: ***

Brunch at Cocotte

A rare occasion where the Man did not plan for golf on a Saturday morning and we took the opportunity to out for brunch.  I had planned to go to Suprette but it was full (no surprises there since we didn’t book way in advance).  So I decided to bring the Man to go check out Cocotte since we managed to score last minute reservations.

I’ve been here before and enjoyed the dishes that we had.  The brunch menu was not extensive but good enough to keep the hunger pangs at bay.

The pear and blue cheese salad is one of my fave salads here so no guesses why this eventually ended up on our table as a starter.

We weren’t quite in the mood for Eggs Benedict so we ordered sunny side-up and bacon with toast.

And Beef Tartare for the sharing.  It’s hard to find a place that makes good beef tartare and this comes pretty close to the ones we’ve been eating in Europe.

Brunch was done in about 40 minutes since we were famished but portions were just right and the ambiance cosy and quiet enough to enjoy this first meal for the day.

Tokyo eats: とんかつ三本

Our last day in Tokyo saw us wandering the streets of Shinjuku attempting to get some shopping done.  Not before a quick bite to ease the Man’s hunger pangs.   This had been one of my fave hang-out places to go as a student in Tokyo and I was secretly hoping that I would be able to find it in one of the lanes at Shinjuku.  And we did!

Lunch sets are pretty much a good bargain (approximately 1,100 – 1,500 yen) here at this casual eatery which is famous for Tonkatsu (breaded pork loins).  They don’t just use ordinary panko.  Each pork loin is carefully coated with a generous serving of bread chunks doused with the Tonkatsu sauce, this was definitely a meal that brought back fond memories of hanging out with classmates after school.

Checking out: Kilo @ Pact

The Galfren was back in town for a while and had a packed schedule of catching up with family and friends.  Wasn’t sure what her schedule looked like but was glad we managed to squeeze in a late brunch to catch up.  Suggested Kilo at Pact tucked on Level 2 at Orchard Central for I’ve heard pretty decent reviews about the place.

Been to Kilo before with Delly and most of the dishes we ordered were pretty good.  The cafe here serves up a similar menu with some additions that sounded appetizing to warrant a try.

Raw Seafood Cerviche that had a kick-ass Thai Chilli-Lime dressing!

The Quinoa Fig salad with blue cheese crumble was a salad that I enjoyed.  Friends didn’t think too much of this dish.  Well, what can I say?  Me love blue cheese. 

I’ve always enjoyed Mentaiko, so was secretly pleased when the friend chose this mail to share.  The pasta tossed with the light yet creamy Mentaiko dressing was simply perfect for the tummy.

And since there was 3 of us and we had a relatively light menu, we decided ‘Yup!  There’s room for dessert!’  So we share the warm chocolate cake with banana ice cream and a portion of lemon tart!

This time round, the lemon tart tasted far better than the one I had previously.  I wonder why?  Perhaps it was fresh from the oven?

Overall, a nice and cosy place to go hang-out with friends.  Seats fill up fast I hear so to avoid any disappointment, either go on a wet and rainy day (like we did, not by choice) or head early.