California Road Trippin' pt 1

After an almost 2 month hiatus, I'm back!!!

Grape S and I road tripped to NorCal for MLK weekend.  We headed out of LA early on Saturday morning and arrived in downtown Mountain View in about 4.5 hours.  For brunch, we picked Crepevine on Castro St.

We waited in line for about 20 minutes just to order our food.

The menu was huge!

Our choices of beverages: Fresh squeezed Orange Juice, Mocha Latte (seriously, to die for) & Cappuccino.

Food took about another 20 minutes to be delivered to our table.  We picked a savory crepe: The Sante Fe (Grilled chicken apple sausage with scramble eggs, green onions, provolone and salsa fresca).

And a sweet one: The Santorini (Walnuts, pistachios, brown sugar, coconut, cinnamon and mascarpone; sadly, this was just ok).

We walked around downtown Mountain View for a little bit.

And that 30 minute walk, I was ready for our lunch at Ryowa Ramen House also in Downtown Mountain View.

It had quite a collection of Manga.

We ordered the Ryowa Ramen.

And their Fried Chicken (something we wished we also ordered was their Fried Rice but we did just come from brunch ... next time ...).

After which, we hopped across the street to Verde Tea Cafe ...

To get Bubble Tea for us and our friends, M & J.

We headed to M & J's house and met Baby E for the first time.

We took a walk around their beautiful neighbourhood.

With Baby E soundly asleep in her stroller.

Baby E is just too cute - look at the full head of hair!

Later in the evening, we headed to Refuge in San Carlos with T & N.  Refuge is known for its Pastrami Sandwiches and Beer selection.

Their Pastrami Sandwich was the bomb.  Grape S and I are now in love with Pastrami Sandwiches.  Their Goofy Fries (Garlic fries topped with chopped pastrami, and melted cheddar cheese sauce) was also finger licking good.

The next morning, we headed again to Downtown Mountain View for dim sum at Fu Lam Mum with CL and Kuya.

Their dim sum was pretty legit.  I still have yet to find a decent spot in LA ... CL and I killed the Chicken Feet since Kuya and Grape S were too scared!  Haha ...

Our obligatory self-taken group shot before we bid farewell ...

And, we got to check out Kuya's new bike.

Next up ... California Road Trippin' pt 2 ...

Eatin' My Way Through Singapore

Having not been back home in over 2 years, and with only 7 days in Singapore, I made sure I did not waste any meal, or any stomach space, and maximized every opportunity to get some local grub.  Here's a quick guide to some of the best Singapore has to offer!

On my first day in Singapore ...

My first meal in Singapore just an hour after landing (i.e. at 4am) - Char Kway Teow and White Carrot Cake (not the typical Carrot Cake in Singapore) from Chomp Chomp Hawker Centre in Serangoon Gardens.

For breakfast, I had Bean Curd (aka Douhua) and Youtiao.

For lunch my mom got us Hainanese Chicken Rice & Deer Meat from Pow Sing.

Fruits including regional fruits like including Star Apple (from the Philippines), Custard Apple, Jackfruit and Papaya.

I caught up with an old Church friend at Udders for Horlicks Balls and Lychee Martini ice cream.

Since this was the last day (day 15) of Chinese New Year, my family tossed Yu Sheng for good luck.

And also had Steamboat (aka Hot Pot) for dinner.

And for dessert, we had some egg tarts and kueh (including Ang Ku Kueh).

On my second day in Singapore ...

I met up with a Junior College (i.e. Junior & Senior year of High School) friend at Crystal Jade and had Beef Hor Fun.

For the afternoon snack, my parent's helper made us Turon (Filipino Fried Banana with Jackfruit in a Springroll wrapper).

For dinner, I met a Primary School friend and had Wonton Mee.

And ended off our meal with Singapore's local dessert Ice Kachang with Durian.

On my third day in Singapore ...

I started off my day right with Roti Prata that is served with a Curry dipping sauce.

I then met my Junior College Swimming friends for ... Dry Soy Milk, Sugarcane Juice, Chin Chow and Wonton Mee ...

Oyster Omelette, Black Carrot Cake and Hokkien Mee ...

Satay (Chicken, Beef and Mutton) ...

And Sambal Kangkong!

For an afternoon snack, I met up with my sister and her husband and I had the Apple Pie (fritters style, not the baked style like in the US) from McDonalds.

For dinner, I met up with a really good friend's best friend who had just moved to Singapore from London ... I had the Mee Pok from Lau Pa Sat (a historical hawker centre in Singapore).

On my fourth day in Singapore ...

I met up with another Church friend and had Lo Mai Gai, Char Siew Bao & Iced Milo for Breakfast.

For my second breakfast at home, my mom bought us Chwee Kueh.

For lunch, I met one of my best guy friends for Bak Kut Teh at Ng Ah Sio.

Then, we grabbed coffee and Macarons at Canele at the Gardens By The Bay.

For dinner, my family and I went to East Coast Seafood Centre's Long Beach Seafood Restaurant!  We started out with Crispy Baby Squid ...

Then had Fried Rice with Prawn ...

Then, my favourite - You Tiao stuffed with Squid ...

Sambal Kangkong ...

And of course, the highlight of the night ... Singapore's famous dish - the Chili Crab with Mantou ...

Butter Crayfish ...

And lastly, Black Pepper Prawn!

And for dessert at home, we had Potong ice cream.

On my fifth day in Singapore ...

For breakfast, I met another Church friend for Kaya Toast at Wang Cafe.

For lunch, I met a College classmate who now works in Singapore - I had the Congee with Century Egg and Pork from Imperial Treasure Windows of Hong Kong in Asia Square.

For tea, my siblings and I met a Church friend for the Vintage High Tea Buffet at House at Dempsey.

For dinner, I met my Junior College friends who I met back in week 1 of our orientation and we shared the Assam Chicken Wings ...

While I had the Bandung drink.

On my sixth day in Singapore ...

For breakfast, my mom bought Prawn Mee from two different stalls at the Market ...

Fried Bee Hoon ...

And Nasi Lemak.

And topped off the meal with some Philippine Mangoes (cut the way I like it by my parent's helper)!

For the day's activity, my sister and I took my nephew to the Singapore Zoo (which is one of the best in the world).  After viewing the Great Panda Forest Exhibit, we had Almond Jelly with Longan and Red Bean Bao at the Mama Panda Kitchen. 

How cute is this?

To cool down, my sister and I had the Horlicks Rhino (aka Dinosaur style Horlicks) while my nephew was snacking on Fish Ball.

After our fun adventure at the zoo, my parents hosted a party for their friends to meet my cute nephew.  Our helper made Lumpia Shanghai ...

And BBQ including Chicken Wings and Marinated Pork skewers ...

Pancit Palabok ...

And Rellenong Bangus (Stuffed Milk Fish).

A family friend also made Mee Goreng for us.

On my seventh and last day in Singapore ...

My sister, her husband, and I meet up with a church friend and I had Mee Pok for breakfast.

For lunch, I met up my College friends at Ion Food Hall and had Banmian.

For my afternoon snack, I grabbed Fish Balls from Old Chang Kee.

For my last dinner, one of my best guy friends and his wife brought me to get Laksa from 328 Katong Laksa ...

And also had Rojak (the Malay version).

And ended off with Jolly Lolly replacement taste testing ... we decided Nestle's Tropicana is better than Wall's Solero!

And to end my food trip ... I had Tutu Cake.

This trip was obviously revolved around food, which I miss dearly (and am making my mouth water as I draft this post).  Too bad I wasn't able to eat everything I wanted to, but as you can see, I did a pretty job crossing items off my list in just 7 days!

Have you been to Singapore?  What is your favourite food / what do you miss?