Saturday, October 31, 2009

seafood lunch @ ECP

That day, during lunch, I was sorely disappointed with the cam.

For it had felt like one of the best lunch experiences ever, what with a great location, great atmosphere, great weather, great company and most importantly, great food. And yet, the cam chose to die on me (batt flat) right when I'm about to snap photos of the food.

Nice timing. Grrr...


great location, great weather, great company

It wasn't even 4pm, that Sunday afternoon. The lunch crowd were long gone and the dinner crowd would be in only later. So East Coast Lagoon Food Centre was pretty much a picture of peace. It was sunny and pretty breezy. We managed to secure a table at the very shady pavilion which had pretty spacious seating and it overlooked the nearby lagoon.

After fetching my bro from work, my mum had wanted to patronise the Thai Restaurant near the Sultan mosque but the rest of us were somehow resistant to the idea. Not surprisingly, here, my mum also asked to have the same type of meal that we would have had, over there.

Namely, a plate of rice each and an array of dishes. She must be hungry.

We were seated right behind this stall which we have never seen before. Must be new. It's called Adim Ann Seafood & Satay Specialist. What caught my eye was the weird name. Sounds really foreign, almost.... Thai.

My bro and I proceed to make the order. Cereal prawns is a must on my list right then. Kangkong belachan and kailan (veggies are good for health, ok?). My mum refused to have BBQ fish. I saw that they do serve sweet & sour so I ordered that. Somehow the guy offered the '3-rasa' (3-flavours) instead. That one is more like a Thai kind of sauce- sweet, sour AND spicy. We agreed on that.

I saw the array of fresh fish on display on the bed of ice in front of the stall and chose the seabass cos' that- to me, taste pretty good when fried. I cheekily asked that it be fried till' really, REALLY crispy.

I guess there's really something about a heavily pregnant woman making special reaquests when ordering food. You just have to abide. The fella literally wrote down on the order chit - beside the 3-flavours seabass, 'Very, VERY crispy'. Heh.

Also ordered satay. I somehow missed having tripe so I ordered 5 sticks of those and 10 sticks of beef. Surprisingly, my bro refused to have chicken, this time.

The 15 sticks cost us $8. Not exactly cheap, actually but that price seemed to be the norm, nowdays. But they tasted pretty good. Even the sauce. Now, when everyone in a Javanese family unanimously agree that the satay is good, you gotta believe them. Satay is a specialty of the Javanese, after all.

The first dish to come was the cereal prawn and boy, were we taken aback. The portion was huge! It's definitely large. Thing is, the stall didn't state any portion sizes so we didn't see the need to specify. We were worried as to how we were gonna finish all that. There was a mound of cereal over the prawns there. I took a spoonful of the spiced cereal....

It-was-sooo-good! They were generous with the curry leaves and chili padi. Those tiny red bits were also really spicy, an indication of the freshness. My mum told me that the prawns were fresh, because she had to tug hard at the head to separate it from the body. And the flesh was sweet and firm. Ummmm..... I like the fact that they didn't fry the prawns in some batter, like how it's done in some places.

Now that I count back the number of prawns each of us had, I dare say that there were at least 10, big, fat and juicy tiger prawns, there. Maybe, there could even be 12!

The portions for the veggies were pretty small though. I'm surprised at the way they prepare the kangkong belachan. There were cut red chilies and rings of red onions fried together with the greens, hence giving the dish a pretty nice hint of sweetness, "...just like how mum cook," my bro remarked. I agree.

And lastly, the deep fried seabass in '3-flavours' sauce (ikan siakap 3-Rasa). I poked at the fish. It sure is crispy. Very crispy, alright. I first attacked the crispy meat around the fins. And the sauce was awesome! Sweet, sour and pretty spicy. And they were pretty generous with the kaffir lime leaves, which were torn by hand.

Seeing that, I looked back into the stall to spot the cooks. I told my mum, "..Are the cooks Thai? Something tells me that they are..." She also start looking in and we spotted a couple of guys and a lady helming the kitchen. "The guys sure looked Thai to me.." she replied.

Thai or not, their cooking style is reminiscent of Thai cooking. Should have tried their tom yam...

For that large portion of cereal prawns, 2 plates of veggies and a medium-sized seabass + 4 white rice, I paid merely $45.

I recommended this place to my colleague and she treated her family there yesterday. Imagine- she ordered stingray, cereal prawn, calamari, kangkong belachan, omelette and tom yam; and she was charged only $70. And that's for 8 pax!

She told me the calamari is nice. I remember my bro mentioning calamari. He was wondering if they have that there. Well, we have our answer!

Another visit sure is due (before they start changing cooks or compromise on their quality or even revise the pricing).

...Pretty long entry, eh? If I only I had the photos, I needn't have to describe so much. Hmph! =((

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

sakura

23102009

A spontaneous decision for a get-together with gal pals of TMS. Coincidentally, one of the gals just had her birthday a couple of days back.

We were thinking of 'buffet' for the varieties and also to accommodate or vegan fren. Carousel's too expensive. Guess Sakura @ Downtown East it is (very close to home!).

One thing I learn about coming here - keep expectations low. VERY low. There's very poor chance that the food (esp. the seafood) here is fresh. And taste-wise.... well, if you're pessimistic, just stick to the safer choices.


from the sushi bar

It's a great risk that I'm taking, taking slices of sashimi. One bite tells me that I should just forget about it.

My colleague told me that a few slices of FRESH sashimi, esp. the premium ones from authentic Japanese restaurants should be fine. But this...?

I just savour the seaweed roll w/ prawn tempura and the california roll with unagi. That mussel in the foregroud was from the grilled-food section. Mussels topped with this sweet, orange-coloured creamy sauce (I can't figure out what). That was decent.


from the cooked-food section

Photo taken of the belated-birthday gal's first plate. Fried stuff, mostly. I was kinda' disappointed to see all that breadcrumbed stuff. I was hoping for some tempura, esp. since they were having this 'Japanese Food Promotion'. Was I asking for too much?


from the salad bar

Now this is what delighted me. The reason why I love buffets is because of the array of salad greens and cold dishes.

There were several cold dishes that had tuna in it. I just took a couple of those. These's something that looks like cold yakiniku. The chuka idako (Japanese seasoned baby octopus) was really starchy/gooey.

Wish I could have taken more of the alfalfa sprouts. I LOVE, love them alfalfa sprouts. But I read somewhere that pregnant women should hold back on consuming them because the way they are grown, there's a high chance of them harvesting a lot of bacteria.

Shucks, I know.

And on the top-left corner are 2-halves of boiled slipper lobster (aka crayfish) which was really cold and bland. Even the various sauces didn't perk up the taste. Sheesh.


my plate of cooked-food

I tell myself that the cooked food didn't look that very promising so I just try to go for 1 round of it.

Got the chawanmushi (bland), deep-fried vietnamese rolls (nice), a couple of dim sum (there are like 4-5 varieties but all the fillings looked the same), some breadcrumbed prawns & crab-claw.

From the grilled-food section, I got the teriyaki chicken (very dry - should top the meat with more sauce, post-grilling), more of that mussels and grilled prawns that's topped with the same orange-y sauce (doesn't taste that fresh).

I actually went for a 2nd round of the fried foods because I just spotted the wasabi mayo (my weakness!). But the wasabi taste was sorely lacking. Should have taken the actual wasabi from the sushi bar and mix it in!

I realise that I didn't even bother to try the food on the cook-upon-order section. Stuff like hot-plate grill, soups and teppanyaki. I was tempted to try the teppanyaki wagyu beef but something held me back.


one of my faves

Fried salmon skin! Nom nom....!


little pieces of cakes ~
background (L-R) - blackforest, oreo cheese, choc. truffle
midground (L-R) - choc. fudge brownie, choc. mint
foreground (L-R) - marble cheese

After the disappointment with the food, the desserts were thankfully, a saving grace.

Especially the marble cheesecake. They were just topping up on that one when I was at the fridge (must be popular!) so it was refreshingly cold to the bite, just like cheesecake ice-cream. And tasted just nice, not too sweet nor creamy.

The letdown was the blackforest for there was no hint of a cherry flavour. Just like a normal choc. cake. The mint in the choc. mint was lacking, too. The oreo was too overpowering because the proportion of it to the cheesecake was like 3:2.

The choc. fudge brownie & truffle cakes were decent. pretty nice, actually.

All in all... the foods aren't really THAT worth the $27. I noe there are other places out there that serve better food for a little more.

Monday, October 26, 2009

ayam penyet

Okay... this should have been posted sometime back, seeing that I had these on the same day I bought the baby schtuffs at Takashimaya.

Yea, as I've mentioned previously, my mum-in-law had wanted to eat 'ayam penyet' at Lucky Plaza. Actually, she's been craving for the avocado juice.

They've (my in-laws) often gone to the Ayam Penyet Ria on the 4th storey. This time, I decide to bring them to my family's favourite, Ayam Bakar Ojolali.

Ordered quite a fair bit and sad to say, they've ran out of the avocado juice (of all things?!).

The in-laws shared a set of Ikan Lele (catfish) and Gado-gado (mix-vegetables w/ peanut sauce). My dad had the Gado-gado, my mum- the namesake Ayam Bakar Ojolali (grilled chicken) and myself, the Ayam Penyet (fried chicken). There's also Sayur Asem (sour soup) , Sup Buntut and Ikan Goreng Kipas (deep-fried 'Gurame' fish).

I only managed a couple of pics because my mum-in-law kept teasing me whenever I fished out the cam. She asked if I'm taking these photos, "so that I can learn to cook the food". As soon as she said that, I kept the cam. Shouldn't try to build up her expectations ...


Ayam Penyet

Check out those crumbs! Kinda' remind one of the pisang goreng (fried banana fritters), eh?

The condiments/sauces were free-flow; kept in 2 jars on every table. The spicy chilli sauce (sambal) and the soy sauce with chili padi were such a hit that by the time we left, the 2 jars were almost empty, especially the chili.

Even I who can't take spicy stuff couldn't resist. I mixed some soy sauce into the sambal to neautralise the heat. My sis-in-law remarked that the chili here is definitely nicer than the one upstairs...


Sayur Asem -delish!

A mix of veggies like long beans, tomatoes, squash, cabbage, sweet corn and peanuts in tangy/sour soup. Sometimes, buah melinjo and daun melinjo is also added.

The pink drink in the background is the Es Ojolali (pink ice coconut) which is; young coconut, nata de coco and basil (selasih) float. My dad's order.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

baby schtuffs

Let me see.... 3 more days to the 8th month of my pregnancy, I FINALLY bought my first batch of baby goodies!

That was yesterday, by the way.


stuff from Takashimaya

I kept procrastinating and procrastinating till' it's this late.

It dawned onto me, a week back, that I'd already have booked a bed at the hospital and the 8th month can be pretty crucial, seeing how I myself was supposedly born around that period. Besides, if I wait any longer, I'd been much bulkier and of course, lazier to go and buy these things. It's bad enough that I hate shopping. The husband, too.

Thankfully, there's the $100 Takashimaya voucher given by my bosses to somewhat made me a little driven for it. So I strategised...

Knowing just how much the hubby detested Orchard Road, I planned to bring along people who love shopping for company - namely my own mum and mum-in-law. I will take the afternoon off and visit the gynae. Besides my mum's been griping about the fact that I never brought her along to the gynae. As for the mum-in-law, she been talking about eating the ayam penyet at Lucky Plaza, so I plan to head there before shopping at Takashimaya.

Double cases of 'killing 2 birds with 1 stone'. Smart, or not?

When the day arrive, I end up bringing an entourage.

My dad was on mc (but he appeared ok, to me). My mum-in-law brought along her younger daughter and grand-daughter (my sis-in-law & niece). Which was cool.

Seeing that the S-I-L was around my age range and already a mother-of-2 herself, she's a good person to have around to consult. If I had listened to my mum, I might have ended up buying a baby rocker.

It's quite a headache, thinking of what to buy. Oh wait, CORRECTION. I mean, thinking of what NOT to buy- seeing that many had offered several hand-me-downs which I totally don't mind at all, seeing that infants grow quite fast and things like prams and others are already available at home. I even got a breast pump from a cousin. Heheh.

Seriously, all I had in mind was a baby sling/sarong carrier and Avent baby bottles, which were highly recommended. The elders were amused that I would want to spend so much on that sarong carrier when they could have made one out of the REAL sarong anyway.

C'mon, lah. I wanna look a little glam, can? Besides I have to consider the hubby. He'll definitely won't want to use a batik sarong, EVER! (Funnily enough, I bought one in brown...)

In the end, I also got a rubber mat, bed pad, bottle cleanser, breast pads and even a couple of nursing bras. Still got the diapers, my sanitary pads.. what else...?

Ermmm... help? =(

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

something from the kitchen...

My grandma and mum-in-law decided last week, to hold a 'kenduri' (feast) to commemorate my late grandpa-in-law's 40th day death anniversary. Everyone will sit together and recite prayers for the deceased, after which food will be served.

I didn't really partake in helping with the food preparations for I ain't of much use in the kitchen, actually. The grandma, m-i-l and the maid are all so deft in getting everything done that all I did was to snoop around.

I know, I know... Some kind of daughter-in-law, I am. Hey, I can't even fry my own egg without the maid taking over the spatula and shoo me away. "If not, I'll get a pay cut," she said. =P

ANYWAY, the menu that day was supposed to be rawon, the ubiquitous Javanese beef stew and its accompaniments like urap/keluban (vegetables with spicy shredded coconut), sambal goreng kecambah, bergedil (fried potato patty) and ayam kalio (chicken in spiced coconut stew).

Somehow, something went wrong with the rawon and it seemed to have something to do with it's key ingredient - the buah keluak. The stew actually tasted bitter. They eventually threw out the gravy and quickly washed the meat. What a waste!

And that rawon dish got replaced with daging semur (beef braised in sweet soy sauce).

bergedil - nicely arranged

I can't help taking a photo of this bowl where the bergedil were nicely arranged by the grandma.


bergedil - up close

There's just something about freshly cooked potatoes that make it so irresistibly tempting. Even this potato patty which is pretty common in the malay cuisine.

Very much akin to a croquette sans breadcrumbs. Potato cut into smaller wedges and fried before being mashed. Fillings vary but it's sometimes mixed with minced meat or simply has fried shallots, scallions and cilantro. The patty is then dipped into beaten egg and fried (again).

Not exactly the healthiest of food, I know. But that's why it tastes so good, I guess.


kecipir

That's how they it's known in Javanese. The Malay call it kacang botol (bottle bean). In English, it's called 'Winged bean' or 'Four-angle bean'.

These are cut into thin pieces to be mixed with the tapioca shoots, bean sprouts and long beans for the urap/keluban dish. Although I prefer them in their fresh, crisp form (I can't help popping in a few for a quick snack), they eventually decide to blanch all the vegetables for the convenience of those lacking in the 'dental department'.

The spiced coconut that's prepared by the grandma was really delicious albeit VERY spicy. Some of you are aware that my tolerance for spicy foods have dropped drastically during my pregnancy so when I decide to savour the urap dish on its own, like a salad - I actually kept a jug of water on standby. =PP

Monday, October 19, 2009

portugese egg tart



portugese egg tart

From this bakery, D' Pastry, located nearby the office - along the main road of
Ubi Avenue 2 (same row as those famous suckling pig shops). Oh, it's neighbours with the OCK branch there.

Sales seem to be especially brisk during lunchtime, when office ladies stop by for a quick sugar fix. Their cheesecakes slices cost only $3.90 each and they have durian schtuffs, like durian cake, durian crepes etc.

They also have savoury pastries like chicken, tuna, sausage pies.

Oh and they're halal-certified, too.

Their stuff are nice, save for the fact that their pastry is a tad too greasy/buttery for my liking.

Yes, that applies for the egg tart, too. Too bad, for the layers look gorgeous! And I personally asked for them to give me "the black-black one!"

Saturday, October 17, 2009

bibimbap! dinner

(Don't mind the exclamation mark. It's just the expression I used whenever I mentioned the word. Makes me soo excitable!)

While chatting with her online, my cousin Nor kept mentioning how much she missed eating Bibimbap, the famed Korean mixed-rice dish.

She's one of those with whom I always visit ZingDo with and we can't help reminiscing the affordable, yummy and halal Korean fare that we could get from there.

For those in the unknown, ZingDo used to be at Jurong Entertainment Centre, located at Jurong East Central. However, the whole building is currently undergoing extensive renovations and it's not yet known if ZingDo is going to re-open there or find another location elsewhere.

Or if it's even re-opening at all.

We searched online for halal Korean fare and came up with BBQ Chicken (Korea's version of KFC, albeit high-end), Seoul Garden (BBQ meat buffet) and Fresh Bulgogi.

Out of this, only Fresh Bulgogi really serve bibimbap. And the only location is the one all the way at Changi Airport Terminal 2. Oh bummer!

I know there are halal Korean food stalls around somewhere but their fare is not quite decent. We've been quite pampered by the foods at ZingDo and Fresh Bulgogi, where the flavours are pretty much authentic. Oh, the both of them are under the same company, except that Fresh Bulgogi is more high-end (and of course, more expensive!).

So Fresh Bulgogi it is.

Trooped down all the way there (thankfully, someone's driving). All four of us are big fans of Korean dramas and we've been very much intrigued by the scenes of food being served, which is pretty much ubiquitous in EVERY one of their dramas and even movies.

Fried chicken drumlets ~ $5.99

For my cousin Imah, who LOVES her chicken.


Deep-fried assorted mushrooms ~ $5.99

Something that I never missed ordering back at ZingDo.

Crispy spinach ~ $5.99

Used to order this back at ZingDo, too. Check out the crispy exterior! The batter obviously had lotsa' chili/seaweed flakes and sesame seeds. Yums!

Kimchi ~ $3.99

MUST order an extra portion of this, to be eaten with the side dishes. I really love their version, which is less acidic/sour.

The portion is definitely smaller here as compared to ZingDo.


Seafood and chicken hotpot ~$26.99

We opt for them to prepare this for us in the kitchen because we're too lazy and hungry for any D.I.Y.

But they brought out the dish a tad late, so the contents seemed pretty much over-cooked.

If I last recall, the kimchi flavour used to be much stronger last time I was here. Did some customer complain of the flavour being too overpowering or did they deliberately dilute the taste?

Beef Bulgogi bibimbap ~ $10-99

Bulgogi marinated beef with seasoned mungbean sprouts, stir-fried spinach, kimchi and raw egg in the centre.

The gojuchang (Korean sauce made of fermented bean paste and chili) was served in a separate bowl. Oh, how I miss the free-flow of gojuchang and chili paste back in ZingDo. They were kept in 2 small jars and were readily available on every table.


Chicken Bulgogi Bibimbap ~ $9.99

I don't know why the chicken version was rated with 2 chillies on the menu, meaning that it's rather spicy. I thought the bulgogi marinate should be the same, be it for beef or chicken?

They serve the 'Dolsot Bibimbap' version here, (the following is quoted from Wikipedia) where the contents are placed in a hot stone bowl/pot in which a raw egg is cooked against the sides of the bowl. The bowl is so hot that anything that touches it sizzles for minutes. Before the rice is placed in the bowl, the bottom of the bowl is coated with sesame oil, making the layer of the rice touching the bowl golden brown and crispy.

...I love that last line. Heh.

We were darn full at the end of the meal. Desserts were definitely out of question.

Service was quite lacking in the beginning, probably due to that the restaurant was pretty packed then. Towards the end, the service improved much and the servers met to our requests for drinks top-up of both ice & warm water every now and then.

Total damage was $103.50. It could have been cheaper had our cousin been able to use her Zingrill discount card but it was public holiday eve, that day.


Iced double choc., Ultimate ice-blended, hot chai latte & cake

Despite being full, the short walk to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf somehow subside the discomfort a little and we decide to chill for a bit.

I insist on ordering a cake, despite their protests, for I want to somewhat celebrate the belated birthday of my cousin, Sue. So much for being 'very full'. All the drinks ordered were the largest portion. =P

When I gave Sue the honour of having the first bite, another cousin (who's used to getting the attention) asked, "Why her and not me?"

"Because it's her birthday yesterday...?"

Only then she relented. Like that also can, ah? pfft!

PS: After having that hot chai latte, I had a very looong and satisfying burp. What a relief! Must be those cardammoms!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

still bored, i guess

I don't know why but I was surfing around for donuts that day.

By lunchtime, I was determined to head down to Bedok after I knock off, to get my fix from my fave, Munchy Donut.

Munchy's my favourite because of their extensive variety of dark chocolate donuts. Followed by Donut Factory and J.Co.

Somehow, when chatting online with my cousins, one of them mentioned fries and my mind immediately flew to think of Yella Fellas at Bugis. I was reminiscing the Wasabi Mayo & Nacho Cheese topping that I had the other time. I was even considering to get some Chewy Junior puffs while I'm there.

But then I end up knocking off late. So I just thought of giving Dippin' Donut at Ehub! a try since it's near my home. However, I decide that going to Ehub! is such a hassle, when White Sands is right at the doorstep of Pasir Ris mrt.

Now thing is, the one at White Sands is Donut Empire and I never really like their stuff cos' I find theirs to be too sweet for my liking. And by the time I got there, the variety of flavours available seemed pretty dismal.

What I eventually did was to order medium fries from MacD and snack on them while I find something else that's to my liking.

And I end up getting this:


Ya Kun ice-cream toast

Chocolate flavour, no less.

They actually ask, "Do you want the bread to be toasted?"

Why, of course! I'm paying $1.70 just for that. Or I might just as well pay only $1 to get normal ice-cream sandwich from any ah-pek out there.


Part 2

They toasted 2 slices of bread, which they then slice length-wise so that the bread became pretty thin and they cut the whole piece further into 2.

Part 1 of the sandwich had the slab of ice-cream being in slightly frozen state. Part 2, the ice-cream had slightly melted around the edges. Warm, crispy toast with cold ice-cream.... niiice...!

It's thoughtful of them to provide a layer of plastic for a more hygienic and less messy eat.


Cheesecake - courtesy of hubby's cousin

My collegues and I were discussing about cheesecake during lunchtime and I came home to see that my hubby's cousin, who live at the next block, had come by to give us the cheesecake that she baked in school that day.

No, she's not from 'homec' class. She's actually training to be a pastry chef?? (not sure of the actual course) in Shatec. So practical lessons involve the making of real-sized cakes and pastries. Isn't that cool or what??

I was looking forward to her chocolate truffle cake but I miss out on that for I was busy tending to my guests at home, when she brought the cake to my sis-in-law's open house. Huhu!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

oh, the things i eat!

...When I'm bored, that is.


myojo tom yam

Not the healthiest of things, I know. In fact, this is wayyy unhealthy.

Never been fond of instant noodles, cos' I'm somewhat intolerant to MSG (mono sodium glutamate). But I guess I tend to give in to erratical thoughts and ideas when I'm truly, truly bored.

I usually consume my instant noodles right at the 2min. mark, because I like my noodles springy and firm. Soggy noodles are just so bleargh! As if these things don't taste bad enough.

Noodle-wise, I like those of the Korean brands. The portion is bigger, the noodles thicker and springier. I'm partial to KOKA's flat rice-noodles too.

Flavour-wise, I do enjoy those Korean kimchi ramen flavours, Myojo's Lor Mee and Tom Yam and Chu Qian Yi Ding's sesame oil. But mostly, I prefer the dry, 'fried' noodles version. Maybe because by having it that way, I'll not be obliged to drink up the soup.

And my mum (who's a borderline health-freak at times) always discouraged us from putting ALL the seasoning in and that has become a habit for me, till' now. Bland flavour? Naaahhh.... Less MSG, that's what matters.
--------------

PS: I've been wondering just what appears wrong with that picture... Well, I figured out that the cutlery (stainless steel, Korean made) was placed wrongly. Chopsticks should be on the right, don't they?

Then again, to assimilate with Muslim customs, my mum (yes, dear mum the disciplinarian) always discouraged us from spooning food into the mouth using our left hand as it's considered 'dirty' (left hand is used to wash ourselves). Therefore, it's become a habit of mine to use the chopsticks with my left hand and the spoon with my right.

And thanks to that habit, I'm able to declare myself (slightly) ambidextrous with the chopsticks... =)

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

fruzen yoguz

My latest craze... Fro-yo.

Fro - WHAT???

Frozen yogurt, la. Something's telling me that yet another new craze has hit our shores...?

I mean... there's:
- Yami Yogurt (the longest to helm the froyo market here)
- Slurps + Scoops (supposedly under Yami Yogurt?)
- Berrylite
- Yoguru
- Frolick
- Red Mango
- Fro-yo
- Glacious

... Aside from Yami (which already have numerous branches) there are those above that already had more than 1 branch here.

Well, not that I'm complaining. I mean, this stuff is supposed to be healthy, rite? Okay, fine.. at least HEALTHIER than... ice-cream, donuts and bubble tea.. etc.

And then there's this - Fruzen Yoguz ~ the yogurt design factory. Newly opened at White Sands Shopping Mall, replacing an ice-cream shop's premise (does that indicate anything?).


MY choices

It's prime location right at the main entrance is totally hard-to-miss. So much so that I got the urge to drop by there everytime I saw it whenever I exit from the MRT station.

And that tagline -"The yogurt design factory" brings on a concept that's new to this whole fro-yo scene and I'm totally digging it. Well, one have got to try something to stand out amongst all that competition I guess.

Everything is D.I.Y here. Make your own combo with all the various fro-yo flavours and toppings which range from fresh fruits, to chocolates and cereals.

They then charge you by the weight of your cup ~ 30cts per 10g (they're currently having a grand opening promo ~ 20% disc. till sometime this month).

Isn't that cool? I'm a sucker for varieties and I can go crazy just figuring out which topping(s) to complement the flavour I chose!

If you see the pic above, I had topped my Mango-Tango (new flavour!) fro-yo with FIVE different toppings. I simply took 3/4 of the usual portion of the fro-yo to create more space for my toppings of fresh strawberry & kiwi, canned peach, muesli and coco pops.

The cashier must have been amused to see this pregnant lady going bonkers with their array of toppings (I tried my best not to be messy).

Guess how much my combo cost?? I can't really recall the weight but I paid only $4.70 for it.

Sooo affordable, can? Now I got a good answer for my sugar-fix!

PS: I joined their FB fanpage and they informed me that they created a new formula for the mango tango flavour... Guess I'll see myself there again.