A Day Of Fun-Filled Activities!!!

I was really lucky to be a winner in the Straits Times Food Tour Programme organised by Wong Ah Yoke( a food critic and writer) and HSBC being the sponsor. From what i heard, there are more than 5000 entries but only the lucky 10 were picked! And i am one of them! haha..

Every winner would have to bring one partner to the food tour and GuGu came with me! How fun to be in this with GuGu!

On 12 noon of the 15th Nov, GuGu and i reached the reception of SPH News Centre, awaiting there eagerly with other lucky winners to start the day altogether! We got a shirt each which was quite a bonus and in fact the tee was quite nice. A director gave a head start and i was told that i am the youngest winner of this lucky draw. I suddenly became the limelight of the event!
After taking a photo in front of the specially designed bus to suit the occasion, we were ready to head off to our 1st destination!

As told, a photographer and a reporter( Evonne) would be following us throughout the day and may interview some of us along the way as well. So exciting!

Our 1st stop was a Modern European lunch at Braise Restaurant located at Palawan Beach in Sentosa. The ambience was very soothing and lovely. GuGu and i sat at a corner of a long table together with other participants. Our orders were then swiftly taken and followed by some bread to start off. GuGu and i each had 2 of the olive bun which is very fresh and warm. Each of us were allowed to choose 2 out of 5 entrees, 1 out of 5 main courses and 1 out of 3 desserts. Hence, Gugu and i ordered rather wisely so that we could share and sample more dishes. The food came very slowly and gugu and i got quite restless actually. We ordered 4 entrees altogether namely the Pan-seared Foie Gras, escargot, a hot soup and the capellini with salmon. The foie gras as a bit small but actually very tasty, similarly, the escargot which i had for the first time today actually amazed me with the flavourful and full of meaty shellfish. The soup was piping hot which makes it good whereas the capellini was also very refreshing.

Soon, the main course started appearing in front of all of us. GuGu's Pork Belly came first, i was surprised by the small portion as usual but the huge stack of meat assured us that it is not going to be a disappointment. Yes, indeed, the meat was very tender like eating chicken while the pickled vegetables that was a side condiment actually adds flavor to it but gugu sadly doesn't fancy them=P

My Cod Fish was sooooooo fantastic! It was very soft and melts in my mouth the moment i put it in. Yum Yum. The spicy topping was a very good complement. Not to forget the white wine! There is also capellini at the side which is good and filling.

Finally the dessert arrived. Tiramisu was served with a sponge biscuit and i had the banana parfait with roasted walnut. Lovely to end a meal right?

It started drizzlling when we left and head to our next stop which is the Singapore Flyer. We had a session of wine appreciation at Bistro Senso Italian Restaurant first. We were able to sample 4 different kinds of wines. I love the last one which was a sweet sparkling wine most because it had a tad fruity and sweet taste which i loved! I got a bit red or rather very red after the drinks.

Then it was time for a foot reflexology at Kenko! This was my first time doing a foot massage and i was quite excited. We were told to wash our feet before lying onto the sofa. I was a bit 'drunk' and was in a rather sleepy mode. Luckily the massage wasn't very painful or ticklish, i was able to enjoy it while relaxing my whole body and eyes. Those doing head and shoulder massage looked like they are quite uncomfortable in that kind of sitting position! haha..Time passed in a twinkling of an eye and it was over and we were given a cup of tea each.

It was followed by a ride in the SIngapore Flyer. This is my second time on it and hence i don't find it anything special except that this time it was with GUgU! and i had more fun=)

TTTTHHHHEEENNN! it was dinner time again! Dinner is a 12 course set dinner at XI YAN( a chinese fusion restaurant). It was located at quite a unnoticable place. We had to climb up a 'ulu' flight of stairs to get to the restaurant. The sitting area was small and cosy i guess. All of us occupied 3 huge tables in all. The menu looked enticing and i was indeed looking forward to a sumptuous meal.

The first dish was the Green House tomato with wasabi sesame sauce. It was very refreshing and solid! Haha. i loved it a lot and i feel that it was really an eye opener for me because i've never knew tomatoes could taste so good!

2nd, we had the crispy xiang su duck. I like this dish too because it was duck with glutinous rice and peanuts. Very special and appetising!

Next was a cold tofu with pork floss in shabu sauce. i've eaten this before but this was different as it had fried shallots which adds a crunch to the dish. But the sauce may be a bit saltish la..

Then it was stir fried potherb mustard with edamame. It was served in individual spoonfuls. Very unique dish and i find it very tasty.

The first main dish was marinated drunken prawns where each of us had 1 too. The waiter said that the prawns were infused in wine for a week long! Nowonder the taste was so overpowering that i could feel the numbness in my throat and lips for quite long. haha.

Then, we had the layered dongpo pork braised with mushrooms which was 2 towers of meat with salted vege hidden within the tower. The fun thing about eating this dish is to slowly peel off the pork in layers from starting from the bottom. The meat was pretty fatty but the meat was quite tender. Eating with the salted vege is a tradition and actually gives the meat a bit more flavour.

The sichuan salivating chicken with century eggs was up next. I love this!! finally a spicy dish, and it was very very tasty ! especially the fried peanuts and dongfen that was mixed within the hot sauce. I had an enjoyable time eating this wonderful dish! wanted to have 3rd serving but of course i don't want to look like a greedy pig. Gugu was already full after this and i don't think she is going to eat anymuch more.haha

Next up, the stir fried spicy basil crabs with shanghainese rice cakes was quite delicious too. I don't fancy crabs and only had a piece while gugu had a claw only. I think the sauce was good though..

AFter which is a refreshing and soothing change which is the Jujube longan sorbet with sugarcane crystals. It was suppose to get ready your palate for the next dish. I quite like this and the longan sorbet was also something special.

It was Shanghai hot and sour soup in winter melon next. Me and gugu could not drink anymuch more and just tasted a few spoonfuls. I can't find anything unique about this.

The last main course was the stir fried mushrooms with pickled cucumbers. This is quite tasty actually but we did not eat much as usual as we were too full already. It was a mix of many different kinds of mushrooms and the pickled cucumbers was also quite saltish. nevertheless i still enjoyed it quite A bit.

FINALLY!! after a loooong and draggy meal..the dessert and final course is ready! XI Yan signature tang yuan in old ginger soup. There were 2 tang yuans, one green and one orange with a few cubes of sweet potato in ginger soup. The waiter asked us to guess the 5 different ingredients that contitutes to the filling of the tangyuan. I guessed only peanut, sesame and winter melon correctly and could not figure out the other 2. I finally gave up and was told butter and egg yolk. What a surprise! it doesn't even have a tad of buttery or egg yolky taste in it! i just knew i love it! i think this is the only place where i can savour such delicious tangyuan i couldn't bear not to eat them!

GuGU and i left immediately as we did not want mama to wait any longer for us, she must be really bored being alone at home and unfortunately the TV broke down too!

We really enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and felt really fortunate to be able to have such a great day out with to notch food being the main attraction!=)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

People's Park Complex hidden treasures

Jimoto-Ya (Singapore)

Tendon Kohaku's 2nd outlet!