Ganglamedo part 2

(I realised there is not much left for discussion in my second post…)

The other soup base was mushroom soup, which I believe was made from a variety of mushrooms, and slow boiled with homemade truffle oil. Not much was discussed about the cooking methods – I suppose because it is rather straightforward. It doesn’t taste as concentrated as the tomato soup, but the strong fragrance of mushrooms was definitely present and somewhat-strong.

In the midst of us dumping our vegetables into the hotpot, the waiters came by and gave us each a dish of starchy vegetables: sweet potato, chinese yam, and baby potatoes. Everything was pre-steamed, so we were told we can eat it straight from the small serving dish. After trying one chunk each on its own, I am inclined to believe it is meant to be placed in the soup at least for a small while (unless it is meant for palate cleansing).

Then came the specially prepared dessert – a Chinese version of jelly prepared just for us. The jelly itself is not sweetened, and the main flavours came from the addition of haw flakes, watermelon cubes, raisins, and a slice of starfruit, topped with a peppermint leaf both as garnish and to provide that much-needed refreshing finish. Brown sugar syrup is drizzled over the jelly, which is very thoughtful from the TCM perspective, providing a good balance between heaty and cooking food.

The waiters came by many, many times to check on us – whether we had enough of each item, whether we would like a refill of xxx, whether the taste was alright/too bland/too salty – and I have to agree that their careful service is commendable. It certainly helps for start-ups to get constant feedback for their dishes, and the best way to do so is through direct questioning. I won’t be surprised if I were sent a questionnaire at the end of the entire dining experience, to rate their service, environment, areas for improvement etc.

While I was quite skeptical of the high price initially, the experience was worth every penny (or cent). Each dish was carefully prepared with love, and clearly much thought was put into ensuring balance in all aspects: taste, aesthetics, and health. My friends will agree with all limbs raised that I’m secretly quite critical, especially where my expectations are set higher. So I’m really glad that ganglamedo didn’t disappoint, and since they’re still experimenting, I’m looking forward to what else they can come up with 😉

Ganglamedo review part 1

After hearing all the rave from Jimmy and Cheryl about how good ganglamedo is, and how friendly the service is, I decided to head down – just when they released a new, much more affordable dinner menu.

Located in Chinatown along a quieter alley, Ganglamedo appears to stand out as the one fine dining eatery amongst cafes and pubs. It is easily accessible and only a max of 5min walk from the nearest bus stop, though heading back was more of a hassle if you were thinking of returning to the Chinatown MRT station.

 

The interior was what awed me the most. As a newly opened eatery with a concept rare to Singapore, the design is very intricate, and the waiters are proud to show us around. Every seat is like a single dining room on its own, with sofas as seats, individual chandeliers hung over the dining table, and separated from other seats with partitions for optimum privacy while dining.

Passageways are lined with beautiful ornaments and antiques imported from China, with one wall draped over with the art of a Buddha. Many of the decorations can be purchased, according to Cheryl.

The second floor is also accessible for public seating, with a large window overlooking 2 sets of seats at the first floor, from which the view is pretty amazing. The stairs are lit up by electrically powered candles instead of lights, which added a layer of modest elegance.

 

 

The VIP lounge is a whole new level (literally), upstairs with its very own resting area, and a private toilet (apparently for “showering”). It is located at the attic, with its own air con which isn’t usually turned on unless someone has booked the room. Like most VIP seating areas, it is catered for large events and therefore has a large table in the middle, more extravagantly designed than the smaller non-VIP counterparts.

Back to food before I start sounding as though I’m introducing a museum: we had a 5-course meal with appetisers, sides, drinks, a main course, and dessert. Not all their dishes are vegan, so you will need to specify before going about your dietary requirements as the dessert will need to be preprepared specially for you (lest you would like to settle with a fruit platter)

First to appear, as for all Chinese restaurants, was the drinks. The set came with a complimentary pot of tea – after which free flow tea will require a payment of $3. The other drink we got was something like sparkling grapefruit – clearly not drunk by me, as I don’t usually like fizzy drinks. This tea is well brewed and smooth, with a slight barley fragrance. Not an uncommon drink in China, and famed for its health benefits of lowering cholesterol etc., it was a thoughtful addition to the feast that is about to follow.

The appetisers included a fruit platter with candied walnut, which is literally caramelised walnut. This came along with an enoki mushroom and cucumber roll, garnished with a side of thin carrot slice also made into a roll. For the reason that it is merely an appetiser, it is very mild tasting – with only the natural taste of the ingredients and not much seasoning added.

Special shout out to their homemade chilli sauce, which is also on sale. It is extremely fragrant, with 2 types – one that is more nutty and made of mainly a variety of nuts and seeds, and one that is more of the kind of chilli that we are used to, yet again with a slight nutty fragrance.

Then came the panfried button mushroom, which replaced what would otherwise be the homemade pancakes (not vegan). And oh. My. Goodness. Was the dish good. The mushroom was fried to a point where it is extremely succulent on the inside, yet still firm on the outside, and the fragrance of mushrooms literally burst in your mouth upon biting in. As they are still in the process of constantly improving their menu, specks of salt was sprinkled onto the dish, in case customers (ie us) found it too bland. I found that really thoughtful, because not all customers have the same taste, and allowing them to choose their own level of saltiness ensures that all taste preferences were accommodated for.

The star of this trip was the main course – a hotpot with steamed rice (their noodles are not vegan). The rice came in a cute little claypot, steamed with carrots. Due to its steaming, the rice was rather fragrant and reminded me much of when my Grandmother would steam rice in the traditional bamboo container, to which she claimed made rice taste the best and have the best texture – slightly harder on the outside, and slightly chewy on the inside.

As the only 2 soup bases are mushroom and tomato soups, we ordered one each to sample. The soups came with a small envelope to detail what the benefits are – something which definitely satisfies those who are extremely health conscious. All the soups are cooked by the Chef himself with tedious steps – the tomato soup (my favourite) was made by first steaming, then frying with homemade mushroom oil, then blending and finally slow-boiling the tomatoes, to ensure the consistent permeating taste of tomatoes regardless of when you visit.

(Part 2 coming up soon – stay tuned!)

Cozy Corner – Special desserts

As a sweet tooth, it seems slightly strange, even to myself, that I put up desserts from cozy corner later than I did for savoury foods.

Cozy corner, as a cafe, obviously also sells sweet foods. Their extensive menu includes items such as muffins and loaf cakes (on permanent menu), ice creams, chocolate bites and drinks. The muffins and loaf cakes offered are the same as what is available at nomVnom – matcha chocolate, double chocolate, earl grey, and banana loaf cake. While it is stated as such, there are occasions when the owner and his wife decides to be adventurous, and try out new recipes, enticing customers to patron the cafe frequently just to see if there are any “special desserts” on sale.

My favourite “limited edition” item is arguably this vegan castella cake – layered with fresh blueberries (bought from the supermarket nearby on the day of making itself), and topped with chilled soy whipped cream and chopped up bits of strawberry, lining the glass like red rubies. I fell in love with the dish the moment I saw its picture – it looks almost out of the world, especially when matched with my vivid imagination and unique way of seeing everything as rainbows and unicorns.

This was rolled out during Christmas, and I was fortunate enough to snag one portion for myself, right before it ran out. The cake is lightly sweet, and tastes almost like the berry Nestlé ice cream which we all hate to admit that we enjoyed as children. While it is not fluffy like sponge cages, it is not overly dense either, and melts in the mouth. I tried the whipped cream on its own while it was frozen, and it was slightly overwhelming – but the spongey cake balanced out the fattiness, resulting in a final smooth sensation. The addition of fruits in the cake itself provided an added dimension of sourness, while the strawberries added crunchiness. I only hope that this dish can be recreated soon, even though I know that much work had gone behind its creation and thus to request for the dish all the time is slightly cruel.

Continuing with what I would like to call the “red ruby series”, here is the pioneer of smoothies available at Cozy Corner. The story behind this smoothie is simple – I love strawberries, but I absolutely despite bananas. And thus their first non-banana smoothie bowl without açai is developed – a strawberry and peanut butter flavoured smoothie, topped with chopped up atap seeds, strawberries and coconut flakes. It is a wonderful creation, like a dulled down, milky pb&J in slightly thick smoothie form, and with the crunchiness and light sweetness of atap seeds, along with the snow-flake like coconut shreds to add an additional coconut fragrance, and concluded with the slight sour-sweetness of strawberries again to compliment its base flavours. While this bowl is very addictive, I would suggest people to share the bowl, as it can get very filling after a while, due to its richness.

 

Most around me will know my passionate hatred for chocolates, along with my obsession with all things matcha and coffee (amongst many others). Hence when I told my friends that I loved the matcha chocolate bits, everyone was disturbed greatly. Of course, it isn’t chocolate in the sense that is has cocoa powder or even cocoa butter in the small little cup – it is made from coconut oil and matcha, simple ingredients for that amazing burst of matcha in your mouth, and melts almost immediately as it touches your tongue into a gooey flow of what appears to be matcha jam.

And thus concludes the special desserts available at Cozy Corner, with 2 of the most recent specials – fruit tarts, prepared with strawberry variations available (except when I went it was sold out), and apple cinnamon pear. The fruit tart, upon consumption, was already 2 days old, and slightly soft. However, the tart base remained crumbly, and was slightly buttery, which provided a great contrast to the wetter custard. It is especially amazing that the crush did not turn too soggy, even after it had been assembled for so long. The custard tasted super milky, and was rather creamy and fluffy. However, it was a tad too sweet, perhaps due to the fact that I had 3 ice creams in a row right before having the tart. The same applies for the apple cinnamon pear, in terms of its level of sweetness. However, it is indeed a rather unique dessert, where the fragrance of apple and pear are both rather distinct, but yet match well with each other. The cinnamon added just the right level of spice to this dessert, and gave it a rather festive feel.

Since the muffins and loaf cakes are the same as that available at nomVnom, I shall not put it in this post. For now, happy new year!

 

Shaw House Lido

I went with my Friend to Shaw House Lido for Paddington 2, a movie I’ve been dying to watch for a really long time. (If you would like me to do a review on the movie, please comment.)

In Singapore, there are 3 main cinema “chains” – Cathay, Shaw and golden village, with outlets across Singapore, making movie watching extremely convenient. Each chain has one theatre grander than its counterparts, for instance Cathay Cinneleisure at Dhoby Ghaut and our focus for the day, Shaw House Lido at Orchard.

Ticket sales for the first screening (usually 10am) began at 930AM, but we arrived pretty early, and were told to wait around. The waiting area or lounge is HUGE, and pretty cozy, with mats covering even the sides of staircases so those who are waiting can sit comfortably. This is apart from the round area in the middle of a raised platform, where people can have a little more privacy while chatting with their friends and family during the wait, as well as small sofas lying on the other end of the cinema.

Large ceiling-to-floor windows covered nearly half of the entire level, allowing the place to have one of the best views and lightings I have ever seen at cinemas. While it is not the first time I have came here, it is the first time I could be here alone, and get a full experience of the vast interior space and brilliant view of Orchard road from up high.

I have a perpetual fear of height, hence I did not take any pictures of the ground below. At 6 storeys high, the view is pretty amazing, where most of the architectural landmarks (Marriott hotel, four Seasons hotel, ION Orchard, Wisma Atria, mandarin oriental, just to name a few) can be seen in full view. But despite the extreme proximity of these buildings, it is amazing how green the place is, with the bushy trees along main roads and rooftop garden at ION. While I do go to Orchard very often, this is one of the first times I noticed the intense greening done, and truly start to appreciate the shade provided.

The cool thing with globalisation and commercialisation is how festival is celebrated through decorations and sales. In this case, more prominently the former. Almost every corporation has a Christmas tree like this, with presents at the bottom. I always wondered who those presents are for, and what is inside…? Though logically I am aware that it is more likely that they are empty. The ceiling, however, is slightly more unique, with snowflakes hanging from the down lights. I have to say this is quite a smart design, as it adds on to the magical atmosphere of Christmas when these snowflakes reflect the light, but not excessively (as compared to places which decide to hang fairy lights).

I think my biggest takeaway from this trip is that while we are constantly trying to look for adventures beyond our typical living spaces, why not look for adventures where we usually reside in? I do love going overseas, and experiencing foreign life as a tourist, but when time doesn’t permit, travelling to less visited places within the realms of Singapore can also be a fun adventure on its own.

And yes, Shaw is big enough to house a McDonald’s outlet on its own.

Gardens By the Bay (Christmas) – Part 2

(Read Part 1 here)

Part III: Sparkle

Sometimes when I visit these attractions, I can’t help but realise the way many people pose to take photos at places with actual , then scurry off without a second glance. It was almost as though they were here just to take photos, post, and show off on social media. Which is actually not untrue, because honestly colourful lights are pretty impractical, and there are no fun activities either, so the only thing one can do is to take pictures for memory and for showing off.

But if you look around carefully enough, you’ll notice that at a certain spot, slightly above the main garden, you can spot views like this:

Which also allows you to look down and see what is going on in the $10 carnival extremely clearly. Is it worth it to pay $10 for a close up look at the concert, or to spend more money within to purchase gifts and food from the carnival booths? For those who have the ability to spend more lavishly, and wish to have a fun time squeezing with crowds, joining the hype of an open-air concert, and check out the carnival booths or have booths that you are interested in already, it is definitely worth it.

But if you are only there to look at beautiful lights, I would say don’t bother, because Gardens by the Bay did a beautiful job with light works elsewhere in the park. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with grand gates popping up at major pathways.

Part IV: Details

Ah yes, my favourite part. My favourite part about exploring, and the reason someone like me who gets tired of things very easily (even people) can enjoy going out so much, is because the details are ever changing. Today, the lavender (at least, that’s what I think it is) is bush is in full bloom, and shone like flower fairies under the light at the most unnoticeable corner of the garden. Tomorrow, it might be the poppies who look better, because buds are forming.

I think everyone is guilty of finding life as it is mundane and repetitive. When I complained to my mother yesterday that my Christmas was too boring, without a significant detail, her response made me realise that as long as we are alive, there is something special about every single day in life. It’s just whether we notice the little details or not, not just when we are travelling or roaming around the streets, but also while we are going about our daily routines.

So my challenge post-Christmas for everyone is, as you settle back into work life and school life, try your best to take note of what is the one thing that changed today. Did your friends’ faces all seem more vibrant from the rest? Did your boss smile at her phone as she walked out of the door? Or maybe you noticed something you never did before, like how your best friend types the short form of because as “coz” instead of “cos”. Note them down and notice how you feel as you recognise these interesting details.

Gardens By the Bay (Christmas) – Part 1

Singaporeans who know about Christmas Wonderland – behold your criticism over the title of this post because no, this is not about Christmas Wonderland.

Our family appears to have a fascination with night visits to the CBD area, and try to do so every holiday. This year, however, we were too busy trying to settle administrative issues in moving to our new apartment. Hence our visits to Marina Bay Sands was postponed to right before Christmas Eve, which was probably a bad idea because the sea of humans was scary for someone like me. Not to mention the $10 ticket required to enter the main garden in GBTB, where Christmas Wonderland was ongoing.

Us being us decided it was not worth it to spend money on joining the party, and took a stroll along the park.

Part I: Pathways

For some reason, I have always been fascinated with taking photos of pathways. They remind me of life, of my journeys so far. It is not always bright, but at some point, streetlights and ground lights are bound to appear to guide us through even the darkest days. Sometimes, they are there already, standing right beside us, and it just takes a while longer, and a little more awareness to realise how close they actually are. These lights can be a book, a song, a family member, a friend, or even just the more optimistic part of yourself. The funny thing is, when we are in the presence of light, we don’t notice their brilliance and importance, until they are no longer there. Then, only then, do we realise that they had always been there, and crave their presence.

Part II: Fears

I don’t know the reason for my many fears – specifically the one over statues and non-life objects, especially at night. It’s not obvious from the pictures, but when I was taking that last photo I was clinging on to my mom for dear life, cold sweating, and shaking fervently. For visitors who are interested the final photo is part of a transformers exhibit, made entirely from plants/vines/grass. From an objective perspective, it is very magnificent.

On the other hand, the mushrooms were very magical… until I looked up, and the first thing I noticed was an entire dome of insects and arachnids. It didn’t help that I have slight arachnophobia. Impressively, I went in and stayed for 5min, trying to get perfect shots.

Everyone have their own fears, and everyone have their own ways of dealing with them. I am personally quite proud of myself this year, for successfully overcoming so many of my fears, or at least reducing the intensity for most. On hindsight, it seems unreasonable to be so afraid of things that are not alive, but like many other things in life, it is easier said than done. I just hope that in the new year, we can all keep that in mind, and try to understand others better before passing judgements.