I guess the Year of Goat isn’t really that great for me, if the few days before it arrives are of any indication.  Yeah, I don’t particularly view heading into A&E as a good thing, you know.

18th February 2015 (Chinese New Year Eve)

But anyway, on CNY eve, I had the headache of trying to find lunch that I can eat.  I know, for sure, if I went back to Bedok to try and buy lunch, I will only end up with fast food because all the hawker stalls are closed.  So after work, I lingered around town, and decided to head to MBS to get some food.

After doing a short shopping spree at Bath & Body Works Singapore, I started my hunt for lunch – something not too heavy or oily, but yet can satisfy my hunger till dinner time.  Din Tai Fung was full with an exceptionally long queue, and even Toastbox has a snaking queue.  I stumbled across TWG cafe, one which I had always thought of trying but their menu prices always put me off.  Deciding to do one last splurge in the Year of Horse, I bit the bullet and went for it.

They have a CNY menu – which consisted only of one main dish, a choice of hot/iced tea, and a choice of either dessert or patisserie. You can choose to go for just the main dish, or main dish + tea, or the entire full set.  I picked main dish + tea, because I noticed that ala carte main courses start at $26, and a pot of tea on its own costs at least $11.  But the CNY menu cost only $29++ if you are taking the main dish with tea.

The hot tea offered was Long Jing Jade Tea, and it came in a huge golden pot.  Like, really huge. I believe I had poured myself countless cups of tea and that pot just seems bottomless. I’ve only drank normal teas before – like 铁观音, 普洱, 香片, etc, and this one certainly tasted very differently.  There are layers of different notes which I could detect immediately the moment I sipped the tea.  No wonder the cheapest tea costs $11!  It’d be a good place to relax and read a book with a pot of bottomless (to me!) tea on a weekday when the cafe isn’t buzzing with atas tai-tais or hipsters that are born with a silver spoon.

The main dish that came was a red snapper fillet, complete with boiled vegetables like asparagus, broccoli and carrots. There’s also a few very thinly cut lotus root slices that were deep fried, and they taste really awesome, like arrowhead chips! The vegetables are boiled to perfection – just soft enough for me.  The fish fillet itself is thick, but cooked perfectly, with no fish scales on the skin nor any bones within the flesh.  Very meticulously presented as well.  To me, this dish is almost perfect – light, healthy yet filling enough to last me till dinner.  They also gave me a very warm plain yet delicious bun after I started tucking into my lunch, which also helped to kept me full for a couple of hours.

Yes it’s a splurge, but I love the atmosphere, the service attitude (I must compliment their staff… they are ALL very customer oriented and their attitude is top notch), their tea and their food.  I’d love to revisit them again if my budget allows.

Atas lunch at TWG

Red Snapper fillet!

Our reunion dinner was just a simple fare.  Like, really simple fare. Just some steamed fish, veggies with scallops (for me only), and leek with roast pork.  Simple, yet heart warming enough to be having dinner together with my parents. And the best part?  My mommy didn’t scream or nag AT ALL this year when she was preparing the dishes!  Amazing!

19th February 2015 (Chinese New Year Day 1)

Spent most of the day just playing D3, while waiting for Kelvin and the kids to come over.

21st February 2015 (Chinese New Year Day 3)

Woke up early this day, as I have a brunch to attend with my relatives.  We met up with each other at Imperial Treasure restaurant at Tampines One, as that seems to be the yearly restaurant for our Chinese New Year gathering, lol.  Their food isn’t too bad.  My cousins and relatives seem to like it a whole lot though.  We had steamed soon hock, Peking duck, tofu, mixed veggies with tang hoon in a claypot, spinach with 3 eggs broth, and yee mee.  Very filling, but honestly speaking I’m just not comfortable with them enough to really enjoy the food.  Haha.  Well it’s just a yearly thing, so…. that’s that.  They are my relatives no matter what, so it’s only respectful for me to show up.

Peking duck

Steamed Fish

Steamed fish being professionally separated by my third uncle.

Spinach with 3 eggs broth in the foreground, and homemade tofu

Mixed veggies with tang hoon in claypot in foreground

Yee mee

22nd February 2015 (Chinese New Year Day 4)

My solo K session finally, after a damn long time!  I made a last minute booking at Teo Heng Rendezvous for a karaoke session on Sunday, and surprisingly they still have available slots.  Went there and sang my hearts out for three whole hours.  Halfway through my singing though, there’s this lion dance going on IN Teo Heng and it’s darn irritating to have the lion prancing around outside my room and peeking at me through the window.  No I’m not opening the door for you, go away!  >(  At some point, their assistance opened the door (!!!) and their 财神爷 came in to shake my hand and gave me a chocolate coin.  Sigh, oh well.

If only it was a real 1 Euro coin, I’d have used it for the drinks, lol.

I ate the coin in the end, something which I never did.  Haha!  I half expected it to be uber sweet, but holy cow, it’s totally not sweet AT ALL.  Hmm.  Odd.