A new beginning and sad goodbyes

6.02PM. Western Australia. Canning Vale.

Yes, that's the time and place where I'm finally getting my butt down to type this post. Not that I didn't want to type it, it's just that I had to get everything more or less settled down before I get to blogging again.

So I'm finally here back home in Perth after endless countdowns month after month, day after day. After waiting so long, think of my family back home, I AM finally back home. Together with my family and my other half, my life is pretty complete.

I'm sad though, to leave behind another family I've come to have. That is, the people whom I've been living with for the past 5 months have already come to be another family and another home where I can go to. Hey mao, take care of your brothers and your parents alright!

There are, however, a list of people whom I would like to mention in this post.

To my brothers Jonathan, Joel and Jason: You are the only brothers I have known in this life. I'll cherish the times when we played together when we were younger and I'm sad we wouldn't be able to hang out and go fishing anymore. Hey Joe, thanks for looking out for me, don't worry I'll watch out for myself here. Hey Jonny boy, time to get serious alright! I hope you get your SIA job and when you really get to fly here, we'll go fishing! ;P Hey Jason, well, take care of mama and your lil' sister okay.

To my little couzie Jess: Hey jess you skinny pok! Have fun in Singapore kay. Don't party so much! Yeah I know it's so ironic when I'm leaving when you are finally coming! But don't worry I'll be back ;P

To my buddies Kevin, Keong, Jer,Kit, Wyne, Jimmy, Des, Harvin, Zhou, Brian, Tong, Nic, Beng: Hey guys, sec sch was a heck load of fun aye. Basketball, mahjong, jamming or just hanging out and chillin, you name it. 15 and 16 were the best years of my life, even in the face of the O levels. I'll miss you people..

To my other buddies Sherwin, Sok, Ken, Fi: Hey guys! It was fun hanging out together in poly man and I hope we'll have the chance to do it again (which is abit hard since Fi is like in Brisbane) I really miss us hanging out together. Hey Sherwin, thanks for being a great friend, role model and project partner man. Study hard in Uni alright.

To Cheng and Yenny: Hey, time really flies like it's been 14 years since we've met and I'm really glad to have you two as long time friends.

To my army buddies Desmond, Qungen and the other nice people I've met within my time in PMB. Hey Des! Well, 2 years flew past pretty quickly aye? But I wonder why it seemed like forever when we were waiting to ORD. Talking about it, I still can't believe I'm typing this post and I've already ORDed. Anyways, I'm glad we ended up in the same office. Training was fun thinking back and it was nice hanging out together and learning stuff like photoshop and MS Office from you. Study and work hard in NUS okay, and good luck in whatever you do!

Heya Qungen, thanks for being a great friend man and a huge load of help during my time in PMB. It was good having you around and having someone trustworthy to talk to. Plus, I miss the makaning times after neuro. Too bad everythings kinda screwed up in PMB now huh... don't worry gonna ORD soon! And when I come back we'll go to Tamako kay. I'm sure Cindy will give me a complimentary plate of unagi tawara...

And I'm glad to have known people like Richie and Jia hao and I want to thank all the officers like Dr Tim, Dr G, Dr Tm and Dr Alan for their patience and guidance during my time in PMB.

Dr Tim, thanks for looking out for us alright. It was nice working together and yeah... chill.. don't stress so much. Dr G, you're a great guy and it's nice to have known you. (Hey, look out for ZM okay *winkz*) Hey Dr Tm, it's been really great and enjoyable working under you for that short period of time and I'm sad to have to go so soon. Don't worry though, you have a good guy under you but please take care of him okay!

Well, it's only 2 years and we all will have to move on. Endure!


So that's about it. What about this blog, then? Well, Yummie dummieS will be saying it's goodbyes. University will be a hectic and I wouldn't have the time to blog anymore. This past year have been great though. I've come to know so many nice places to eat and so many floggers and food blogs like D, Evan, ieat, the baker, etc and the people who frequently post comments on my blog. Thanks guys! :) Have a good life!

7...6...

At spot number 7 is a tie (yeah right, I can't squeeze in all the good food into just 7 spots) between Soon Kee's duck rice and Fatty Cheong's Char siew.

At modern age Singapore, it's hard to find a good plate of duck rice. Yet, at the modern foodcourt-like Long house located at Upper Thomson road, a good plate of duck rice can still be found.

Soon Kee's was previously located at Bras Besar and still cooks good duck rice after moving to Long house. It's rice is nicely made fragrant with a dash of duck fat and darkened with a touch of braised sauce. Yet, the winner is the dark sauce which is splashed on the tender duck meat and it's really hard to beat with a sourish chilli sauce/sambal mix.



ABC Market's Fatty Cheong Char siew is another hot favourite. It's thick, it's tender and for $3.50 a plate you get a HELL LOT of char siew. Plus, you can ask for lean meat which they will gladly comply.

Did I mention that their chilli is kick ass too?



No. Six's Yet Con is my girlfriend's favourite and is authentic as you can get. In fact, it's so deep in tradition and so Hainanese in culture that the restaurant still uses abacus to count it's bills.

My favourite here is the pork chop. Drenched with a dark brown sweet sour sauce, the deep fried but so damn tender pork pieces wins me over each time I'm there. Picking the caremelized potatoes and tomato pieces in the dishes is also fun... and yummy at the same time.

5, four, 3, two...

At number five, it has got to be 717's durian puff. It's fantastically good and beat Four Season's flat down. It is THAT awesome. Being a durian fan, I've got to place this creamy and sensational snack at 5th place.



Oh yeah! Did I mention about trying their crepes, cakes, tarts.. pies......

FOUR. Stands Ser Seng's turtle soup. Call me cruel, call me gross but hey, I just can't get enough of this stuff. I TOTALLY fell in love with in ever since my dad brought me there when I was in Primary school. The superbly flavourful and rich soup is at least five bars higher than normal herbal turtle soup. I have no idea how they do it because you just can't detect a hint of herbs. Yet, it's extremely nourishing (I bet you will have a good night's sleep after drinking it)



The meat dipped into the sourish chilli sauce offsets the richness and provides a tarty twist while ladies can dig the many pieces of collagen. And who can forget their yam rice? This would be the most tasty bowl of yam rice I have ever eaten. Delectably flavoured with yam, shrimps and shallots, it's bound to send you yearning for more. A tip: Pour some soup over the rice and slurp it up, it's bound to work wonders.



Down to THREE.

I belong to the Teochew origin and Teochew people like their porridge. This, however, isn't normal Teochew porridge. Instead, it's Taiwan porridge. This soon-to-be-demolished restaurant is also one of my family's frequent dining places. The porridge cooked with sweet potatoes is a watery mix and nothing special really. But I really, really like the dishes.



Especially this Kong Bak. Oh my GAWD, it is DELICIOUS. I love the sauce too by the way, it's just darn good.



And this Hong Siew Tofu is equally flavourful as well. I just like the mix the sauces into the porridge and slurp it all up.



Plus, who can ever forget ordering Sichuan vegetables w/ Pork slices. I can't explain the taste but it's just darn good.

Number TWO is pretty predictable.




Kovan's Kou Wei Chicken Rice. It's tenderness and juiciness is unbeatable. Add a dash of reddish sauce makes it an awesome dish. The rice is also a plus point which propels this to spot number two. It's just-right oiliness and strong fragrance makes it that delectable.



Finally to spot NUMBER ONE.

Those who know me well would have guessed it right from the start.



Kovan Peanut Pancakes. Just thinking about it has gotten me drooling. The soft batter rolled into a spring roll-like form is really nice to bite into and the custard-like kaya and super duper creamy peanut butter is to die for.



Hey, it's so good, it just made it's way on television recently!

So that's my top 5 list of foods which I have come to love in Singapore. What about Perth? Well, I'm not sure about that yet but I hope to give an update soon :)

Ten days

12th July. Time flies, it really does. It feels like I had just started this blog only yesterday and yet, it is already coming to almost a year old now.

Yummie dummies was created out of our passion towards food, both my girlfriend and mine. Well, of course, it ended up with she being the one eating and giving reviews while I did all the writing (not to mention I ate a hell lot too). Not that I'm complaining though, because writing to me is as close to my heart as tasting and these two items fell into place naturally.

Hosting a food blog has its benefits. 1. You have an excuse to start going around tasting all the nice food around the island. 2. You meet alot of food blogging friends, which I did and enjoyed. 3. I love interacting with my readers and reading the comments on my blog.

Of course, there are always downsides like 1. OMG I didn't get to taste all the good food in Singapore!!! 2. OH CRAP I can't lose weight! 3. HOLY MAMA I can't get food outta my mind!!!

Yeah well, live with it, food blogging did kinda got me obsessed with food for a lil while there ya know, not very healthy aye? And I didn't get to try alot of good food in Singapore either but this blog was primarily opened to SHARE to good food I know so yeah, I guess my point hit home.

So since I'm ten days from leaving sunny Singapore, I'd figure I'll do a top 7 list of food I'd come to love in Singapore.

Stick around for that aye?

611 Tau sau piah

Little Red Shop. Yes, that's what they call themselves now, having relocated from Balestier Road to the current B2 at Vivocity. The former 611 Tau Sau Piah no longer basks in it's former glory but I still reckon that it's pastries rock my socks off.



Take the Salty Tau Sar Piah (70c) for example. A bite reveals a crispy, flaky pastry which opens up into a nice mesh of salty bean paste. Real, solid, bean paste, not those commercially tasty ones. The sweet saltiness blend really work together in this instance.



The sweet one is thinner, larger and not is sweet but not overly done it makes your teeth hurts. Plus, they come in a cute little box which makes you keep opening for that "one last tau sar piah".



I've yet to try the other flavours namely; penang salty piah, lotus paste, lotus durian paste, coffee paste and green tea flavour.

For those who need comparisons between Long Fatt and 611, I'll give you my take. Long Fatt has a nice, buttery, flaky pastry which is thinner and softer with a nice soft inside while 611 has thicker, harder flaky pastry which needs some improvement on.

But I still reckon both would be nice with a cuppa Kopi-O.

Hot little buns

I dumped an entire packet of kaya buns into my girlfriend's hands and swore not to take another bite again.

Why such a drastic measure?

Well, that's because Maecy's mini buns are so damn good, I bet you'll polish them off faster than you can say "delicious" and for someone who wants to watch his waistline, that's not a very good thing.



The buns come attached in half a dozen like those red bean buns which you can find in normal bread stores. The difference though, is that they are tiny enough for you to pop into your mouth as a light snack without feeling overly full.



What also sets them apart is the soft, fluffy insides which graduates into a chewy bread with substance as you bite along. Not to mention the nicely browned top and the slightly crispy, buttered bottom which gives a nice twist to the taste.



I missed the green bean flavour though, which they claim is the salty kind. However, the kaya which doesn't contain any eggs at all didn't get me thinking that far. The thick custardy-like paste is that rich in flavours and texture.

The cheese flavour also boosts a subtle cheesey taste with a mild saltiness which is bound to whet your palate. Everything goes well with the soft bread, I'd say.

Be sure to sure the green bean if you plan to head on there while there are other flavours which include strawberry, chocolate and red bean.

About swearing not to take another bite, I admit I failed. But I turned to Qin only to find an empty plastic bag, because apparently, she couldn't resist them as well.

Address:

Block 32 New Market Road #01-1042
People's Park Cooked Food Centre
Tel: 9670-4398
Opens: 10am to 7pm, closed on Sundays and public holidays