Wild Honey – Singapore

Such a long overdue post but some say better late than never! Really, Singapore is not a place to be in right now with PSI 290 Haze because of the a$$holes down in Indonesia. Its really good luck that I missed it because I would have taken the next flight out. Is anything being done???

ANYWAY.

Karin and I met for breakfast at the wild honey on Scotts road. Its best you make reservations because this place is packed! Some say this is the best place for brunch or breakfast in Singapore.

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For good reason, the food was fabulous. Karin had the Norwegian which was poached eggs wrapped with smoked salmon on their very own whole wheat brioche and served with asparagus and avocado…and of course, home made hollandaise. It was heaven. The yolks flowed perfectly, the bread was fresh and fragrant and the smoked salmon – definitely the real deal.

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I could not resist their special – French toasted brioche with almonds, banana, chocolate, mascarpone and blackberries. Served with caramel syrup on the side – I had died and gone to heaven.

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and of course, we must have….tea.

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Say hi at

Scotts Square on level 3

6 Scotts Road

+65 6636 1816

Peek into my nursery

Setting up the nursery has been so much fun. Parents tend to put in a little more effort for their children than on themselves – so I guess it should not be a surprise to find Jay getting excited about the nursery and wanting to do so much. Its lovely that having a baby is our experience. We wanted a nice forest theme for the Prince – something soothing with all those greens and wood hence the Ikea ready to hang. I was initially leaning towards a dark cot but realised it would be too somber for a baby’s room. White was too stark and found the colour of our Boori cot and change table in ‘Natural’ a good in between. We also liked the change table because it didn’t look like a change table. We’ve been advised that babies only use the change table for a few years so once we’re done with it, it can double as storage for toys/nappies etc.

As much as I love the nurseries that inspired me, in the end I found myself choosing what I thought the baby would love rather than what looked trendy. We saw beautiful trendy wool carpets in colours that would have matched our theme. The problem with the trendy wool rugs was it felt irritating and rough on skin. We imagined kids liked to roll around and play on the floor and would prefer a soft and lush shaggy rug. We found a green rug that looked somewhat plant-like. We rolled around in it for good measure and then bought it. 

One of the most difficult decisions was to buy a nursery chair. Well, which one? There were not many on the market and lots of them didn’t rock. The usual gliders were somewhat affordable around the $200-$300 mark but Jay thought they were terribly ugly. Going online to search for good nursery chairs showed me just how much the Australian market lacked nice chairs of the pottery barn standards. However, we found the Monte Design gliders. It was a little dear at $1500 but Jay reassured me that it is totally worth it.

We haven’t put everything together in the room yet; so this is just a preview! I’ll probably have to put in a side table and a night lamp too… but I haven’t found anything I liked. Once its all done, I’ll snap a few pictures!

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West End Deli – better than ever

It was a busy saturday night so we were very lucky that a table had cancelled and we managed to get a booking for the WED. I’ve always liked WED but the meal was sensational this time! WED, you outdid yourself! The service was wonderful so it was hard to get angry when my ginger beer was forgotten! Everything was well explained. We had such a great time there. Pricing is simple – all entrées were at $19, all mains at $38. It is BYO which was fantastic because it was Leanne’s birthday!

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As usual, the warm bread was gorgeous with the awesome salted butter. There was also an amuse bouche of fennel soup with a gloriously fragrant truffle oil. Baby brain kicked in that night – I did not take a picture of the amuse bouche and my entrée (which looked really good too! :( ). I just gobbled it all down!

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The first entrees to be served were the ricotta gnocchi, sage, garlic, artichoke and candied olives. I liked the gnocchi – it was pan-fried so it has a nice crisp on its edges. It wasn’t really fat to begin with so it did not have the fluffiness inside – it was slightly chewy.  Great texture. It went really well with the puree of artichoke and sage. The candied olives were really different (in a good way!) - and made a difference to the dish. Definitely recommended.

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The slow cooked egg, peas, bacon, truffle oil and white anchovies really impressed. First of all, look at its presentation! Doesn’t it intrigue you? I’m always skeptical of such dishes but this did not disappoint. It is made up of bacon and truffle oil crumbs, pea puree, white anchovies, a leafy salad and black sesame on the egg. The sharpness of the parmesan complemented the bacon crumbs and the creamy runny yolk brought it all together. The fragrance from the truffle, the yolk, the bacon as it travels down your esophagus will delight you.

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If I was not pregnant, I would have had the cold smoked ocean trout, beetroot, potato and quail eggs. I was very envious of Michael’s dish. He said the smoked fish was beautiful. The fish did look really cool and succulent – and the fresh greens, eggs and potato looked particularly inviting. Such an elegant dish.

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My entrée (not photographed) was the baldivis rabbit, parfait, pickled carrot, hazelnuts. Served on an elegant rectangular flat plate, there were 3 mounts of food. The first was the parfait which was a crisply deep-fried, golden crumbed ball of rabbit liver parfait. The second was the rabbit terrine – a cold terrine of fresh plain rabbit that goes well with the pickled carrot. The third was a small bit of meaty rabbit loin atop a bed of hazelnuts. Mmm.

My main was really good. It was cold outside so the Ballantine of ox tail, Pemberton marron, celeriac puree and parsley salad really hit the spot. The ox tail was stewed until it was so tender and fell off the bone – after which the meat was collected, moulded cylindrically as you can see, sliced and pan-fried. Placed on a bed of light celeriac puree that’s surrounded with beautiful meat jus with star anise flavours, topped with fresh sweet marron and a parsley salad. This dish comes highly recommended if you’re after that sort of wintry dish that is.

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WED always knew how to do their fish – so once again, they did not disappoint with their cone bay burramundi, prawn, sausage, heirloom tomato, bisque emulsion. Sorry, bad pic. The barramundi had a lovely crispy skin, the heirloom tomatoes tasted like they were candied and the sausage in the middle burst with juicily. The bisque emulsion (I’m a big fan of bisque) was made from prawn and crab. Full on flavour!

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Surprisingly, most of us ordered the free range pork, scallop, ginger, apple & celery. There was seared pork belly, pork loin and crackling with scallop served with pork floss. The pineapple mousse was apparently delightful.

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Dessert. I can see you being made…. :) :)

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Two of the boys ordered the chocolate tart, orange and cardamom ($15).  They liked it but they had major dessert envy. I did not try it so cannot comment. All Thilan said was ‘ Its so richhh..’

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The potted vanilla cheesecake & salted dulche de leche ($15)  is the dessert of WED. They aced the presentation. How cute that it comes in a pot? and what’s that in a tube?

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The salted caramel can be squeezed out from the tube. It can also be used for other forms of art. (warning: naughty picture) The cheesecake was beautiful – eat downwards through the layers of creamy pudding-like cheesecake and enjoy the bottom of shortbread like crumbs. As you eat, you will realise there is a sensation crackling down your tongue. Pop rocks! :) Such a fun little dessert.

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I ordered the milk, honey and banana ($14). Surprisingly, this dessert delivered really intense flavours – not what you would expect from ‘milk and honey’….but it was really nice! Banana bread toasted and crumbed roughly – wholesome crunchiness! On the side, the milk and honey parfait – cold, whipped goodness that tamed the soft, caramelised bananas.  

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Finally, the ‘Perfect Man’ as described by Prithi – all night long! Michael must have been getting jealous! haha. Here we are, and I am 29 weeks along. Still enjoying life and looking forward to a great future!

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WED on beaufort on Urbanspoon

Week 29 – Pregnancy update

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How many more weeks to go: 11+ weeks

Total weight gain: 9.5kg (based on hospital scales) or 11 kg (based on gym scales)

Recent tests done: The glucose challenge which consists of a really sweet drink and a blood test 1 hour later. Test results normal! Phewf. I was getting worried about all that cake I was eating.

Current baby position: Head down! The last time we saw him, he was in breech mode. Looks like he wants to enter the world the natural way! I am now frantically reading up about natural birth and how to make labour easier.

Planned birth: All natural – but leaving room to decide on epidural. I am not going to overestimate my tolerance of pain.

Stretch marks: None! This is surprising especially since I read these were genetic! So it looks like you can go against ‘nature’ when you take good care of yourself. My weapon against stretch marks: Rose-Hip Vital Rosehip Oil which my mother in law gave me.

Has the belly button popped? Nope!!

Other symptoms? : I need the bathroom a lot more often. A lot more breathless. Heartburn.

Baby brain: Yes, but I don’t mind because I’m loving the effect of all that loving oxytocin. I am so happy!

Surprising fact: Pregnancy did not affect our bedroom activities…..hahahahha TMI?

Gender guess statistics: 7 out of 8 people would guess correctly that I am having a boy. Seems like most people ‘know’. Apparently, if your belly is neat, its likely a boy. Haha. Of course, its just an old wives tale.

Plans after baby: Stay at home :) I will be observing certain confinement practices and I’ve picked several practices from different cultures. So yes, I’ll be having a shower and no, I will not be leaving the house for a month.

Website du jour: Pregnant Chicken – super funny.

On the baby to-do list:  book photography session (because we are celebrating this very welcomed pregnancy!), get nursery items in, start eating out the freezer so I can start freezing my soups a month before my due date.

What’s going on outside baby: We are buying the house we live in! We are also getting new curtains installed!

Baby Shower for the Prince

All is well, the baby is letting me know he exists by rolling around in the mornings. I’m starting to get a little tired and I think its because I have slacked on my fitness regime. I’m only doing 1 yoga and 1 cardio session a week.

Things got more real after my baby shower – when gifts of nappies, tiny clothes and other baby paraphernalia were showered on me (my little Prince).  The girls, namely Sarah and Nicole, who planned my hen’s night did another fantastic job on my baby shower. This time, instead of a raunchy sexy night of debauchery, we indulged in an elegant high tea like proper ladies do. :)

I was whisked out of my house early in the morning by Prithi so the girls could prepare morning tea in my kitchen. I still had no clue what to expect. The girls thought it was hilarious that Jay didn’t know where anything was in the kitchen. ‘Not my area..’ he says and he left soon after because he was buying the poor excluded lads a round of lunch and drinks at Steves. Luckily, my kitchen is organised intuitively so the girls quickly found what they needed.

When I arrived, I saw all my friends, in one place and a wonderful spread of goodies!! We are also happy because I have provided the best champagne ever… Bollinger of course. Its the best champagne girls love to drink – and it made everyone very social. haha

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Beautiful cutlery and food

Here is the itemised spread – all taken on the iPhone 5. :) Except for the lumpiah which is at the top right hand part of the table in the above pictures. Somehow I couldn’t download it off Sarah. Anyway, Lumpiah a Filipino spring roll stuffed with pork and carrots by Blanche. Totally amazing. Jay loves this so she made extra and froze them for him. The cutie calls it Limpolo.

Blanche is fantastic in the kitchen! She also made this wonderful Filipino chiffon cake. :)

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Cucumber, cheese and smoked salmon canapes by Debbie and Sarah

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Chilled pea and mint soup – I could drink this by the jug. Amazing soup – thanks Shini!

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Vietnamese spring rolls – prawns and vegetarian ones for Mamiji. Beautiful sauce! Thanks Liann!

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Scones – quintessential for high teas. Loved these with cream and jam. Done by Debbie and Sarah

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White chocolate and raspberry muffins – cute, sweet and gorgeous by the equally gorgeous Mom, Leanne!

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Cheesecake cups by Debbie and Sarah – loved by so many!

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Mini bacon quiches by Lisa! Thanks Lisa!

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Alcoholic punch with deceptively innocent looking rubber duckies – only by the naughty Nicole! haha

Of course, we all need games. One of them was ‘Pin the pacifier’ on the baby after bollinger and being spun 10 times while blindfolded. Fun times! Being sober didn’t guarantee my win, sigh.

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Stop poking my eye out! Wehhh!

If you’re looking to hold an event around the Perth area, please do speak to Sarah on 0401301134 or email sarahjoychong@gmail.com