Update

How time flies! Ethan will be turning 4 months old this coming Sunday. He is:

• No longer a toothless tiger! The top of one front tooth has already broken through the gum.
• Taking about 150 - 160 ml of milk every three hours, 6 times a day. His milk intake comprises mostly breastmilk, with a small 10 - 20% top-up of formula milk.
• Takes his last feed of the day close to 7 pm, and goes to bed at 8pm. Generally, he wakes up once in the night, at about 4 am for a small feed (yes, going a 9 hour stretch between feeds), before resuming sleep till 730 am. Although he does wake up more than once sometimes, but thankfully this happens only occasionally!
• Takes 4 naps in the day - 9 am, 11.30 am, 3pm, and 5.30 pm. He only manages to nap for half an hour at each time, except for the 11.30 am nap where I have with much effort over 6 weeks, managed to "train" him to sleep for 1.5 hours, but with me sitting beside him almost all the time to sooth him back to sleep quickly when he wakes up after his first sleep cycle of half hour. As you can imagine, this short napping pattern doesn't leave me very much time to do anything at all! I have to be super efficient and plan what things I have to do within those half hour blocks, including cooking, eating, light housework, bathing!

But, it's all worth it.

We have Hands and Feet

Ethan: mummee mummee, what a yummy drumstick this is!

Ethan: oooooohh... where did these two things waving in the air come from... I wonder if I can eat them too!

Cocina de Pasion

This week's lunch date with E was at Cocina de Pasion, a relatively new Spanish restaurant in Tanjong Katong Road since there had been fairly positive reviews about this place in magazines and Kaelyn's blog. Of course, we ordered the Seafood Paella (SGD 15.40++) and a grilled striploin steak set (SGD 12.60++) which included a soup, soft drink , and dessert.

Well, I am no expert on spanish food but I enjoyed the paella served up at this place, which was very flavourful and had some burnt crusty bits at the bottom of the pan too (my favourite!). My slight complaint was that the seafood could have been fresher, but at these rock-bottom prices, this was already very decent. We swopped the set dessert of bread pudding for churros in chocolate sauce, since E had never had churros before (WHAT??!!!)....these were tiny and taste-wise, couldn't compare to those that I've had off churros stands overseas.

Cocina de Pasion has a charmingly homely and down-to-earth vibe, the food is fairly good, and prices are very reasonable. However, given the low business volume (there was only one other table during lunch on Saturday), I am not too sure if this restaurant will stay viable for long. So, do support this place and give it a try if you are in the area.

NB: Sorry about the wonky photos - taken with a handphone camera.

Cocina de Pasion
287 Tanjong Katong Road

Burger Bench and Bar

I went to Burger Bench and Bar (with the kitschy shortform of B3 and a not-so-subtle reference to owner Wilin Low's past legal experience) expecting to be wowed but left a little disappointed, a case of overhyped expectations perhaps? The premise sounded great: real meat, hand-shaped patties, home-made sauces, no preservatives.

We had the Sarawak Black Pepper Burger (SGD7.90) and the Chilli Crab Burger (SGD8.20) with add-ons of russet potato chips (SGD1.20). Both burgers were decent and did taste a lot more au naturel than the burgers churned out by the mega fast food chains but the oomph factor was just missing. The beef patty in the Sarawak Black Pepper burger was fairly juicy but it was overcooked and no longer pink in the middle, and the sauce lacked that spicy pepper kick and fragrance. Likewise for the Chilli Crab Burger, the sauce erred on the sweet side rather than being a bit more spicy.

However, serving sizes were tiny! E and I had to supplement our lunch by grabbing a cream puff from Beard Papa after that. I was also rather letdown that the soft serve ice-cream machine was not functioning that day and we didn't get a chance to try the purportedly amazing gourmet dark chocolate ice-cream (SGD3). Unlikely that we will get to taste this next time though, since we probably wouldn't come back unless in the vicinity.

Burger Bench and Bar
Cathay Cineleisure Orchard

Gong Xi Gong Xi

Gong Xi Gong Xi! I wish everyone Health and Happiness in the New Year!

oh...this drumstick looks mighty delicious....

(sounds of slurping)

Private Affairs

After the blogging fracas last year, I thought that I should steer clear of Private Affairs for a while until the media hooha had died down. It was not until I chanced upon a post by M that I was reminded of this restaurant for our weekly lunch "date", since it was just around the corner from my parents' place.

Situated at a very unlikely location for a fine-dining restaurant in Joo Chiat, the restaurant decor was no doubt intended to be opulent but unfortunately reminded me a little of a nightclub (think glittery chandelier lights, black and red furnishings, wine counter, liquor bottles on display). The set lunch was priced very reasonably, at SGD$28 / $38 for 3/4 courses.

My choice of starter was foie gras with granny smith compote and apple tea emulsion (+SGD$10 supplement). This was a generous lobe of liver, beautifully seared (although E felt that it could have been more crisped on the outside) and made a very satisfying starter, although the pairing with apple threw up no surprises.

E's starter of corn soup with truffle popcorn was, I felt, rather rich and too liberally salted. But the disclaimer is that I've never liked thick western style cream soups in the first place, and neither do I like corn!

My main course of pork belly with plum salt in pork jus was highly enjoyable - crispy crackling skin, lightly salty meat interspersed with slivers of fat. Yum's the word! The foam felt too gimmicky though and added nothing to the dish.

E's choice of Wagyu beef parmentier with brussel sprout puree, caramelised shallots and port jus (SGD$10 supplement) was also good in a comforting down-to-earth manner.

Our dessert of basil sorbet with marinated strawberries, rosemary icing and onion gel was somewhat of a mish-mash. While I liked the flavour of the basil sorbet (which unfortunately melted too fast), the onion gel did not go at all with the dish, and the rosemary icing likewise seemed a strange afterthought.

Despite the miss with the dessert, my overall impression of Private Affairs was nevertheless favourable. The food is more than decent and I appreciated the level of effort and meticulousness that the chef put into the cooking and plating, although veering at times towards gimmickry. Hopefully the restaurant has more business at other times, for there were only two tables during the Saturday lunch that we were there. Perhaps the Sunday brunch is a more popular option, for the menu did look extremely tempting (I am working on E to agree to having brunch!).

Private Affairs
45 Joo Chiat Place
www.privateaffairs.com.sg