It was all about portion control... Shrove Tuesday

Miss Bear decided to starve me into submission, by ordering only 1 tofu dish, and 1 vegetable dish (she vetoed my suggestion to contaminate the vegetables with any form of meat). Later, she commented drily, "do you think you the waitress think we are vegetarians?"

Gee. You think?

Very amazing spaces style

I thought she might be controlling the portions because we were going to have waffles, though I told her if she wanted me to eat at Creamier, she should just haul me out to ze barn and shoot me between the eyes. 1st of all, it is more overhyped than the rest of the overhyped gelato shops, next, why the fuck must I queue to buy ice-cream, then queue for seats? It's insane.

But like I said, I was starved into submission, so we tried out another gelato shop further down, near Braddell MRT station, called Shrove Tuesday (no idea why. There was a great wall of text explaining why but I couldn't be bothered to read it). 

We chose Baked apple caramel (me) and Roche (her)

I like the shop design. It is very eclectic, Amazing Spaces style. Roche was basically ground hazelnuts (flavor, but no actual nut) mixed with chocolate, while baked apple caramel tasted pretty sticky but ok. I could tell that Miss Bear preferred my choice, because she kept eating mine instead of hers. But the most amazing part is how they spin the waffles. These gelato shops claim that by using a yeast batter they can create crispy batter but the reality is that since it is yeast batter, the batter rises so they earn more while incurring lesser material cost.

Exiting the shop, we saw a little shop at the opposite block. It was selling traditional waffles and ice-cream separately. I remarked to Miss Bear how ironic that that shop had 0 customers when it was selling the exact same thing and cheaper too. Lovely juxtaposition of cheap yet less appreciated versus expensive yet hyped. We are such suckers for packaging.

[Batam 2014] A&W - the original Creamier

So in lieu of traveling far this year, Bobo and I decided to take a short weekend trip to Batam to relax. Unfortunately I was true to form, and wouldn't relax, choosing to travel around Batam instead of resting at the resort. If you travel from Singapore to Batam, NEVER buy the trip from a tour guide when you can buy a coupon for it. After researching for days, I chose the deals.com.sg coupon over the groupon one because (1) it was cheaper (2) had free bus transfer, otherwise pay S$5 in 1 direction/person (3) free bowling game (4) free foot reflexology/massage. Good deal right?

The deals.com.sg coupon we got entitled us to one free bus transfer, so we used that on the first day we got to Batam after dropping off our gear. The resort bused us to Nagoya Hill Mall, where it is said by many Singaporean tourists, that you haven't traveled to Batam if you didn't worship at the A&W idol's paws.

The Beary God

Oh, A&W, how we mourn the loss of your waffle and root bear float on our tiny shores, subjecting us to the fate of overpriced waffles and ice cream made with flour at over-hyped gelato shops.

I must admit it was tremendously strange to eat chicken with rice and no veggies.

Ate with the fingers. Dish didn't come with utensils.

Of course the meal was not complete without the Pièce de résistance, La Waffle. Yumz.

[Bali 2013] Staying at Green Field, Ubud

Our room was near the pool

After the rest of Bobo's family flew home after the wedding, he and I travelled upwards to Ubud for the rest of the stay. I wanted a restful stay (disclaimer: I was not trying to eat, pray, love, though I did get preyed on by monkeys and mosquitoes). 

Stone Mushrooms. Why?

Our room door

The massive bedroom with no tv...

Balcony, to show you how close we were to the padi fields

The other side of the massive room

I could feel eyes boring at me

Oh there you are!

We stayed at Green Field, Ubud. The bellboy was showing us the room, which was in a separate building with its own path, though we seemed to be sharing some parts of it with a eater-prayer-lover long-term tourist  lady. Frankly the room gave Bobo the creeps (later it turned out that an iguana lived above our heads, and was probably the eyes staring at him). As for me, I was most disturbed by the fact that there was no television. But wait there was a huge cupboard in one corner of the room. When I pointed at it, the bellboy opened it and sort of like "ta-da", to my massive disappointment. It   was NOT a massive LED tv hiding behind the door but...

The only one who enjoyed himself

A bloody tiny fridge in the midst of all that balinese wood. I was like.... WTF!? The bellboy was a bit puzzled over my lack of excitement. I suppose most people who visit Ubud want to find themselves and not HBO. Later when we were visiting the heron colony, which was in the trees above a kampung (village), I noted sourly to Bobo that even the local villagers were richer than us, because they had a tv to watch.

More cam-whoring

Other than that, the place is gorgeous, and very restful with a lovely salt water pool (if I didn't recall wrongly). It also had beautiful flowers, bizarre garden ornaments and scary fauna. The only entertainment available was at the lounge near the lobby. But you could watch the ducks amble in and out of the flooded padi fields. Great consolation for me, because I liked ducks. For Bobo, it was like watching Bebek Bengil flexing and working out to meet his palate's satisfaction.

Having breakfast

"What are you staring at?" says the Squirrel

"What are you staring at?" says the iguana

I'm pretty sure there was something in this photo, that's why I took it. Nothing else special about coconuts.

There was a plum tree outside our room. I didn't realize that plums could grow in Bali!?!!!

[Las Vegas, LA, San Francisco 2013] Ellis Island Brewery and Casino

One of the great things about staying at Bally's is that it is pretty near to cheap eats and accessible to highways. Driving could be a pain (I rubbed and burst two tires against the pavement, as I tended to overcompensate to the right as a right side driver) as the parking is a bit narrow. But other than that, did I mention, HOW MUCH I LOVE DRIVING IN USA?! ESPECIALLY NEVADA AND ARIZONA!

SALAD!

Massive Pork Chop!

Our first meal was at Ellis Island Brewery and Casino. I googled the place before we flew over, because I knew how much Bobo loves his beer, and I loved to try its prime rib. Bleeping hell, went there twice, never got to eat it. Still mad about that.

Chicken Noodle soup with crackers. Tasted like MSG.

Family style

The beer was good and really cheap. The food was plentiful and affordable (veggies on the plate cooked to death though). I had the pork chop and salad. I liked the salad a lot. The restaurant was like a family diner at the back of a casino. I liked eating there, though we had to wait for the food to come. The server was great!

Damn, should have ordered this. Fries were nom nom nom!

Hefe weiss and Amber

Three persons and only this much! You would never get this price @ home.

Farm Kings

I've been watching farm kings since season 1. Almost went insane when I couldn't find any means to download season 2. Mein Gott, if these gorgeous hunks' show go on DVD, my usually skin flint self will shake out my last pennies to buy it.

Dan (left) is my particular favorite. I suspect he is his mother's favorite (out of 10 children) too, but then again could be because he is the handsome but awkward scrapegrace of the family. His three older brothers wouldn't give him a share of the farm and year after year, just kept dangling it like a carrot in front of him. This year he stood up to them and actually left the family business to work for a family friend as a construction worker (yet another shirtless delightful occupation). What a waste, when his true calling should be model. Doesn't he look really droolsome in the photo?

*drool*

 

Anyway that's the plot for this season (other than this ostensible desire to look more and more duck dynasty from the rest of the guys with the beards and camouflage jackets). Vater said something along the same lines too, it sucks to work for family. The family expect more from you, and the other staff see you as the enemy/spy. And you get paid badly and work shit hours. I don't think he would leave the show (after all, I think he is the other reason most women watch this show).

It is seriously insane how Pa and Ma King can create such good looking men and woman between themselves. Or could it be that eating fresh vegetables is the trick? I am all for healthy living now~!