SCANDALOUS

I LOVE EATING. I LOVE EATING IN HONG KONG. It's sooooo fabulous-o. I don't see why people here aren't as fat as they should be. They are constantly chomping on some carb-central snack in a local joint for breakfast or slurping smoky noodles at a popular cha tien. Expect to get shoved walking from one cramped street to another even more crowded one. Personal space is ignored by the middle-aged auntie rushing on foot to her yum cha lunch with her mahjong friends. Or by the busy city taxi driver who is grabbing his first meal of the day when the sun's blasting in all her fury, and the maddening tourist crowd thickens.

Of course, I joined in the thick of the masticating action the second I stepped onto this very yummylicious city. Wanna see? Amazing eats at plebeian prices. Check it out, folks. Must-see, must-try, must-cry mum-mum for the change in your pocket. Really cheap lah. Cheep cheep.

Sweetened pear tea is hot stuff in a mug, with a must-bite into french-like toast with a squarish slab of oily butter and drenched in home-made maple syrup. Very rich, very me :) Personally, the girlie version of carb-infested snack-ness is the butter toast interlaced with well-behaved condensed milk (i.e. not dripping at the sides).

Hawt.

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of These...

I love CANDY. I LOVE CANDY.
Anything that’s saccharine-sweet and smells extravagantly lovely, I naturally gravitate towards. Naturally.

One of my favorite yummy-doo-dum-dums, out of a gazillion million desserts which have toured my almost-30-year-old, well-used and weather-resistant intestines, is the most princessy cupcakes which seriously melts in your mouth and instantly makes you very happy. VERY HAPPY.

Sugar never looked so good. These cupcakes from Carnival & Co are so awesome, I kept ordering the regular and mini ones. A lot of them for myself, and some for family and friends. Alamak, eat until whole box finish lah (5 Big Pieces). I’m so happy my friends really enjoyed them, that almost all of them ordered more boxes for the Christmas season. The cupcake designs are so puh-ree-tee. Great as alternatives to birthday cakes! No more messy knifes and weirdly-sized slices of crumbling cake. Cupcakes are so now, you gotta have them for at least ONE birthday this year. Then you’ll get it!

And the other woo-hoo chomping favorite is the carrot walnut cake from Toast @ Ngee Ann City. Truly one of the best in the country. With Cedele Depot @ Wheelock Place running in tandem for the top spot. The cream cheese is wonderfully smooth, and unbelievably gorgeous with the main cake made of shredded carrots and embedded walnut chunks. The type of cream cheese makes all of the difference, as the temperature used to store these cakes. Very important lah. One of the grossest cakes I’ve ever tasted are at Coffee Bean’s. They taste old and the cheese on the carrot cake is eewness central. You can tell immediately by the stale-looking color. Maybe it was a one-off incident which I experienced with a friend who really didn’t mind forking her way through the eeky carb-mess.

But I just love chocolate. CHOCOLATE is the Champion of all desserts, folks! So I crown this the week of chocolaty pleasures. This means intense chocolate-blogging for a limited time only.

Come back every day before you get hit with sugar crash = chocolate feeding time.

Until then, feel the tiara, says Love Princess.

Chinatown Blues

Mediocre. Is what I would use on Chinatown, our Chinatown. It was a little drizzly and wet the night I was there with LG. I even bumped into a friend of mine who announced my name pretty loudly, but you know, no one really turned around or cared to find out which human-ling of the so-so-crowd belonged to the name. Whatever. *pair of interlocked V ‘s on forehead*

To the left already, a la Beyonce.

Aside from lacklustre atmosphere, wet furniture and a one-off appearance of cheesy trishaws transporting clueless tourist couples to wherever at rip-off prices in disco renditions of nineties’ pop hits, the food fare was BOR(E)-RING. Really, people. Ugh, ugh, ugh. *stomping silver Gucci python pump heels*

I went all the way there, in my favorite gold Roberto Cavalli drawstring tote, and cute Topshop Unique dress which I vacuumed-packed from Oxford Circus, to ingest fumes from the long line of standalone food stalls. AND. Swiftly chopstick my way from the plasticky plate of char kway teow (fried broad noodles in dark sauce), into my hungarian mouth. (I’m not really Hungarian, but what else could you call someone who’s hungry? Hun or Hungry-let? Duh.)

The color looked right and the taste was sufficiently balanced between the sweetness of the dark sauce and saltiness of the MSG. But the absence of lab cheong (Chinese sausage) was deeply felt and sadly missed. The school-canteen-like dish was drab-looking and depressing. Sad-o-rama.

The seafood selection looked happier and cheery but I wasn’t craving for crustaceans and friends. But I did check out the ah balling with LG.

Read her blog on : http://ladyglam.blogs.friendster.com/ladyglam/

Ah Balling refers to stuffed rice glutinous balls in hot soup. The store here was (wo)man-ned by two little old ladies who were struggling to get the orders right. It can be quite a challenge, folks! There were a bunch of stuffings and soup flavors which you, as a willing makan-ster, could choose from which promotes consumer empowerment. And extreme work stress for our senior-citizen aunties :( The price though is almost free! Two bucks for 6 balls…S-I-X…Cheap-o-rama. Yasui ne! Murah Lah. We shared a bowl of green tea, peanut and black sesame balls in ginger soup. The ginger concoction was heavily hinted with white sugar and some ginger oomph. Not very happening.

The green tea ah balling was mochi-like. The paste was clumpy even in hot soup and tasted blasé. As for the black sesame, LG, you comment since you ate ALL of them! And for the peanut ones, mmmmmmmmm, they punctuated the end of my dinner with a sweet and happy ending. Melt-in-your-mouth fluidity and crunchy texture cradled in gooey rice sold me to these things for life.

Come on now, get ballsy in the new year. *wink*

I Was Bait

The best Curry Fish Head I’ve set my eyes upon is discreetly simmering in an aromatic area of Singapore that is well-acquainted with me; Nam Kee’s chicken rice, Dino’s swiss roll, icekimo’s chempedak dessert and The Roti Prata House’s milk-injected-dough prata.

Follow the inviting smells and you would be in Upper Thomson – A nostalgic street especially since I’ve been fed paranormal doeses of siu bak, char siew and steamed chicken at Nam Kee’s ever since I was knee-high. My parents would drive us kids there almost every Saturday. I was reminiscing about this place with friends just the other day. They too have patronized this family joint for years, and watched three generations manage the business, and 2-3 restaurant renovations.

However, the hot and spicy focus right now is Hooked on Heads. What’s that? It does sound dodgy, doesn’t it? Hahahah! I passed by this restaurant at Sin Ming Plaza many times but never ventured to go in. Thought it was “Hooked on Beads”. Hello. Wake up and feel the tiara, Love Princess.

My daddy insisted we give it a go. I was so hesitant. FYI - My parents love processed foods…twinkies, Gardenia’s cream buns, random coconut-based kueh-kueh at the railway station…just plain gross lah. My mum *shaking head* text’d me when I was in London saying that I MUST try the custard tartlets sold in Selfridges. In the FROZEN section. Eewness Central!

But that’s not the point. Hah! Moving forward, I was bowled over by the fish head curry. REALLY GOOD. It’s not jelak-y (translation = won’t get sick of the taste), unexpected lightness to the gravy, and smooth-textured. Very shiok-a-rama. Want to know the secret to a great-tasting and refreshing curry dish? It’s in the milk. Apparently they add half of the normal dose of coconut milk, and the rest of the mixture consists of regular milk = you absorb only half the calories! The fish is majorly fresh too. And adequately spiced with green parsley and limber tomatoes. Ooooooh. The spiciness is happening lah.

I was seen constantly scooping with my stainless steel spoon deep into the tasty gravy claypot. I really can’t rave enough of it. And big GOLD STARS for daddy! He got it right (finally) this time.

People, it’s extremely affordable. Not bluffing. It’s the perfect place to share a yumster meal with the extended family and friends.

Until the next bite, too-dles.

My Green Loves

I need to detox. And I figured the best way to do it is overdo the daily water drill, and set up regular dates with sweet-looking, fresh-smelling, totally healthy vegetables. Yes, sirree…people, veggies are totally delish. I love this country for allowing the epidemic spread of yong tau foo in almost every food court I walk into.

Singapore rocks! If you’re a fan of this soupy or dry dish, you’d realize that the assortment of healthy edible items are growing as is my rising euphoria. What exactly am I talking about? YONG TAU FOO. There’s usually a showcase of taupok (fried beancurd) stuffed with fish, spinach-topped beancurd, mock crab sticks and full-sized sotong (cuttlefish), amongst dozens of other yummy-doodles, paraded au naturel before your eyes. No camera tricks, or colorings, or mouldy smells.

Usually accompanied by a selection of Asian noodles, you can even choose to have the individual goodies served ampang-style or dunked in laksa (coconut-based and spicy) broth. Most importantly, the serving bowl is HUGE. Very important lah, especially since I adore steaming broth. Woo-hoo. And spice-infused smells are equally integral to the overall makan experience.

One of my favorite stalls is the one at Wisma’s newly-renovated food court on the top floor. The “buffet-style” bar is so pretty! The broth could definitely be improved but for a few local dollars, it’s almost free, I can’t complain! It would be nice though if there were white truffle oil-infused noodles to up the flavor-ante at super-hero heights with these mouthwatering grubbers. Hmmmmm...

Ah well, until such a time, I am belly content :)

I Just Can't Get You Out Of My Head

Yum Cha. Truly, it’s all that I think about. Well, besides other things. Where do you go for yum cha in all its greatness? Try London. Yauatcha, specifically. The pictures speak for themselves. Yum-ness Central.

Yup, I’m truly at a lost for words. Exactly what do you say about greatness except eat it? I had a mind-blowing experience at possibly the best yum cha in U.K. MIND-BLOWING. Fresh and flavorful and of the optimum temperature and unbelievably clean-tasting, you know what I mean; extremely fitting for Love Princess’ regal palate. Roll out the bling bling carpet, folks, and definitely be caught by paparazzi having lunch at this snazzy joint. Ideally in your new pair of peep-toe Louboutins.

This is the only Chinese restaurant with a Michelin star in U.K. Impressive. Very impressive.

(Still not the place for first dates, in my regal opinion. Yum cha is too plebeian a meal for any sizzling love affair to be cultivated to desired effect.)

Steak On This

I just had an epiphany…a burger is never just a burger. Your life can revolve around this carbo-laden rotund edible. For example, if I’m treating myself to one of ‘dem things, I’d work out in the morning, indulge in a scrumptious slab of beef, pile on the shredded coleslaw and maybe steal a Cajun potato wedge or two, then go vegan till my next burger craving or till I’m sick of legume shakes. No regrets, Scooby-dooby’s.

Apparently GQ reinforced this revelation of mine and even expounded on it by coming up with the top 20 burgers in U.S. This caused Gail, who’s Oprah’s colleague and best friend, to hit the road across interstate borders for the single purpose of engulfing in the majesty of the not-so-humble all-beef patty and entourage.

Ten thousand miles away, can Asia fire up the grill and serve up juicy, tender, flavored burgers? And throw some chunky fries on the side; slather some mayo’d coleslaw and dollops of spicy mustard for kicks?

A resounding, “Yes, Sir!”. Right here in Singapore. My favorite’s got to be Überburger’s blue tiger prawns sandwiched between freshly-made high-fibred buns. (Do you know they bake a variety of buns every two hours?)

The seafood patty gives oomph and crunch to every bite. Chopped ginger and cucumbers are refreshing additions to the patty mix. Shiok-a-doodles!

Yeah, burgers aren’t just a guy’s thing anymore. We girls love the concept of a hearty burger – glam version only please. Because what men can do, we girls make it look better. *wink*

The photo, courtesy of Überburger, features the bread winner a.k.a. 101 - wagyu beef with champagne truffle sauce. Wanna see what the blue tiger prawn burger looks like? Why not try it yourself, and send me the pictures? I might just put it up :)

I Hit The Jackpot

This. Is. Divine. If you haven’t yet sunk your pearlies into the steamed custard bun at Imperial Treasures Nan Bei, here’s a close-up of the molten gem. Ooooh. No one, absolutely nobody, does this anywhere else, guys and dolls. I am after all nicknamed, Dim Sum Dolly. I should know better. *wink* It’s out-of-this-world fanta-bulous-o.

The custard’s flowing sweetness is complemented by the fused salted egg, intimately hugged by a smaller-than-palm-sized dough cushion. This melting genius is very much in demand, and highly addictive. Be forewarned, not recommended for first dates as possessing piping hot bun in mouth may be messy, resulting in the only hot buns you’ll have a relationship with for a while.

Ta- Dah!

Hey ya. I’m Love Princess. Princess of Love. Princess very much in Love. You may know me personally, but then again you may not have even heard of me. It doesn’t matter really. I’m just here for one thing, and one thing only. To present my Food Diary. Uh-huh. I love food, really, a lot. So guess what? You’ll get first-hand information on the real yummies and ultimate grossies in Singapore and beyond all the time, every time. Debut blog goes live on 1st January 2007.

Don’t agree with what I have to say? Holler girlfriends and guy-lings. Post your sweet nothings. Think I’m off-the-hook with my fave eats? Spoil me silly online with gorgeous pictures and “tried-and-tested” suggestions.

Got any questions on dining out anywhere in the world? Just ask. You never know, I might just have the perfect answer to sweeten your day.

Here’s hoping you’ll hang around long enough to be converted into a passionate “stuffer-of-your-pie-hole” foodie and cultivate a babe (or dude)-worthy palate.

Raise a toast to 2007 and all its glorious makan experiences to come...Cheers!