Ippudo Singapore

In just over a month, I will make my annual pilgrimage to Singapore (for the Christmas holidays). Never have I seen a city change so much over such a short period of time. Over the past 8 years, Singapore has made some fascinating transformations and my favourite one - more great places to eat.

Over the 2011 Christmas holiday season my sister insisted I join her at Ippudo Singapore (in Mandarin Gallery) for a meal. Knowing very little about Ippudo or Ramen, I agreed. We rocked up at 7.30ish and the line was epic, as in it wound around half the level and practically backed onto the escalator. Too hungry and impatient we decided to take our chances elsewhere.

Take two. This time we drag along our brother and planned to get there early to avoid the wait. We arrived just before 6pm and the line surrounds the 'waiting table' in the restaurant, but doesn't extend throughout the shopping centre - thank goodness! And as each group is seated the Ippudo staff cheer.

It's not long before we're seated at a bench facing the chefs, giving us an opportunity to see all the activity in the kitchen. We order Edamame, Goma Q, Ippudo pork bun, Ippudo shrimp bun, Ippudo organic salad, Akamaru kasaneaji and Ippudo original gyoza.

D.O.C Mornington

I love doing something (other than domestic chores) on a Sunday. It helps put me in a good mood for the start of the working week.

Recently, the sun was shining, we were carefree and so our Sunday afternoon adventures took us to Mornington.

We savoured every ray of sunshine and moment of warmth during the drive down, and arrived at a packed DOC (even though it was past 2pm already).

12wbt

As you may or may not be aware, I am partaking in a 12 week body transformation at the moment. It is not a fad diet or drastic lifestyle change. It is simply about eating good, portioned food and exercising - how easy?! And, for the most part, it has been easy. (I've never been great with portion control though.)

Since I'm cooking a lot more and eating out less, there isn't so much rad food to blog about. So here's a bit of an update regarding the 12wbt foodie experience so far.

Grey & Bliss

As we peeled ourselves from the comfort of our bed, we stiffly walked an overly excited young lass (Maple) to the beach, rather unsuccessfully trying to catch seagulls, we then decided to try and re-circulate our blood with a stroll and what we found, nestled among the fray on Port Melbourne's Bay St, with its unassuming facade, Grey & Bliss.

As we bunkered down out front, due to our honorary bruncheon guest, we were able to let the daily activities pass us by. As Dani appreciated the subtle table decorations, I quickly scoured the menu and decided it was time for my unofficial mission (to try all the eggs benedict in Melbourne) to resume after a 'healthy' stint on the sidelines.

With two wonderfully poached eggs, caressed by Virginian ham whilst perched atop crunchy sour dough bread and effortlessly drizzled with hollondaise sauce, how could this dish go wrong???

Factory Espresso

For the Easter long weekend this year, Dan and I packed up the car and headed to Orange (in NSW) to see my sister. We were absolutely charmed. The weather was great - sunny but not too warm - and we were taken to gorgeous wineries and restaurants. It was definitely no rough and tumble country town.

Though we've been a little slack in getting some of our posts up, Factory Espresso really impressed us. So I felt the need to 'spread the word'.

On Easter Sunday we decided to brunch at Factory Espresso. I know very little about Orange so I can't really tell you if the location is good, but I can tell you that the food was delicious!