In case you’re not aware, I was in China the past week for some business stuff. Just reached Singapore a few hours ago and my body is feeling terribly tired. However, I can’t seem to get to sleep as my sleep pattern was likely being altered by the continuous late nights I had in China.

Or perhaps I’m trying to escape the reality of having to unpack the humongous pile of luggage tomorrow when I wake up…?

Warmest Regards,
Eileen - Simply because life isn’t life until you’ve experienced it

I have incredibly low resistance towards cute bento sets, are they meant to be eaten in the first place? Awwww~~~~~~~

*Disclaimers: These kawaii pictures do not belong to me

Warmest Regards,
Eileen - Simply because life isn’t life until you’ve experienced it

Thanks to Bee’s email for these cutey cookies These are the kind of times you are motivated to go learn baking, maybe for the next Valentine’s Day ne?

**Disclaimers: These beautiful pictures do not belong to me

Warmest Regards,
Eileen - Simply because life isn’t life until you’ve experienced it

Nope, this blog is not dead yet, just that I’ve been REALLY busy with loads of stuff lately. I have been consistently breaking one of my New Year Resolutions by sleeping at a shamefully late hour almost every night

Putting that aside, I’m placing a Recruitment Ad up here to response to the Government’s appeal to create more jobs for our people Some of my businesses require certain tasks to be outsourced and I’m constantly looking out for suitable people to help out in specific areas.

Recently we’re looking for talents who can swipe people off their feet by the wave of a mighty pen, so if you are a good writer with above average talent and skills in the mentioned areas, I’ll love to hear from you. This time round the assignments are revolving around the financial sector, so possessing knowledge in this area will gain you an advantage.

All the positions are home based and you’ll be paid in Singapore Dollars, on per assignment basis, unless we agree otherwise. If we’re comfortable with one another in all aspects (pricing, work flow, efficiency etc), you’ll definitely be expecting more jobs coming your way! Details are stated as follow:

Editor

* The positions of editor and writer could be handled by one person if the right candidate applied.

Role: To re-write and proofread a given manuscript.

Skills required: You must be capable of re-writing the given content in a lively and conversational tone that captivates the readers. You may be asked to do up a sample based on a provided draft to determine if you’re suitable for the job.

Freelance Writer

* The positions of editor and writer could be handled by one person if the right candidate applied.

Role: Creation of articles and/or books with a given topic.

Skills required: You must be capable of writing words in a descriptive but concise style. Experience in writing, preferably for different types of medias (web, book, magazine, articles etc). Having an understanding of Search Engine Optimization will give you an obvious advantage.

How To Apply

Please DO NOT send me resumes or lengthy application letters. I do not have time to review long documents, so I need you to make a good impression with minimal information. Focus on the important facts and get across your unique selling points using as few words as possible.

Applicants should be comfortable working on home based assignments and be self-motivated. You must be flexible and adaptable to changes, and are free to arrange your own timing as long as you can produce results within the specific time frame.

If you are located in Singapore that is an advantage, however I am open to applications from overseas for all positions as long as you are easily contactable when required.

To apply for the jobs, please send an email to eileen@eileendotcom.com and attach a 1 page document (MS Word / PDF) with the following information -

Position Applying For:
Name:
Email:
Phone:
Where you live:
Desired Salary:

Why you believe you are suitable: 1-2 paragraphs in your words explaining why you think you are the best person for the job. This is your opportunity to demonstrate your communication skills, motivation, and talk about your personality.

Previous experience: Write 2-3 paragraphs explaining your PRACTICAL experience completing tasks and/or study you have undertaken related to the position you are seeking. It will be very useful if you can attached your previous work samples.

Shortlisted candidates will be notified either by email or phone.

Good luck to everyone who applies and thank you for your interest!

Warmest Regards,
Eileen

Take a look at how MacDonald has localized throughout the world!

**DISCLAIMER** The following pictures and content don’t belong to me, I received them through email and post it up on my blog for sharing~

INDIA
There are no Big Macs in India because the Hindu people don’t eat beef. However, they have the Maharaja Mac, which is a Big Mac made of lamb or chicken meat. There is also a vegetarian burger, the McAloo Tikki.

NORWAY
In fish-loving Norway , they have the McLaks, a sandwich made of grilled salmon and dill sauce.

GERMANY
It’s bottoms up in Germany , where McDonald’s serves - Beer!

CANADA
In parts of Canada , have a lobster dinner with the McLobster lobster roll. Pardon me - “McHomard” (in French).

JAPAN
Japan totally reinvents McDonald’s with its Ebi Filet-O (shrimp burgers), Koroke Burger (mashed potato, cabbage and katsu sauce, all in a sandwich), Ebi-Chiki (shrimp nuggets) and Green Tea-flavored milkshake!

CHILE
In Chile , you can dress your burgers with - not ketchup - but avocado paste!

COSTA RICA
In Costa Rica , unsurprisingly, you can order Gallo Pinto, meaning rice and beans.

GREECE
It’s not Greek without pita, so when in Greece , have a Greek Mac, a burger made of patties wrapped in pita.

HONG KONG
Rice-loving Hong Kong , has - of course - Rice Burgers, where the burgers are in between, not burger buns, but two patties of glutinous rice.

ISRAEL
In Israel , McDonald’s has 3 kosher restaurants where cheeseburger and dairy products are not served because Jewish Law forbids serving “the child [cow/beef] in its mother’s milk [dairy].” They have McShawarma, meat in a pita bread roll.

URUGUAY
In Uruguay , they have the McHuevo, which is like a regular hamburger, but it is topped with a poached egg.

Warmest Regards,
Eileen - Simply because life isn’t life until you’ve experienced it

Another kawaii food post, this time round featuring the World of Biscuits!

**DISCLAIMER** The following pictures and content don’t belong to me, I received them through email and post it up on my blog for sharing~

Warmest Regards,
Eileen - Simply because life isn’t life until you’ve experienced it

Farewell 2008 and greetings to a whole new 2009! If you’re into Feng Shui, you’ll know that 9 is a very important number in this upcoming Year of Ox. I’ve drawn up with 9 resolutions that I aim to fulfill for the new year, have you came up with yours yet?

1. Materialize 2 new businesses that are currently in planning
I’ve been working on 2 new business ideas since last year but both were being delayed due to several reasons. This year I won’t be putting them off anymore and will be striving to have them up and running within the 1st quarter of 2009.

2. Pay more attention to my investment portfolio
Glad to say that last year I fulfill a promise to myself by taking initiative to learn more about stocks and shares, and managed to make a comfortable profit despite the market downturn. However recently I seem to be paying lesser attention to my portfolio as the market doesn’t seem to be heading to a clear direction. The market seems to be experiencing a rally recently and it is probably time for me to get in touch with my stock charts again.

3. Sleep early
I’ve been living the life of a human owl nearly the whole of 2008, sleeping at 2-3am at times. Even though I’ve told myself over and over again that this late night habit is a big no-no, somehow I just managed to glue myself to the laptop for various reasons. This year I promise myself to put my beauty sleep on a higher priority and gradually shift my bed time forward until before 12am.

4. Shed 5 kilograms by end of year through healthy eating and exercising
I’m quite proud to say that I have been exercising regularly but can’t say the same for my eating habits. Generally I am quite cautious about where I obtain my calories from but there are still times when I fall into certain temptations, and thanks to this blog the temptation count has been going uphill steadily. There is no way I can swear off good food, but I do believe you can eat healthy and enjoy your food. Along with adequate exercising, I shall challenge myself to the possibility of running a food blog and yet losing weight at the same time, only that I haven’t had the courage to weigh myself ever since I started this blog, hahaha.

5. Practice Public Speaking
Public speaking is known to be people’s number 1 fear and I have a certain phobia towards it as well.  There have been a couple of opportunities for me to speak in front of a crowd but I’ve chose to pass them on due to fear, embarrassment and lack of preparation, or rather I didn’t put in any effort to prepare at all. Well, not that there is a burning need for me to practice public speaking, but it feels great when you know that you’ve overcome a mental barrier. Already I’m having a jittery feeling that I won’t be doing a good job the first time round, but improvement comes in after you’ve taken the first step out.

6. New Beauty Regime
I’ve made a big change to my beauty regime last year by reducing to only the very basic steps, but seems like I’ve also ended up neglecting on some of the essential stuff. Time to draw up a plan on something that is simple and yet makes me feel good to walk out of the house! Guys, don’t laugh at this, you won’t understand how important this is to gals!

7. Build up good karma
Last year I’ve started donating a portion of my income regularly to charity organizations and will continue to do so in 2009. Monetary donation is one of the most obvious options when you talk about charity, but I’ve also realized that educating people, sharing your knowledge etc are also ways helping others. This year I shall up by karma points by taking note of these alternative ways to contributing to other people’s lives.

8. Add more content variety to this blog
Food is one of the things that adds colors to my spirit and I love sharing about it. There are loads more stuff that paint up my existence which I feel can spice up your life as well. In 2009 I’ll blog about the other aspects of my life that I feel are worth sharing about, and hopefully 10 or 20 years down the road when I’m reviewing this blog, I’ll be proud to say that I led a fun and fulfilling life.

9. Learn to be the kind of happy person that I want to be
Earlier on today I was commenting that I don’t feel that I’m a happy person but I didn’t know the reason why. I was told that by appreciating little things in life, it can make a whole world of difference. Truth is that sometimes I chose to be unsatisfied with certain things because I believe that this is the best way to push myself to achieve more in that area. Trying to find balance between these true extremes is easier said than done, I don’t want to become a person who is too comfortable with life and unable to move on, yet I don’t want to be an unhappy person who does not appreciate the simple beauty of life. Oh well, this is probably a lifelong challenge rather than a mere 2009 goal.

Arghhhhhhhhhhh, it has past 2am and I was talking about sleeping eary! Off to bed now, jaa ne~

Warmest Regards,
Eileen - Simply because life isn’t life until you’ve experienced it

One whole year has slipped by so quickly that I couldn’t believe my eyes, and it is probably the time that many of us start setting our New Year resolutions.

I’ll be going off for a short cruise holiday in a while, take myself away from the computer and sit down to  review my goals for year 2009. I’ll be back after the New Year with more to blog about, hope that all of you enjoy this very last day of the year and Happy New Year in advance!

Warmest Regards,
Eileen - Simply because life isn’t life until you’ve experienced it

I’ve passed by Cuppage Plaza numerous times but haven’t really went to explore the various Japanese restaurants there, one reason being there are so many of them in the building that I don’t know which one to visit. If my memory serves me right, the last time I dined at one of the restaurants there was at Kazu during bee’s birthday celebration, where she was primarily attracted to the place by its Ankimo (anglerfish liver) and the legendary supposedly very handsome chef (Oops!! Is that suppose to be a secret?)

It happens that I was meeting Champagne in town and she mentioned there was a small Japanese restaurant in the area that she would like to recommend to me. Now, it is absolutely sinful to say no to quality Japanese food especially since it has been verified by the taste buds of another Jap food lover, so the next thing you know, we made arrangements to meet there for dinner.

Upon our entrance, Chef Bernard gave us a very warm greeting and I immediately took a liking to this friendly looking chef. Sitting at the Sushi Counter, I took a quick glance around this cosy little restaurant that can accommodate about 20 guests. To my delight I saw a whole lot of self made plum wine in a corner and asked Chef Bernard if he had any to spare, but sadly he said they’ll only be ready 1 year later. Well, it is kind of expected but I just had to try my luck I fell madly in love with self made plum wine ever since I had my first sip at Akane, sighz~

Okies, on to the food! I love Omakase because of the little surprises in store for you, the chef is probably the person who knows which are the best items for the day and many a times you’ll be served something that you’ve never thought of ordering on your own. Of course, Omakase can turn into a disaster if you meet a chef that cannot “connect” with your taste buds, so it is important to give him an idea of your preference in advance. I must say that so far I haven’t had a disappointing experience with an Omakase meal yet, and this meal at Kaiho Sushi left me the deepest impression of them all. Chef Bernard politely checked with us if there’s anything we shun away from and then proceed to whip up his creativity in the following dishes.

Note: Apologies for the rather grainy pictures as my camera does not perform well under low light conditions…  …Ok fine, this is just an excuse to cover up the fact that I’m too lazy to mess around with the settings

Our dinner started off with some Tamago, one of those must-try items that you can use to judge a restaurant’s standard. Kaiho’s tamago is considered decent, with just the right size and thickness for you to put into your mouth. There is a certain degree of sweetness but in my opinion this flavor can go slightly stronger.

1st Item of The Evening - Tamago

Next up is something of a stronger flavor - Spinach with Sesame Sauce. This is the first time I had my spinach cold but I kind of like the feeling, heh. Each bite onto the spinach is accompanied by the salty taste of the sesame sauce and works up your appetite in preparation for the next dish, an interesting appetizer to start up your meal.

Spinach with Sesame Sauce

A colorful serving of Sashimi Mori and Kanpachi Usuzukuri turned the meal towards a different direction and I can sense more seafod dishes coming up. I took a sip of green tea to reset my taste buds and tucked into the sashimi, pleasantly surprised by the presence of the Otoro and Uni. Though not of premium grade, but considering the budget that we’ve given Chef Bernard, I would say he had given us some pretty decent items. I was told that Kaiho brings in their fish about 4 times a week, so you’re quite insured regarding the freshness factor.

What A VIsually Appealing Bowl of Sashimi Mori

Kanpachi Usuzukuri

My eyebrows raised with delight when the Ankimo (anglerfish liver) was brought to our table. The very first and only time I’ve tasted this dish was when I visited Kazu with Bee (mentioned at the beginning of this post) and haven’t been able to forget it since. Kaiho’s Anikimo carries a slight sour taste that blends well with its foie gras like texture and you’ll be able to savour a few pieces without being overwhelmed by the usual richness of liver dishes.  Bee, you can envy me all you like, mwahahahaha~~

I love Ankimo!

More fishes coming up and this time round it is the Katsuo Tataki! The tataki dishes that I’ve tried  are all mostly done in thinner slices but Kaiho does in a more cube like shape, which gives you more to bit on, heh. Only a very thin layer of the sides were lightly seared though at the first glance the Katsuo looked really cooked. I love the way the skin added a bit of crispiness to the fish, just squeeze some lemon over it and you’re in for a treat.

Doesn’t this Katsuo Tataki looks appetitzing?

Cross section of Katsuo Tataki

Another dish that made me raised my eyebrows was the Tako-Su, a cold serving of cooked octopus slices garnished with small pieces of cucumber and topped with little black pearls of caviar. I would have thought that Tako-Su were usually served as appetitzers but over here it seems to be more like a half-time break item, hinting me to be mentally prepared for the good stuff that are to be served. The vinegar dressing totally refreshed my tastebuds and made me look forward to the rest of the meal while we were discussing with Chef Bernard about the different colors of caviar

Tako-Su, a surprising twist to the meal

The next dish came as a pleasant surprise as well, for I haven’t had anything simiar in a Japanese Restaurant before. As the bowl of Asari Butter Yaki was brought to us, I was thinking that seemed more like a Chinese dish to me ^_^” It may be weird to describe the asari in this way but the small clams looked really cute when submerged in a clear broth that gave off a buttery aroma. We had a great time scouping up the broth in the shells and sucking out the flesh along with it.

Asari Butter Yaki

Next up is my favorite dish of the evening - Remaining Bones of Tai Nitsuke!

Tai Nitsuke Bones

Eh, just kidding~ That was actually the end result of a very delicious Tai Nitsuke, and this was probably the most quiet part of our meal as we were busy enjoying the heavenly dish. You can see from the photo that it is a huge and fleshy fish which not only looks good but possessed a supreme taste as well. Dig your chopsticks onto any part of the Tai Nitsuke and you are likely to pick up a huge piece of flesh soaked in its divine sauce, looking at the rate that we’re tearing the fish apart, someone will probably think that we have been starving for days

Tai Nitsuke before we attacked it

After the wonderful Tai Nitsuke, we became two very satisfied customers who were nearly full to the brim, and our eyes nearly popped out when we were being served 5 pieces of sushi that are extremely generous in size, namely Kisu (Smelt Fish), Salmon & Ikura, Maguro, Kohada (Herring Fish) and Prawn. One of the sushi that I like best from this plate is the Kisu, where it is topped by a transparent piece of Batera Konbu (Vinegar Seaweed) and bits of yuzu skin. The slightly sour taste actually helps to ease off a bit of the full-to-the-brim feeling, just like how some people likes to pop a sour plum after a big meal to aid in digestion. I wouldn’t mind haven’t another piece of Kisu sushi at that point of time, heh~

A plate of sushi to test the limits of our stomach capacity

Transparent piece of Batera Konbu

Brush and scrapper that is used to scrap the yuzu skin

All good things come to an end and I’m glad that we had a nice little piece of dessert - Ume Jelly. BIts of yuzu skin were scattered on the soft wobbly jelly and you can enjoy a blissful sweet and sour taste as you slowly savor it. A very light weight dessert that marks a perfect ending to this delightful Omakase meal and I was already looking forward to my next trip to Kaiho Sushi!

Ume Jelly, a perfect closure to the meal

Throughout the meal, we were also accompanied by a nice bottle of Sake that Chef Bernard recommended, something not too dry, not too sweet and just right for the meal he created for us.It was only after my visit that I know of this hidden possession that Chef Bernard had in Kaiho - the Strawberry Sake-tini. Hopefully I’ll get to try that next time! Hmm.. I would say that my only regret to this trip is that I was not able to catch hold of Kaiho’s plum wine due to the timing, one of these days, I’ll get my hands on them, grrrrrrrrr~~~

Btw, heard from bee that she dropped by Cuppage the other day to pick up namecard (after hearing me rave about Kaiho so much, heh) and Chef Bernard enthusiastically invited her in for a drink. What a friendly chef ne

Nice bottle of Sake that Chef Bernard recommended

Plum Wine, I’ll be back for you one day

Warmest Regards,
Eileen - Simply because life isn’t life until you’ve experienced it

Alright, so where did I go for my 2008 Christmas Eve dinner? Now I always have a strong desire to avoid those terrifying festive crowds when choosing a dinning place on celebratory dates, so many mainstream restaurants were being crossed out of my list by default. This year I’ve decided to brave the streets of the one place that is notorious for its overwhelming X’mas human traffic - Orchard. However, I still picked the more quiet Tanglin Mall area and you can even described it as deserted, which is a completely different sight from the main roads of Orchard.

When I heard that there was a very well received Indian restaurant hidden in Tanglin Mall, it immediately secured a possible try out place on my X’mas Eve list. This time round I gave a pass to Japanese restaurants because I wanted to try something different, Japanese cuisine is more like a daily comfort food to me, heh. So yupz, allow me to introduce Yantra, an Indian fine dining restaurant where we enjoyed a delightful dinner of North Indian cuisine.

We were greeted by a very friendly lady when we first stepped into Yantra and she happily chatted us up as she was leading us to our seats. She saw that I was wearing a tube dress and took the initiative to bring a pashmina shawl and wrapped it around my shoulders so that the cold air doesn’t get to me, very thoughtful gesture indeed

Another service staff was allocated to our table for order taking and serving of food, he made several recommendations which we gladly adopted as we were not too familiar with Indian food. Just as we were done with the ordering, I noticed from the corner of my eye something that looked suspiciously like a flying prata was twirling in the middle of the air near the back of the restaurant. Sensing my curiosity, the staff offered to take us on a mini tour around the restaurant so that we can take a closer look at the flying prata stunt

We came to an open area of the kitchen where there were 3 gigantic pots of tandoori sauce, a chef brought out a pomfret to be dipped into the pot and the service staff told us that was the Tandoori Pomfret that we ordered ^_^” We also saw the flying prata chef who kindly did another flying stunt for the camera, but he was not making prata but something known as Roomali Roti, which will end up on our table later as well

Indian Chef at the Tandoori Pots

The Flyer Prata Stuntman Chef

Up up and away, Roomali Roti~

We went back to our seats after taking a look at the bar, dining room and alfresco section where some Roasted Papadum was waiting on our table. The Papadum is a kind of thin Indian cracker usually served as an appetizer or snack along with several kinds of dips. For us it came with four kinds of toppings - mint sauce, achar, marinated onions with lime and a mango jam like thingy which I didn’t manage to catch the name.

Toppings for the appetitzer, my vote goes to the top left mango jam!

Papadum - Indian Crackers

Initially when I ordered the Lobster Angara , I was told that they didn’t have it as it was only subjected to availability. I put on a face full of extreme disappointment and asked if there was anything thing they could do for a first time visitor with a lobster craving, the service staff went to check up again and then came back with a yes The presentation of the lobster is similar to those Chinese restaurant style where they display the whole lobster for your viewing pleasure and then uncover the meat underneath. You can see that the lobster flesh was being finished in tandoori, seeing the familiar fury red color.

Oh yah, the service staff from Yantra usually brings the dishes over to your table on their hands and serves it onto your plates directly, they’ll only leave a dish on your table only if there are additional portions left over. The poor guy had to stand there with a huge plate of lobster (followed by the rest of the other dishes) on his hand while I snapped the pictures, I tried to do it as quickly as possible though, heh.

Lobster surrounded by loads of greens!

Close up shot on the lobster meat

Next up is the Tandoori Pomfret which sadly I didn’t manage to snap a good picture, as I didn’t want the staff to stand there for too long. Though my photo doesn’t do much justice to the Pomfret and made it looked a piece of overdone charred fish, be assurred that the actual thing tasted better than it looked ^_^” The pomfret is actually quite fleshy and took a few servings before we finished it up. Overall the flesh is to the dry side but only the skin part is being grilled tremendously and that added a crispy bite in additional to the tandoori flavor.

Well, I told you it looked like a piece of overdone charred fish ^^;;;

Now what is Indian cuisine without curry, right? We requested for something not too spicy and Yantra served a Chicken Bharta which suited our tastebuds perfectly. It was a pretty light weight curry with a very slight hint of sweetness and herby taste. Together with the Garlic Naan and Lacha Paratha which I couldn’t stop dipping with, this emerged as my favorite dish of the evening. Soft, moist, tender curry with nice warm bread , ahhhh~~~~

As we were about to finish up the Chicken Bharta, the service staff came over to asked if we would like to try other kinds of bread (perhaps my love for bread is written so obviously over my face?) and we decided on the flying Roomali Roti that we saw earlier. The texture of the Roomali Roti was completely different from the Garlic Naan and Lacha Pratha, much smoother and it was actually made into paper thin sheets and rolled up to be served.

The staff tried to persuade us to order another curry but we were too filled up take on another full size curry, no matter how heavenly it may be. I jokingly asked if he can top up our Chicken Bharta and he was a bit taken back :p Though he politely told us that they don’t do top-ups, in the end he still served us a complimentary plate of curry for us to dip the Roomali Roti. I don’t have a picture of it here but it was a different style from the Chicken Bharta, slightly more spicy and stronger in taste, and we enjoyed it tremendously as well.

Yummy Yummy Chicken Bharta

Garlic Naan & Lacha Paratha, highly recommended companions for your curry

The flying Roomali Roti that we saw earlier, should have
taken it at an angle revelaing its paper thin layers, sighz

Initially we didn’t plan on ordering desserts but the staff was highly recommending their Malai Kulfi (some kind of Indian Ice Cream) and Szziling Brownies. He looked as if he was on cloud nine and in a state of blissful happiness when he described about the sweetness of the Malai Kulfi, I was thinking this guy must have a very sweet tooth, heh. We didn’t have any room for the brownies and thus took up the Malai Kulfi, which came on a dainty metallic bowl with dry ice. It was indeed a much sweeter and heavier version of the normal ice cream but in a rather pleasant way. The texture is also harder and you can slowly suck on the ice cream while waiting for it to melt in your mouth, the raspberry sauce took some attention away from the richness and you don’t feel too overwhelmed by the overall sweetness.

The Malai Kulfi that made our service staff a very happy person

The Malia Kulfi also marks the end to my X’mas Eve dinner which I totally enjoyed. Service at Yantra is really top notch and the staff are very knowledgeable when questioned on the menu items, with most of them being Indians who are quite experienced in the F&B line. Only thing is that they tend to be a bit too enthusiatic on persuading you to order more items, I had to repeatedly decline a few offers even though I made it clear that we were already full. I think they do serve buffet lunch during the daytime and that could be an cost effective option for you guys who would like to sample the different items.

It’s a thumbs up from me for the quality of food and definitely two thumbs up for the service, Yantra will be worth a visit if you have a craving for Indian food!

Warmest Regards,
Eileen - Simply because life isn’t life until you’ve experienced it