Foodies' Day Out

Ikkousha Ramen @ Chijmes

By the time we reached Ikkousha Ramen, the lunch hour had passed and we were spared from having to squeeze and queue with the lunch hour crowd. That's one good thing of having a free day to yourself I guess - lunch at any time of the day.

Perhaps it was because there weren't many people in the shop when we arrived, but the staff from Ikousha Ramen were incredibly welcoming and quick. Apart from that, the free boiled eggs on the table would be something to entice any egg lover to the restaurant - unless you prefer salted eggs like me. 

While it was really enjoyable meeting up with Simin, it was just as satisfying to realise that we received free gyozas as we were paying our bill. (Another good thing if you are paying for your own meal)

Lady M Confections @ Marina Square

After lunch (and a little bit of walking), we decided to search for somewhere to enjoy some dessert, and ended up at Lady M Confections, a New York based boutique that has branched out into Singapore, Korea and Los Angeles.

While Simin enjoyed a Mille Crepe, I decided to select something off the usual range of cakes and went for a Mille Feuille. The Mille Feuille seemed to have the right balance of taste and flavour, and with its light and frothy cream, I wasn't sick of this confection at any point. 

One note of caution though. Prices at Lady M Confections are a little steep (est. $9-10 for a slice of cake after tax), but I would say you're probably paying for both the food and the experience. The sleek, clean decor and relatively quick service does make you feel as if you are enjoying something a little more classy, outside of your regular cafe. 

Gong out with Simin always means eating a lot more than usual and enjoying food from various places... I guess somewhere along the way Simin has become the friend I go out with on days I'd like to try out new food or cafe hop.

It was a great day.

xoxo pamela

Fudge Brownies (and my first time baking)

This would never have happened if I wasn't entirely bored and looking for something fun to do. While it looks good and tastes like a mouthful of fudgey goodness (to me), there's definitely room for improvement.

Because I did stupid mistakes like not halving the eggs (because I halved everything from the original recipe) and forgetting to add the baking powder (which isn't too big a deal because it only means the brownies won't rise as much). Oh, and not baking it for long enough. Which gave it a really creamy, fudge texture in the middle (which tasted pretty awesome), so I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Ok, I need to stop talking in brackets. LOL.

Since it was my first time baking, EVER, I think I didn't do too bad. #dontjudge

Recipe below:

Ingredients
125 grams of butter
275 grams of sugar
4 eggs (I should have used only 2)
85 grams of plain flour
150 grams of dark chocolate chips
75 grams of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder (that I forgot all about)

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
Put butter on a saucepan and place on medium heat until melted
Remove pan from heat, add sugar, and put the pan back on heat for 30seconds - 1 minute
Transfer mixture into a large bowl
Add the eggs and whisk until combined (with the mixture)
Add the flour, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, vanilla extract (and baking powder) and stir
Pour the mixture into a baking pan
Bake in preheated oven (for 30 minutes or more depending on the thickness of the mixture in your pan)
Leave to cool in pan for 1 hour, then place it in the freezer for 1 hour

One thing to note with the original recipe is the size of her pan and the thickness/height of the mixture in the pan (she made them into cubes in the end, so the height of her mixture is probably only half of mine, aka, short). If yours is pretty medium/tall, bake it for more than 30 minutes (and check to see if its fully baked!). 

Fudge Brownie recipe extracted from passionforbaking.com

Happy baking! (though I think I enjoyed taking photos of my brownies more than baking and WAITING itself)


xoxo pamela

ps. I will post any updates/tips if I happen to bake with this recipe again 

Pretending to be a Photographer

While every else are busy looking for jobs or working, I'm busy hanging around at home playing at being a photographer. Of course, this would not have happened if my ma hadn't been making delicious treats for us every other day (especially macarons).

The rest of the photos in this post show my journey in my great pretence.

chocolate chip cookies 

waffles 

 New York cheesecake with chocolate ganache

 chiffon cheesecake

 marble cupcakes

strawberry shortcake

macarons

Don't they make you hungry for desserts?! #selfpraise


Disclaimer: All photos are taken and edited from my iPhone 5S

xoxo pamela

The iPhone Diaries (Korea Trip 2013)

What better way to conclude a trip than to include some iPhone moments not caught on a digital/professional camera?

Warning: Many selfies ahead!

My boarding gate area. Which is coincidentally a floor below my internship company's office. 

 Finally on a Singapore Airlines flight again <3

 Christmas star-shaped donut from Paris Baguette

It had a yummy mango icing if I recall correctly…

My post-flight snack hehe

 At Gimpo Airport~

 Probably me at Jeju International Airport just after my flight… LOL

 Jeju breakfast sans abalone porridge! Did I mention how much I love eggs?

Well now you know. LOL.

 You've seen this. (If you read all my posts)

Seafood dinner in Jeju.

My crazy huge dinner at Daegu

Had to make my brother take the photo for me. I'm simply too short to capture everything :x 

 Post-skiing. My hair was BAD for the rest of the day. :(

 How my brother sleeps on the bus… Typical.

Winking Christmas bear from Paris Baguette! <3

Everything I could say about these photos have probably been said in my previous posts about my Korea Trip, and really, this is just a bank for all the photos that have made it to my iPhone that I decided to separate from the rest of the pictures. Just because.

I know it's been a whole series of posts on Korea for an 8 day trip, and I love you to bits if you read each one of them. I hope you enjoyed reading it cos I definitely enjoyed my trip. My spirit for adventure is still in me, and while I may be chained to the routines and obligations of life (school in particular) that prevents me from leaving the country, do stay on to read about the other facets of my life!

xoxo

pamela