Thursday, May 11, 2006

Sun & Moon

Danielle slurping up her tempura soba.

Sun & Moon Japanese Restaurant (Level 3, Wheelock Place) is a great (well, maybe not for the pockets!) place for their Japanese steamed pot rice and creative desserts :) The decor is a mixture of modern and traditional Japanese influences e.g. a curtain-like screen showing cherry blossom and waterfall images. And you know that it's good when it is patronised by the Japanese themselves!

Beef and raw egg steamed rice pot set with a serving of crabmeat salad and miso soup. I especially loved the little bits of chestnuts, beans and other veggies found in the rice :D




And now for the most exciting part of the meal - Mochi crepes with strawberry sorbet and ginger-honey sauce followed by Hojicha (brown rice tea) cake with a delicious red bean concoction.

stormiii at 12:42 pm

1cups of tea

Sunday, May 07, 2006

A Beautiful Day (Kimchi-ed Part 3!)

My very first picture of Jay and Cathy as a couple!

I met Cathy, Jay, Gibby and all the other friends featured here at a Japanese cultural exchange programme way back in 1999. Six blissful weeks and one hot summer later, our special friendships brought us back for a mini reunion in Vietnam, 2004 and an even more wonderful celebration - the wedding of Jay and Cathy on Easter Sunday, 2006 :D



Jay is Korean while Cathy is Filipina, so I'd always marveled at their long distance relationship! The above pic was taken with Cathy fresh and radiant from her make-up/ dressing preparation at Mirae Wedding Castle's bridal studio. Weddings in Korea are a quick and presumably worry-free affair for the couple as everything takes place within a few hours at one venue!



From the bridal studio on Level 1 to the Wedding Hall five floors above, the couple receive more guests in the richly furnished waiting room. It appears that girls in Korea wish for a fairy tale type of wedding so everything is tailored to fulfil that dream :) The wedding march even begins with two lady ushers dressed like toy soldiers and a sword salute!



As soon as the couple walks out as husband and wife, a major photo taking session takes place with family and friends. I don't think I've seen Jay smile this happily :D

Here's the gang with (L to R): Yuko, Tsunako, Gibby and her husband, Tae uk, Michelle, Frosti, Andre, Ken and me. We're all giving our best "forget me not" expressions while Tsunako and Andre are each holding a press release about Jay and Cathy's cross-cultural marriage.


While the other guests head to the large buffet restaurant for lunch, the couple change into their wedding hanbok and the tea ceremony begins. This custom is similar to the Chinese tea ceremony but is more traditional than what is now done in SG. After seeking blessings from both sets of parents, the couple then toast each other tea with their arms entwined. I thought that Cathy's hanbok was truly lovely with all the lavish embroidery :)


Guys, make sure you have a strong back for this! There was much cheering and clapping as Jay proceeded to carry Cathy on his back!


A last photo before Jay and Cathy set off for their honeymoon and a new journey together.

stormiii at 12:18 am

2cups of tea

Monday, May 01, 2006

Kimchi-ed...the FOOD (Part 2)


Never would I have imagined that my first breakfast in Korea would be kimchi ramyeon. Homemade kimchi with its crunchiness and freshness maintained by a "kimchi refridgerator" is a staple diet of Koreans and trust me, the humble pickled veggies are a perfect "pick me up" to any dish :) So there I was, slurping ramyeon while my eyes feasted on the plethora of flawless looking Korean celebs on TV...



The streets in Busan reminded me of Taipei with its tiny alley-ways jam packed with food stalls and shops. At Fashion Street in Nampo-dong (above), the stalls sold rice cakes cooked in red pepper sauce, waffles, green onion pancakes (my fave!) and yummy fruit juices packed with the goodness of spring's strawberries :)



Jay Gyeong brought me to the famous Food Alley in Nampo-dong which is actually a row of makeshift tables and stools manned by aunties. The typical fare would be (L to R) - sun dae (noodle/rice sausages), pork parts, japchae (a delicious fried rice noodle dish) and sikhye (a chilled, sweet drink cooked from rice and barley).


Gukje Market is a huge place that sells everything you can ever think of buying but it was the sight of these huge bowls at the food section that had my eyes popping out! All sorts of kimchi, vegetables, seafood and unidentifiable items were for sale :D


According to Gibby, when in Gukje Market, most locals would flock to this famous Korean "yong tau foo" stall. The lady boss has done so well that she has a little sign and a small eating shop behind her stall. She gave us an extra helping upon hearing that we foreigners had come in search of her - needless to say, her tofu pockets stuffed with black pepper, chives and flavoursome broth were terrific :)




Gibby had a little black book of superb Korean restaurants and she introduced us to a few serving sambap :D The waitresses will come to your table with giant silver trays laden with hundreds of little bowls filled with meat, seafood, steamed egg, soup, kimchi, veggies, etc. It'll take only minutes for them to lay the table and then the fun begins :) Sambap requires attention as you have to assemble your own meal using whatever food combination you think works (incl. colour!) before popping the entire pocket into your mouth. The first time I did it, I ended up making a huge one a la popiah style which made for a most entertaining sight...




To top our entire gourmet experience in Korea, Gibby brought us to eat hanjeongsik. This is definitely a must for all Daejanggeum fans who think it unfair that the Emperor doesn't seem to do much except to appear for the food tasting section ;P This is when you realise that Korean cuisine is by itself so simple and healthy - think ginseng tempura, fat mushrooms with slices of red dates and various vegetable salads prepared in an appetizing manner. I really enjoyed the dishes at this restaurant as it was somewhat of a contemporary style and tried to persuade Gibby to open such a place in SG :) Right, so the ingredients would be unavailable. No worries Gibby, I'll be waiting for you to bring me on another gourmet tour the next time!

stormiii at 2:04 am

1cups of tea