Fish&Chips; Chicken Cutlet @ The Flying Pan, Hall 4 NTU

Looks pretty but thinking maybe we should have tried the bowtie pasta instead hmms

The Same Old Pitchstop

After I got to know that Vänners in NTU is going to cease operations on 19 Sept, I told myself I have got to try it at least once in my entire student life!

And so, with much excitement, I went to queue for it on the 18th. What I did not expect was to hear that there is no more food left at all (because fellow students like me all swarmed to Vänners that day before it officially closes)! That is after we have queued for about 50min, and after we have finally gotten a seat 😡

Surprisingly, I was very cool about it.  Maybe this is because I could not find anything I really feel like eating at that point of time. Oh wells.

So my mission to try Vänners failed. And to satisfy my craving to eat some decent dine-out food, I headed to the next atas place in NTU which I was more familiar with.

The same ol’ Pitchstop.

There was not much of a crowd when we got there cos it’s way after the usual lunchtime. The food came really quick, which I was very glad for since we were all starving.

Cheesy Nachos, MINI Creamy Veg Soup & Tom Yam Seafood Linguine

The nachos were rather laohong but I was glad it satisfied my craving for fries at the very least. The linguine really had a very strong tomyam taste which was very gratifying and satisfying. (:

9″ Seafood Pasta

Hmms, the pizza was not as crispy as how I remembered it to be before I left for exchange, but still nicely cheesy. On hindset, it was not the most optimal decision to choose two dishes of seafood-related food.

I remember the food to be better, but I am still very glad that the same old Pitchstop is still here to remain as a good alternative to Can B (albeit a little expensive).

Our Lunch Spread @ Pitchstop, NTU

It was a really impromptu decision to head over to have some roti prata, at 8 in the night. And it did not really help that we just had dessert at Dhoby Ghaut. That was just how “out-of-the-way” it was.

My mom always exclaims how she cannot understand why people flock all the way for the food here, and I often wonder why on the contrary, we have not even tried all these so-called good food places when they are just so nearby to us! Somehow, when they are nearer, the tendency to patronise them seems to decrease and the novelty also lowers as well. That theory, coupled with lack of opportunities, was why I have never ever eaten at The Roti Prata House before, even though it is just a few minutes ride away.

I grew up knowing two brands of roti prata which are acclaimed to be the best ones in Singapore – this being one of them! So, I was pretty excited to try out the legendary roti prata for the first time! And I was excited also because I was about to introduce to my friend some good local delights, which she has never really tried before for all the years she has been in Singapore. And the good news is that it is open 24h on Saturday (:

I was glad my friend likes it, for the crispy prata and the not-so-spicy curry, so I was pleased that the “out-of-the-way” venture to Upper Thomson Road was not wasted after all. And, I have to agree the food was pretty decent. The Teh Halia was different from what I expected it to be, but the taste of ginger was strong and satisfying, perhaps so strong it overpowers the milk a little.

Yet, inexplicably, I still prefer its competitor.  Perhaps I am just being biased here, for its competitor is nearer to where I live. And when I dine there, somehow it just gives me a feeling of familiarity and that home is just nearby. Literally, really. And very irrational again.

Teh Halia & Prata! @ The Roti Prata House, Upper Thomson Road

月儿像柠檬 高高的挂天空

今天是农历八月十五中秋节。如往年一样, 今年的中秋节也没什么大肆庆祝, 这一天又像流水一般平淡地过去了。

虽然没有什么特别的庆祝, 不过我还是会下意识地去记着今天是中秋, 星期一也就感觉有些不一样了。小时候中秋将近, 总喜欢和大伙儿一块儿玩火玩蜡烛玩烟花棒, 顺便提提灯笼热热闹闹地庆中秋。长大了大家都各忙各的, 有时看到提着灯笼的小朋友们在大街上走着, 不禁感叹当时大家在一起的欢乐情景如今竟显得那么遥远。

今年或许是错过了新年、端午节、卫塞节诸如此类的节日活动, 我从交换回来后, 异常地关注并期待着中秋节, 尤其期待吃月饼 。想想自己从来也没好好研究过市场上有些什么样的月饼, 所以回来后又在网站上搜查了一下, 看看大家都推荐些什么, 结果惊喜地发现现代的月饼种类竟然已经这么多样化, 月饼口味也一个比一个独特新颖, 里边的馅儿不再只是莲蓉, 还有榴莲, 茶味, 酒味, 雪糕, 巧克力等等。。。种类繁多且个个都看起来那么美味可口, 让我不知该从何选起。回来后不久如我所愿，有机会小小地尝试了一下这些新奇的月饼, 当时我心中的兴奋真不是笔墨所能形容的啊! 哦试吃后还有一点有趣的新发现: 有时候看到一些冰皮月饼里边有圆圆的橘色 还以为是咸咸的蛋黄 但其实尝一口后竟是甜甜的巧克力之类的东东, 真是太不可思议了!

不过可惜的是, 妈妈还是喜欢传统一些的月饼, 问了一下家里其他人, 我才发现月饼在我们家并不是非常受欢迎, 买回来自己一个人也吃不完, 心里不禁因为无法和家人好好地一起共同分享月饼而有些小失望。。。

唯一可以算是和家人一起吃到的月饼, 就是这个在表哥家吃到的榴莲月饼, 也算心满意足了。(榴莲还是我们大家的最爱啊~ TvT)

今天中秋正日本以为吃不到月饼，不过最后还是给我吃到了一些，也算是给今年的中秋划上较完整的句点吧~ 虽然今年还是没有尝到很多月饼, 不过中秋节还是求个团圆嘛 阖家平安健康快乐我也就该心满意足了 (:

P.S. 中秋节不只是吃月饼, 还会吃柚子哦。 好久没吃柚子, 最近吃了阿嫲剥给我吃的柚子, 好甜好好吃所以也是好开心哟~ 😀

Facing Change – Part II

The previous post was something I wrote a while back. It has been a long while, way before I went for exchange and even before my uni clique went for exchange. If I remember correctly, that was the last semester we were all together in the school and in the same classes.

So Can B officially became Koufu, and the Yong Tao Fu stall went away. For a period of time, there was no Yong Tau Fu stall, in fact, there was no stall that sold those kind of soupy noodles, which left me feeling rather deprived.

When I came back from a semester away on exchange, I was surprised to see Koufu having a new Yong Tao Fu stall! I was glad for the new addition, but still it is not the same. And it no longer is a cheap thrill anymore because the lowest I can go for a bowl now is two-eighty.

Koufu’s Yong Tao Fu

Can B is no longer known as Can B – freshies call it Koufu instead. Mr Bean has gone away as well. The Coffee Bean is something new I see in school, but Starbucks is going away soon.

What more can I say?

New food places come and go, just like how people in our lives come and go as well. The only constant in life is change. Cliché, but life is just like that. And we all have to keep moving on, some time, some day.

 (UPDATE: I realised Starbucks is still staying after all, and it’s become bigger! Ilao Ilao is coming as well)

 

Facing Change – Part I

The first I heard about Canteen B’s gonna be replaced was also the last I got to eat there.

I used to always avoid going Can B because I never seem to be able to find something I really want to eat over there. Even though it has been touted as the canteen where you can find the cheapest food in school (which I kinda agree), it is very rare that I would voluntarily choose to go eat there.

For the last semester, almost all my lunches were at Can B, because it is the nearest and the most convenient option. My friends like it because of the affordability and they always could not very much understand what’s with Can B that I don’t like about. (And I always have to repeat myself that, it’s not that I don’t like Can B, it’s just that there’s nothing much I can eat over there! :/)

In the past (from Year 1 to last semester), I always stuck to eating 炸酱面 from Beijing Delights. Some of my friends found it unbelievable that I can even find something to eat from Beijing Delights. But $2 for a big bowl of noodles that made me feel super full after it – Can you imagine?! Really, it wasn’t as bad-tasting as what people thought, at least not for this dish (:

Then somehow or other, I lost interest in that, perhaps because it was too filling. For a period of time last semester, I was hooked onto YONG TAU FU! Something which I would never have ordered voluntarily outside prior to the times when I started to eat at school (because I always thought I can have it cooked up easily at home with much larger portions and I can then eat to my heart’s content)! What i really enjoyed was the cheap thrill (literally!) I get when I can mix and match/customise my lunch to push the price lower (Y) That was really one of the cheapest lunches I managed to eat in NTU! One Eighty woots! And so I address yongtaofu in Can B as my one-eighty lunch (:

I also like the Vegetarian stall when I finally tried it on one of the vegetarian days. I used to tell people how the vegetarian stall at Can A is nice! And they will tell me that Can B’s nicer After trying it, I guess they are nice in their own different ways (:

Actually what I wanted to say was that this made me realise how easily I can be affected by such changes around me, especially changes to the things I am so used to having. When I first heard about the news from the yongtaufu auntie, I felt this wave of melancholy sweep across my heart. I was actually saddened because I felt kind of helpless. As much as I can adapt to it eventually, it is still sad.

Perhaps that was the reason why I was such a hoarder. I just cannot bear to throw my old things away because those are the last fragments that can link me with the past. The past that I was so used to. The past when I had many happy times.

I hate change, but I can’t do anything about it when it comes. And I hate myself more for that.