Category Archives: Southeast Asian

Halloween Tiger

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Day 243

Simon and I went to the mall today to check out if there were any stores giving away things for Halloween. He seemed unsure of his outfit…

There were a few stores giving away candy and Janie & Jack was giving away stickers but that’s about it. I remember when I was little, we went to Serramonte and did trick or treating and Sanrio used to give away stickers, pencils, and gum. I miss those days. But, Sanrio did have something cool, make your own case (for iPhone, Blackberry, etc). I’m not exactly sure how it works but it’s pretty cool to make something personalized.

When we got back home, Simon was a little happier as we headed to see Grandma and Grandpa Tam.

He was a tired little Tiger though after our outing so fell asleep in the car.

But he was excited to show off his walking skills to grandma.

We had dinner at Old Town Cafe in Dublin.

Simon was entertained at dinner with this new toy from grandma and we were also feeding him his favorite food: avocado.

We called ahead to the restaurant and brought our own crab so that they could make it Singaporean chili style. It was good but not exactly like I remember it. We had to ask it for it less spicy since my mom didn’t want to have it too spicy so that may be part of it but the recipe that I have for the chili crab also includes eggs to make a sauce for the fried buns that go along with it (to see what I mean, check out Mellben Seafood in Singapore!)

I think that Simon may be a little bit backed up or he doesn’t know when to stop eating… but does not seem uncomfortable. Part of this photo is the angle but you can see that his belly is really sticking out.

No real trick or treating for Simon’s first Halloween but hopefully next year when he can walk around by himself and carry his own treat bag.

Old Town Cafe

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Day 208

We went to visit my parents and have lunch together at Old Town Cafe in Dublin for some Singaporean food. Simon had a little nap in the car, he’s giving me the finger…

We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Singaporean food. Delicious and almost like the real deal. This is tahu goreng (fried tofu with peanut sauce and cucumbers with added jicama which was yummy).

This is roti prata with accompanying curry sauce. Fresh and piping hot!

Hainanese chicken with rice. The chicken was really tender and the hot sauce was oh so good.

Beef rendang. The meat was very tender and the sauce yummy, very thick and creamy.

Sambal kang kong. Almost like the way we remember it, just not as spicy.

I forgot to take a picture of the laksa noodles before we dug into it. The noodles were a bit soft and we told one of the staff and he said he would be sure to check on it since he says it is supposed to be more al dente. Next time I’ll ask them for more spice since it wasn’t hot enough for me.

Simon and Grandpa Tam outside of the restaurant. Check out those smiles!

Simon had his first taste of fresh watermelon. He was really getting into it and using his lower teeth to try to bite off a piece. I was afraid he was going to choke on it though so didn’t let him eat too much. If you click on the photo, It should bring you to the video.

Saturday Excursions

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Day 32 – Banana Island, Grandpa Chung, New buddy Derek, and Todam Tofu House


Today we spent the afternoon out and about in Daly City, South San Francisco, Burlingame, and San Bruno.


He fell asleep in the car seat on our way out. I dressed him up in his UC Berkeley gear, a onesie and his navy blue sweatshirt. He’s almost growing out of the sweatshirt so I wanted him to wear it at least one more time before he does. Unfortunately I did not get a really good picture of it as he is all bundled up.

We had lunch at Banana Island in Daly City since I had a craving for roti served with a curry dipping sauce. The roti is made by the cook at a open view kitchen area in the middle of the restaurant. It’s pretty interesting to watch them stretch out the dough very thinly by throwing it in the air.

We also had beef rendang. The meat was tender but not that spicy. The cucumbers were also a bit dry looking.

Hokkien Mee which is a thick yellow noodle with some squid, shrimp, some meat, some veggies, topped with fried onions.

After lunch, we headed to see Grandpa Chung. As soon as we got there, Simon woke up and was hungry. We had Grandpa feed him his bottle. Simon doesn’t usually drink everything in one sitting but this time he must have been really hungry as he drank about 100ml (3+ ounces) at one time, needed a diaper change and burping before drinking another 30ml (1 ounce).

We then went to visit Al and Derek in Burlingame. We hung out for a while and Ron and I learned about what to expect when Simon is 7 months old (Derek’s age). We decided to go out for dinner so went to Todam Tofu House in San Bruno. We had the bulgogi and kimchi tofu soup. I love their purple rice, so yummy!

Simon was sleeping during out dinnertime but I wanted to get one picture with his new buddy Derek before leaving the restaurant.

Simon had a long day out and about and konked out again after eating and changing his clothes. His outfit matches his blanket!

Banana Island
416 West Lake Center
Daly City, CA

Todam Tofu House
260 El Camino Real
San Bruno, CA

Pacific Catch – A Taste of Singapore

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http://www.pacificcatch.com/

Through November 15th, Pacific Catch is having a Taste of Singapore prix fixe menu for $27. Patrick arranged our supposed to be Q2monthly (now more like Q6month) dinner with Shirley for tonight. In a previous post I talked about how I was craving laksa so was very excited to hear it was part of their menu for tonight.

Free snacks included edamame and pretzel goldfish.

Since Patrick belongs to their mailing list, this month they offered a free shrimp ceviche appetizer with chips with any entree purchase. Thank goodness the shrimp were cooked so I could eat them but the rest of the ceviche was a bit tangy for me, just a tad too much lime, but yummy avocado.

The appetizer choice for the prix fixe was either the curry laksa or the Singaporean black pepper shrimp. I ordered the laksa and was a bit disappointed as it just wasn’t the same as the one I used to order at staff canteen at NUH (Singapore) for lunch. The chili (in the small bowl on the left) was nice and spicy and gave it a bit more of a kick but the noodle were thin versus the thicker noodles I was used to eating in Singapore.

Patrick ordered the black pepper shrimp and this was actually pretty good, very peppery like it should be but it would have been more traditional as crab. I only had a few pieces.

The main course was a salmon rendang served over rice. I was already kind of full by the time we got to the main course so couldn’t eat much. From what I could taste, the sauce and vegetables were flavorful and full of spices but the salmon a bit dry and the rice very bland (not enough sauce). I packed about half for lunch tomorrow.

Last but not least, dessert of coconut custard served with stir fried tropical fruit and banana tuille. The custard was more like a pudding but the tropical fruits were yummy, I think pineapples and papaya. The banana tuille tasted really like banana bread and I thought it was supposed to be crunchy but ended up kind of chewy and stuck to your teeth (a bit strange). Even though I couldn’t eat my salmon, I was able to finish an entire dessert (and Patrick & Shirley left me one for myself, probably because I am the pregnant lady).

It was good to catch up with friends over a good meal but now I am really craving to go to Singapore for some more authentic food…

Check out the website for Pacific Catch to see their next regional cuisine menus.

Pacific Catch
1200 9th Avenue at Lincoln

Halloween Morning

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I woke up early this morning to have breakfast but not any morning coffee so by noon, I was tired and decided to take a nap. The kitties decided to join me for my afternoon nap. Misu at my waist and Maxwell at my feet. I haven’t seen them sleeping so close to each other in a long time, usually Misu is chasing Maxwell and Maxwell is hissing and swatting at Misu.

After my nap, Ron and I walked downtown since he needed to find a costume for tonight’s Halloween party. After we scavenged at the Halloween store, we went for coffee at the Blue Bottle Cafe in Mint Plaza.

I ordered the New Orleans style iced coffee for Ron. It’s a cold drip brewed coffee with a bit of sugar and they say this one is okay with milk or cream. They also have Kyoto style iced coffee which they recommend drinking black. I originally ordered the Kyoto style, not knowing it’s not recommended with milk, but they exchanged it for the New Orleans in a heartbeat, knowing that Ron does not like black coffee. If you go to the cafe, check out the contraption used for the Kyoto style, it’s a REALLY slow drip.

For myself, I ordered an Affogato. The ice cream was Humphry Slocombe’s Special Breakfast topped with a shot of espresso. The ice cream itself was nice and creamy but kind of unidentifiable, it had some sort of cake/cookie/grain/nougat pieces in it. Once topped with the espresso = YUM! The bitterness of the espresso made the ice cream even better.

After coffee, since I slept through lunch, Ron and I went to have dinner at Bangkok Noodles. I ordered the roast duck noodles with flat noodles. Flat rice noodles are my favorite and I love roast duck. Their broth is kind of addictive but also a bit oily and salty but very satisfying. Those fried garlic pieces were so good.

Ron’s heading to a Halloween party tonight while I am opting to stay home since I’m working in Oakland tomorrow. With the Bay Bridge closure, it’s going to be a bit of a pain to get across the bay. In hindsight, I should have said no when the regular RPh called me on Friday to ask me to work… oh well, too late now.


Blue Bottle Coffee Co. Cafe
66 Mint Street

Bangkok Noodles
110 Powell St