Cliff(y) Goes Dining

Adequately garlicky aglio olio! The history of PastaMania dates back to 1998 where an Englishman living here in Singapore wanted to make Italian food affordable. Today, it has expanded its operations overseas, including Malaysia and the Middle East. Well, let's be practical here. While I can't get top-notch pasta dishes, I still occasionally dine at one of their outlets for a quick meal.

My kind of pre/post-dinner snack: green onion pancake! Jiang xiang bing  (酱香饼) is, loosely speaking, a type of Chinese pizza or pancake made of yeast-raised wheat flour. The dough is cooked with oil in a circular griddle, ultimately topped with a typically spicy sauce. One need not go to China to have a bite of it, for he/she can simply come down to a kiosk selling it in Chinatown.

Pineapple bun filled with decadent char siew! I hope everyone has had a (intentional, mind you) good Good Friday holiday so far. As I recall my secondary school days in St. Joseph's Institution, our form tutors would give us hot cross buns every year during the Easter season. Well, I'm not having one today, but I'm going to review piping hot HK stuff. The bakery gets its name from a district in HK off the beaten path for many tourists, which is particularly famous for its lao po bing  (lit. wife cake).

Fatty, but tasty squid heads! Recently, life has been so hectic that I've hardly had the time for myself to stop and smell the flowers, or rather, the good food around. Today's simple review is on something that I used to consume somewhat frequently during my secondary school days. Established in 1956, Old Chang Kee started off as a shabby wooden stall near Rex Cinema along Mackenzie Road. After so long, I finally bought two of my favourite snacks when I was waiting for my friend at Bugis Junction.

Oyster dynamite burst in my mouth! UPDATE (24/11/2017):  The restaurant has moved to 17 Kampong Bahru Road. Craving for Japanese cuisine, I chanced upon a crowded restaurant around the Tanjong Pagar district not far away from where I'm currently living in. Upon entering the restaurant, I was greeted by the friendly Japanese owner in Japanese. She even said in keigo (lit. honorific language), "どうぞお座りください!" (lit. Please have a seat!)