I Hate This Love Song!

Another post for Big Bang's newest MV, Love Song!!! Pardon me but ever since this song was released a week ago i've been so stuck onto it that I have to change my ringtone. Such a beautiful cinematography with a beautiful song and 5 beautiful people!! I am so loving the black and white concept ^^

English lyrics:

(TOP) One woman is becoming disaster

Even though a man is still singing

I'm tearing up at the thought of break up

(Daesung) I can't touch you, I know yeah eh

I'm falling, catch me (hello)

(GD) I hate this love song...I hate this love song..

I hate this love song... I hate this love song.. x2

(Taeyang) I hate this love song, I'll never sing it again

So I can stop thinking of you, so I can finally forget you

(Seungri) I hate this love song, I'm going to sing it with a smile

In order to cure your loneliness, I'm going to you now

ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh-hoo

(GD) I'm scared, this world is meaningless

Take me to where you are, a place with the moon and stars

(Daesung) We were so beautiful, you know

You taught me what love was, hello

(Taeyang) I hate this love song...I hate this love song..

I hate this love song... I hate this love song..

(GD) I hate this love song... I hate this love song..

I hate this love song... I hate this love song..

(Taeyang) I hate this love song, I'll never sing it again

So I can stop thinking of you, so I can finally forget you

(GD) I hate this love song, I'm going to sing it with a smile

In order to cure your loneliness, I'm going to you now

ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh-hoo

(TOP) The warm rays of the sun are of another world

The field of reeds are dancing all alone

I remain paused at a green hill, holding a conversation I've yet to finish with her

The sky is of an expressionless face that holds no answers

You're probably hiding behind the clouds, you're probably a star

(GD) I close my eyes and feel your breath, I dream of you

A smile spreads across my lips, you're breathing with me now

Time, please stop, don't divide her and I

Wind, stop blowing, this is my last letter to you

(Taeyang) I hate this love song, I'll never sing it again

So I can stop thinking of you, so I can finally forget you

(Seungri) I hate this love song, I'm going to sing it with a smile

In order to cure your loneliness, I'm going to you now

ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh-hoo

Source: Allkpop.com

I ❤ Animal

Been wanting to try out the restaurant ANIMAL for about a year, and I finally tried it. I've been hearing several contrasting comments for the place, some said that the food were excellent, while some said it was overrated. Nevertheless, I was not disappointed. The place has an extensive menu range and the food served were unique and tasty. The portions are small so we do it family style, sharing everything among us. As the name suggests, everything on the menu is from animals, no veggie dishes at all. Also, all parts of the animal such as brains, ears, tails, were included in the menu. We ordered 9 dishes, some which are quite normal, but some consist of weird ingredients that I tried for the first time in my life.

The menu changes daily and the place is so small that reservations are necessary. They only allow a max number of 8 people per reservation and even with a reservation, you could be waiting outside the restaurant waiting for the previous guests at your table to leave.

So here is my favorite dish of the night, and also one that came out the fastest. Its braised pork belly sandwich. What i love is that the pork belly have equal proportions of meat and fats, making it extremely tender and melt in your mouth. The pork is thoroughly braised and full of yummy goodness. We ordered 2 and the second one has a hair inside the sandwich, so we complained about it and got a new replacement.

One of the weirder menu we tried, rabbit sausage. Yes, it is sausage made with rabbit meat. It tastes...like regular sausage but because I keep having flashes of my pet rabbit I once had, I was unable to enjoy it.

Hamachi Tostada. Quite the ordinary, but the thai peanut sauce on the veggies makes it quite a refreshing dish to enjoy. 

Guess what? It is...uhum...*gulps*...Veal Brains, with apple sauce and carrot. It has quite a similar texture with oysters i guess, but knowing that it is a brain...from a cow...I only ate a bit and it's actually not that bad. It is sweet and has a light cinnamon taste.

Foei Gras biscuit! Yummy, but quite ordinary.

Braised short rib. I like it, despite it being ordinary compared to the other exotic dishes we had. It came out together with the rabbit and the brain, so I enjoy this dish more than ever compared to the other two. Sweet, tender, and the honey topping on top makes a good compliment.

Poutine with oxtail gravy and cheddar. Ahh I love poutine! It is one of my favorite dish back when I was visiting Toronto, and I really like the oxtail topping on this one.

The highlight of the meal, one of the best foei gras I've ever tasted. Foei Gras Loco Moco, with quail egg, spam, hamburger and rice. A unique and yummy combination.

Bone Marrow. Very flavorful.

Tres Leches, Dulce de Leche. 

sticky toffee pudding

berries, vanilla custard, lavender crumble

Bacon Chocolate Crunch Bar. The perfect combination and my favorite dessert item here.

Overall, I was very pleased with the dinner experience here at Animal. It is very unique and delicious. I greatly recommend trying the Pork Belly Sandwich and Foei Gras Loco Moco, as well as the Bacon Chocolate crunch bar. Order more for a large party cause as you can see, the portion is really small. The food are reasonably priced as well! starting as low as $3 for a chicken liver toast up to $35 for a foei gras loco moco. It is not your typical fine dining and the place looks really simple (with no restaurant name in front so you might have trouble finding it) and not dressy at all. 

Animal Restaurant, 435 N. Fairfax Ave, LA

BIGBANG: Tonight ♥

I know this is so random and not related to anything, but because I love them so much (they are my fav band) and this song is so stuck onto my head and it took them forever (2 years 3 months) to come back, and because they are creating such a huge fever everywhere right now and the list goes on and on....

I was in Orlando for my spring break when this song came out, and because I didn't have my laptop with me, I was forced to watch it in low quality using my Blackberry. It was so frustrating listening to everyone rave about it on twitter, facebook, Perez Hilton and everywhere. Anyway...

I just have to post this....Big Bang's new hit song, Tonight! Enjoy!!!

Recipe: My own version of Dduk Bok Gi

With the recent craze of k-pop, k-drama, etc, my taste buds are in a k-food frenzy. I love spicy food to the max and when I'm lazy to go out I'll just cook this easy but yummy korean spicy rice cake, dduk bok gi. This dish is excellent especially on a cold and rainy night, and it will only take you 30 mins to the max! Everyone has their own version of dduk bok gi, based on their own taste preferences and what you put in (other than the rice cakes), so here is mine! :)

 

What you'll need*

*Remember that you can put in anything you like. I put in the spam and sausage because I happen to have them in the fridge.

-Korean rice cakes (u can buy either fresh or packaged ones)

-Go chu jjang (korean spicy red pepper paste)

-Fish cakes (i used the square ones this time)

-Korean red pepper powder

-Soy sauce (I used the korean Gook Gan Jang, which is soy sauce for soup base, but honestly all soy sauce works fine)

-Minced garlic

-Dried Kelp for soup base

-Anchovy soup base (it'll be better if u use dried anchovies but unfortunately I don't have them this time round)

-Kimchee (optional)

-Sugar

So first I put my rice cakes in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes. I had to do this because my rice cakes are packaged, and not those fresh ones. You don't have to do this if you use fresh rice cakes.

Next, prepare you soup base by putting in a few pieces of kelp, a little bit of anchovy stock powder, and a piece of fish cake. Boil for 10 minutes. (note that I don't usually use exact measurements, but i estimated them roughly based on how much water I use)

After 10 minutes, take out the kelp and the fish cake from the soup.

Add 3 tablespoon of red pepper paste (1 or 2 if you don't like spicy), 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar (more if you like sweet), 1 tablespoon of minced garlic and 1 tablespoon of chili powder (skip this if you can't stand spiciness). Now put in your kimchee (a few pieces is sufficient), rice cakes and spam. Boil for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the fish cakes into small strips.

This is what it should look like after 5 minutes of boiling.

After 10 minutes

15 minutes!! Ta-da!!

Now it's ready to serve!!

The rice cake should be chewy, and taste according to your preference of spiciness and sweetness. Note that if you can't finish your whole pot of dduk bok gi, which happens to me all the time, you can store them in a container in the fridge. When you want to eat it later on, add a little water and boil them again. When I was visiting Korea, I see the ahjummas in Seoul stirring the dduk bok gi non stop, adding water whenever it gets dry.

Most korean food have the same key ingredients, and that's how I became a Korean food addict these past days because my kitchen is full of Korean ingredients. The most basic ingredient for most Korean dishes, such as soon tofu, gam ja tang, etc, are this amazing red pepper paste. 

Keep this in your kitchen and you'll find yourself cooking all sort of Korean dishes. 

That's it for today! Lack of restaurant reviews as I'm on a strict diet, and so that explains the home cooking :)

Dine LA: XIV by Michael Mina

Dine La, one of the best events in LA, is here again!! We love Dine La for its affordable 3 course menu served by 4 star restaurants. On regular occasions, tasting menu at these restaurants could range from $100-$200, but during Dine La promotions, 3 course menu are set at only $44. Though some are quite a bit of a disappointment, as they tend to choose the cheapest dish to be put on the menu, some that we've tried previously are quite good, such as Ortolan, Belvedere at the Peninsula, and this time, XIV by Michael Mina. (Its actually the roman numbers 14, I originally thought that its the alphabet XIV, which doesn't really make sense =.=) Michael Mina owns many restaurants at SF, Vegas, Miami, etc and the most famous would be Michael Mina at San Francisco (he even publishes his own cook book!)

Looks more like a club on the outside than a restaurant

Dine La menu

Regular menu

complementary appetizer which is surprisingly very yummy!!! toasted pita bread with sea salt and something similar to humus.

Appetizer choice 1 - Ahi Tuna tartar, quite ordinary

Appetizer choice 3 (no one order the 2nd option which is the salad), Butternut Squash Bisque. Plate initially came with the sides and cream on the center, and soup came separately on a vase, which was later poured in. Its very creamy, sweet, and not too heavy. I think it's better than the tuna. 

Kobe Skirt Steak, from the regular menu. It's the best dish of the night, which proves that the regular menu is much better.

Main course option 2, Crab Risotto. Again, no one chose the 1st option which is the chicken. 

Main course option 3, braised short ribs. I don't understand why all places serve this as main course for dine LA. Ortolan and Spago had this the previous time we went. While Spago's was a big disappointment (taste like chinese braised pork) and Ortolan's was not bad, XIV's was better in my opinion. More juicy, tender and less sour. On the menu it says "coffee potato" but the potato taste so bland, no coffee taste at all.

Dessert option 1, glazed doughnuts. Quite disappointed with the limited dessert options.

Dessert option 2, Root Beer Float. (why would you serve a root bear float at a 4 star restaurant??) Anyway, I happen to love it, but I'm a biased for root beer. It's my fav soda. But this is quite different from the normal, it has root beer like sorbet in it and another fruit like sorbet mixed in it. Served with warm cookies. A twist to an ordinary item. 

Overall, I think the food is not bad, but the options are quite limited and well I think they should have 1 more dessert option instead of the current two. However, next time, I'd like to come for the regular menu instead of the dine LA. 

Wild Honey at Mandarin Gallery Singapore

On the 3rd floor of Mandarin Gallery Orchard Singapore, there's a cute tiny place that serves brunch all day! The interior doesn't seem much like a restaurant, instead it looks sort of like Starbucks seating atmosphere, with a few small tables and chairs, as well as some sofa seatings.

Went there for brunch on a thursday afternoon at around 11 am, and there is a queue, but it only took us around 15 min to get seated.

the brunch menu

soy vanilla latte! I could finally drink soy lattes here in Singapore, cause apparently the local Starbucks and Coffee Beans doesn't have the soy milk option. And I have to say that this latte here is really good, strong and full of flavor, but overpriced :(

Wild Honey drink. My friend ordered this and it was very refreshing, and not too sweet. I think it has pomelo and honey in it.

Eggs Benedict. Apparently we saw almost every table ordering it so we figured it was their most popular menu item. It was the first eggs benedict I had in SG, but my friend said it's one of the best. I was satisfied with it  :)

French toast with a fancy name which I forgot. It has apples in it, served with fruit jam, maple syrup and cream.

Overall, I enjoyed the brunch at Wild Honey while catching up with my sec school friends. It was overpriced, but again it is strategically located in Mandarin Gallery, just below my fav Ippudo ramen :) Sad to say this is my very first western brunch experience in SG though I believe there are many more great places out there, but I left too soon to try out other places :( 

Wild Honey, Mandarin Gallery, Orchard Road Singapore

Restaurant Review : Santi @ Marina Bay Sands Singapore

The first week I came back to Singapore, I heard all the hype about the Santi Restaurant at Marina Bay Sands Singapore, and my parents were so eager to try it. Apparently Chef Santi was quite a big name out there in Spain for his restaurant Can Fabes, and Santi Singapore has just won the Best New Restaurant award in the prestigious Singapore Tatle Restaurant Guide 2011. Santi serves Catalan cuisine, which is really unique and special, different from the usual french cuisine we are used to. The restaurant serves only set menus, sort of like sampling menus, and there are only 3 choices, which are priced differently. The last choice which is S$385 per person is a surprise menu, and as the name suggests, the items are not listed on the menu, but rather they'll just keep coming and surprise you with the day's freshest ingredients. Just tell them of any food allergies or preferences that you have. I decided to go with the second choice, which is a 9 course dinner priced at $240. The menu items change daily according to the day's availability of ingredients and prices are slightly different as well.

I'll let the pictures do the talking from here onwards :)

I love this dish. It has clams in it, with ham.

One of the best dish in the set, mushroom and artichoke stew with shrimp

Grade 9 Wagyu Beef with Zucchini

Fish of the day, with oyster

We have 3 options for the main course : Pigeon Crapaudine, Suckling Pig, or Venison Rack. All of them are cooked in the same way, with roasted quince. Since there are three of us, we decided to choose 1 each.

The Pigeon Crapaudine, deboned, crispy outside, tender inside

Roasted Suckling Pig. I choose this as my fav main course option, as the meat is so tender, juicy and flavorful, while the skin is crispy to perfection. 

Venison Rack

After the main course, a tray featuring a wide selection of cheeses were brought to our table, and our server recommended some cheeses for us. The cheese are complimentary and you can try as much as you like. After that, desserts began.

pre-dessert dessert, passion fruit with pineapple sorbet, a sweet and sour refreshing combination 

mandarin orange with lemongrass sorbet 

lastly, we were given a beautiful box featuring the restaurant's logo

ta-da!! Inside the box is the Petit Fours, which has yummy handmade chocolates and sweets!

Overall, I would say that I had a really unique dinner experience here at Santi. It is pricy but I think it is worth it, as you can see from the pictures, all the 9 courses feature exquisite ingredients choices and each item is so unique and special. Basically you have all types of seafood (shrimp, clams, oysters, fish etc) and meats (wagyu beef, pigeon, pig and lamb) included in the set. I couldn't decide which item is my fav, as each one is so good that I constantly wish for more. Don't judge them for their small sizes, they really make you full at the end of the meal! If you would like to try something different, go ahead and have a pleasant experience at Santi. Reservations are required and no children under the age of 10 is allowed. 

Santi, Marina Bay Sands Singapore, Casino Level 2 (where all the celebrity chefs' restaurants are). Open for dinner only.