Hungry for mooncakes

Mooncakes are so sinful, especially for a pregnant lady like myself, I really shouldn't be eating so much. The truth is I love mooncakes and I am those idiots that can eat half a piece myself daily. This pregnancy is very different from the last. My son kept me pretty slim throughout. Although I am much more active this time round, I am so much fatter. T_T

So less, mooncakes this time round. Nonetheless everyone at home sort of bought a box and I had so much to try. I decided to do a post on it cos there is one very disappointing one and it was bought by me :'(

1. Golden Moments ($60/ box of 4)

Everybody is here to know is shitty here goes...This crap sucks. I definitely got it at the lowest possible price cos I bashed them on my social media (and from the replies I got, this price was the lowest possible one) But you know what it is not even worth $15. I only tried the Mao Shan Wan Durian Snowskin and the Docello Hazlenut Mao Shan Wang Durian Snowskin, which I preferred the less famous latter. The packaging is terrible too, it was a tacky golden cooler bag in a similarly tacky golden box. 

I don't know whether this was a case of overly-high expectations. I admit I cave in to buying it because of the reviews of Food King which Aiken was raving how good it was. Dude, stop acting cos the durian puree is good but not that divine. And the snowskin just didn't make it for me. It was just too gooey. Don't waste your money and calories on this, durian puree itself is so much more satisfying.

2. Awfully Chocolate Chocolate Truffle Mooncakes ($48/ box)

It was on one-for-one and we found someone to share. We bought this because we were very curious about it. We are actually impressed with the packaging cos they gave us a wooden box for it. In fact, a lot of people asked if we wanted the box cos they wanted it LOL! It is a very nice piece of chocolate, but I can't really taste the truffle. And the 3 brown mooncakes taste alike to me...

I don't think I will be going for it again next year because I think I am more used to the original snowskin/ baked mooncakes. I don't really want to eat a whole piece of chocolate in the shape of a mooncake if you know what I mean. 

3. Yuen Fatt Mooncake

This was the best I ate this year and I am absolutely in love with it. My BIL bought it from Shopee but I don't know the price and which shop to buy from. After I told my friends/ followers how good this was, everybody wanted to know more information about it. But I don't have info on it and I was too paiseh to ask my BIL. I only told him to buy again this year. 

This is the sort of mooncake I can eat 1/2 to 1 whole piece daily. Initially, I did judge it cos it looked so long and weird but after I ate it I would always open to box to check if anyone had cut and allocate the pieces. The filling is really good and I can safely say the same for all 3 flavours. 

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Generally, this year's mooncakes are quite disappointing. Am not sure if I will do a part 2 because we have a lot of different brand mooncakes at home. Is just that my husband's family don't have the habit of waiting to take nice food photos. They attack the mooncakes very fast so the photos in this series look the most unflattering so far HAHAHA

Bosch Freestanding Countertop - We Love It!

**I found this photo online and was inspired by this. 

And so we finally set up our dishwasher. All along we actually wanted to incorporate a dishwasher into our kitchen, but our ID was worried that since the dishwasher and sink would be sharing the same water outlet, if a choke were to happen, it would render our kitchen sink useless as well. So the idea was scraped. 

Sadly, I developed post-partum eczema on my fingers in particular. Might have been allergic to some of the dishwashing liquid used and so the husband took over the cleaning. And boy did he complain, so he entertained the thought of a dishwasher again, this time stacking on top of the washing machine. 

And boy, I love our dishwasher. We got our Bosch Freestanding Countertop at around $800 during a sale. Although it came with a Y Pipe to split the water source from the washing machine, it didn't exactly work and our plumber had to get us another part so that the Y pipe would work. He also cut the pipes so that it would fit nicely into outlet pipe. 

For our wash, we always use the eco-friendly version because I just can't kill the Earth any more. (What I can do, I do. What I can't - like overbuying baby clothes, I reduce and bless it out). It takes about 2-3 hours but that just means we have to plan our cleaning early. It doesn't really matter because we have a lot of cutleries at home (which happen to dishwasher friendly). Note: You might have to replace your cutlery sets if they are not dishwasher friendly. For us this includes our wooden chopsticks, chopping board/ knives and some cups.) 

With the dishwasher, we managed to reduce the dishwashing time after a meal to a mere 15 minutes. I even had time to watch TV and do a post up. The washed items came out sparkling clean and I was sort of insulted because it sort of made me appear to be a terrible homemaker. There was a bit of smell after the washing in the machine but it soon dissipated with a bit of airing. 

Money really well spent, and I have been flexing to everyone ever since. The only thing we really needa figure out now is how to arrange the dishes optimally and where to get cheap cleaning tablets. Now with this aid, I feel a little more ready for our #2. 

Kids-Friendly Cafe in the East

I decided to pen up this post because I realise as a parent a lot of my meals have been taken rather hurriedly. I feel like I can I finally understand why some working mothers relish going back to work. I used to hate eating alone (because somehow I feel it seems loserish), but not anymore. I actually enjoy the silence and that I can finally think and not be disturbed. 

We have been exploring the East quite a bit lately and these are my friends' (who live in the East) recommendations. Oddly, they ain't parents themselves but their recommendations are pretty dope!

1. Little Rogue Coffee

This wasn't initially our first choice but my father missed the turn to ECP and he was getting incredibly frustrated at my brother's navigation so we came here instead. It is a very typical cafe (pet friendly too) which serves really good coffee and food. It was quite packed when we were there and we came slighty after lunch hour. It is quite a noisy place too if you want a nice conversation. 

What we really love was the small play area for the kids. The little one would just grab a bite and then past his time playing in the pretend play area and the rest of the adults could have a breather. We got for him a chicken noodle soup ($12) and a plate of fries ($14.40). Realistically, he didn't finish all his food (obviously I overordered), so usually for us, the adults would finish his leftovers. 

Sorry, I didn't really take a photo of the menu so I can't remember the price, but we did try a good variety there.

• Flat White: My father and brother said the coffee was really good. 
• If you are expecting too, you can go for Karma drinks (doesn't contain caffeine) and Spicy Beef Linguine ($30)
• Soft Scrambled Eggs & Ikura ($19.50) and Seafood Linguine ($30) were chef's recommendations. The linguine are well executed with good texture and the ikura made the typical breakfast set more unique and atas LOL!

It is isn't exactly the cheapest cafe in town, but the ingredients used were pretty exquisite which explained the price. 

2. Commune (East Coast Park)

This was the place we wanted to go and wow, the husband and I just fell in love with the chill, relaxing vibe at our first step. The high ceiling even made the husband go "let's get a one-story landed property" haha. In fact, we short-listed this place for the kiddo's next birthday party. Similarly, it also had a small play area with a see saw, toys and books for the kids, complete with a children's changing room. 

Tips for parents, sit close to that area and your kid just run back and forth. The cafe truly gave me the "child-friendly" vibe because the waitresses would help to eye on the kids while you make your orders and grab a bite. I was so relaxed I ended up spending more more LOL. My kid was also pretty comfy, he offered the waitresses food and in the end grab a sticker pack home. He even held it tightly in his hands when he knocked out on his stroller. 

And yes we ordered a lot of food:

• For the baby we offered him: Petit Pancake ($10) - it was not our thing . The kid rejected it and we could barely finish it ourselves. Mozzarella Cheese Sticks ($10) - He ate like at least 4 himself. 
• For the expecting, you can go for the Beef Ragu Pappardelle ($19) - super love the pasta by the way, Smoked Barramundi Sourdough Sandwich ($19) - the Husband and I agreed this was the best sandwich we ever had in our lives and the Lychee and Mint Ice Tea ($7.50) - unsweetened and caffeine-free
• Flat white - go for the bigger cup cos it is more value for money at an additional $1
• Desserts - Hazelnut single scoop ice cream ($4.50) and Earlgrey Lavender Tea Cake ($8) - Totally not our thing too, shouldn't have ordered although I see lots of people grabbing one.

Huge damage to the wallet, but it was all so worth it :P