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Tis' the season to be jolly! :) Lin & I are so happy to be back in Singapore for Christmas.
Time flies and before we realize, we've called this nest home for the last 10-12 years! :) A big thank you to all loved ones for making our last Christmas at Sunrise Gardens an extra special one. ;) And more importantly, we praise God for blessing us & our home.
I would love to have some nutcrackers for Christmas but I've yet to find one that I really like. Hopefully we'll have some nutcrackers for Christmas in our new house next year. ;)
Koka & the people she loves... :)
I love gift exchanges because it's fun to see everyone's expression when they open up their pressies and see what's beneath the pretty packaging. ;)
And here's our Christmas spread. :D
Lobster bisque, salmon cups & prawns,
turkey breast with herbs & mom's signature mid-wings,
wasabi quail eggs, tomato bacon rolls,
customized Christmas chocolate sable cake from Cova (the original version was a fruit cake which we hate),
Wendy & Edwin's pretty contribution (we can't bear to slice it),
strawberry tarts (Tina's contribution) & shortbread.
I love the poinsettias, the Christmas tree & glitters...
Christmas means alot to us. Because He lives, we can face tomorrow. Blessed Christmas one & all. :)
It's our first time taking a long haul flight on All Nippon Airways. Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific are fully booked for flights from Singapore to San Francisco & vice versa. *.* They were not willing to put us on waiting list either.
The dining experience on board All Nippon Airways was a pleasant change to the usual SQ & CX's fare. If you love Japanese cuisine, then travelling on All Nippon Airway is a perfect choice. ;)
Here's a glimpse of what we had:
Singapore to Tokyo
Tokyo to San Francisco
San Francisco to Tokyo
Tokyo to Singapore
Details of All Nippon Airway:
W: http://www.ana.co.jp/asw/wws/sg/e/
It's our last nite in SF. We're starting to miss Crystal already! We did dinner with her at Tony's Pizza. Without any reservation, we had to wait 1.5hrs for a table. However Lin's starving and so we went next door to their takeout section for a quick bite instead. :)
Tony's Pizza does a mean Italian meatballs! :) Love it!
The pizza's overrated though. It might be our selection. We had a coal-fired New Yorker which has mozzarella, hand crushed tomato sauce, natural casing pepperoni, sliced italian fennel sausage, ricotta, chopped garlic & oregano.
Because it's a takeout section, the room wasn't heated up well. So we were having pizza in the cold! Hahahahah :))) It's a good experience nonetheless especially when it's with Crystal. :D
Details of Tony's Pizza Napoletana:
1570 Stockton St
San Francisco
CA 94133
T: +415 835 9888
W: http://www.tonyspizzanapoletana.com/index.php
Chai invited me for tea with her friends this afternoon after realizing I'm in SF. :) It's good to meet her before we leave tomorrow. :)
It's our first visit to Samovar at Yerba Buena Gardens. We like the park setting of the tea lounge. It's a nice tranquail nook in busy downtown SF.
Samavor pairs its food with tea. Chai's afternoon tea selection was a Moorish Service. It consisted of halloumi & veggie kebabs, mint Salad, hummus, roasted eggplant, greek yogurt, herbed crackers, chevre-stuffed dates and mint tea. She liked the food but not the mint tea as it had honey added to it. Some things have to be taken in its original state and we felt mint tea is one of them.
I had a heavy lunch with Sharon's sister, Angela & BIL, William earlier on. So I was happy with a pot of Lychee Black. On the menu it says "lychee fruit naturally sweetens this light, salubrious brew". Well I wasn't blown away by it.
The only thing I like about Samovar is its location. Food & tea wise were average. Tea places in Singapore, Shanghai, London, Tokyo & Hong Kong have much better offerings.
Details of Samovar:
730 Howard Street
San Francisco
CA 94103
T: +415 227 9400
W: http://samovarlife.com/
This morning breakfast was at Cowgirl Creamery. :) Our intention was for Lin to try IL Cane Rosso but it wasn't open. :(
We shared a piping hot baked egg and Gruyère cheese sandwich & hot chocolate.
The acme bread sandwich also had pancetta bacon & mushrooms in them. The stuffing was good! :) It would have been a perfect sandwich if some parts weren't burnt and were as hard as rock! *.*
Details of Cowgirl Creamery:
1 Ferry Building
No 17
San Francisco
CA 94111
T: +415 362 9354
W: www.cowgirlcreamery.com
We like 54 Mint so much, we visited it again in less than a week! :)
This time round, we tried Calamari in Purgatorio (cast iron‐seared spicy squid with smoked paprika, rosemary, garlic and breadcrumbs). I'm not a squid person but Crystal likes them. :)
We also tried Rigatoni alla Carbonara (durum pasta with egg, guanciale, black pepper and pecorino Romano).The guanciale enhanced the otherwise blend pasta. :)
Don't you love these round little potato dumplings with beef & pork ragu (Gnocchi al Ragu)? :) The texture tasted like Shanghainese or Korean rice cakes. ;)
Now this Budino al Cioccolato, homemade chocolate pudding is ooh sooo good! We finished it up in no time! :)))
For the next visit, I would want to try their lunch menu. ;)
Details of 54 Mint:
16 Mint Plaza
San Francisco
CA
T: +415 543 5100
Yerba Buena Gardens is such a pretty spot for pinics. It provides some tranquilty amidst the chaos in a busy city. I pulled Lin here for our Tuesday breakfast before she heads to work. :)
We grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and ham & cheese crossiant from Peets Coffee & Tea just across from Westin. :)
Well, the hot choc & crossiant were mediocre.
We'll definitely bring a proper pinic basket the next time round! ;)
Details of Yerba Buena Gardens:
W: http://www.yerbabuenagardens.com/
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