Benny Western Food @ Toa Payoh

Benny 5 Star Western - "Best Food 2007", so is it still nice in 2008? I shall check it out...

Not much customers... am i making a wrong choice?


The choices on their menu is pretty limited, perhaps they do what they are best at, rather than being a jack of all trades and master of none! The recommendation was actually Cheesy Pork Cutlet, but this is so similar to the one I had in Taiwan - Cheesy Pork, so i ordered something else instead!

Chicken Cutlet with Mango Sauce, served alongside with Mashed Potatoes @ $6

I am not a big fan of chicken cutlet, as i prefer chop over cutlet, but this chicken cutlet is nicely fried such that the juicy and tender chicken meat is wrapped with a thin crispy layer that does not stick to the meat. The mango sauce helps to add some "natural" sweetness to the meat, instead of the usual mayonaise or ketchup.

Braised Lamb Shank @ $9.90

The lamb shank comes as a big surprise because i wasn't expecting a stall in a kopi-tiam to churn out such a fine dish! The meat is tender and infused with the flavours of the herbs, so rich, dense and creamy! But do not expect a super-size-shank like those in Secret Recipe. For just $9.90... is there anything to complain? :)

Mashed Potatoes - This is served with the lamb shank. FyI, the mashed potatoes is really made from potatoes, boiled and mashed! It is not those that simply add hot water into the powdered form... It has bits of bacons inside as well, and also cheese!

Benny is definitely a place for cheap and good food. I suspect that there are very few customers probably because of its location...damn ulu! On top of that, the service is excellent for a kopi tiam. If I were to go back again, i will probably just go back for the lamb shank, but its a pity that most food are deep fried!

Benny is located @

Blk 18 Lorong 7 Toa PAyoh

Jin Biao Coffeeshop

Tel: 9691 5006

Zi Char from Jurong

My bro-in-law bought us so much food! My goodness... Bought from a supposedly famous "Zi Char" Stall, somewhere in jurong...

Steamed Promphet - Test like any normal promphet lor...

Seafood Egg Tofu - This good stuff has lots of seafood man... and those prawns are big... i always love big prawns! the bigger the better!

Black Pepper Crayfish - The crayfish taste like normal, and the black pepper will be better if its more pepperish!

Ngor Hiang - The Ngor Hiang is nice... crisp layer outside, but the meat filling is still wet and moist inside...

Hmm.. Fried Egg - but eggs are always nice.. at least to me...

Some Greens - Normal. Period.

Fried Chicken Wings/Drum Sticks - hmmm.. why no chicken breast one... but ok la... Prawn paste fried chicken drum sticks are nicer, this one is a bit too dry.

Pork Rib King - Oh yes... the pork rib king make me eat so much of it la... the sweet sauce is very special, and most imporantly, the meat is tender... very nice to chew chew and chew...

Deep Fried Sotong - Kind of difficult to eat leh... very tough and chewy... and your mouth gets tired after eating a few of this!

Cereal Prawns - I like it simply because the prawn is big!

Overall... pretty satisfying la... but its more of Quantity over Quality

I still prefer the previous Zi Char at Khatib

Abs Wheel and Swiss Ball

My World of Sports membership is coming to an end soon! so better chop chop buy as much as I can before my card expires! Going to gym to do abs is a waste of time... so...

Swiss Ball @ only $29.90 - Got 20% off for public + another 10% off for members + i use my UOB Smart$ rebate... so I paid only $10 for the ballball! Swiss ball is a under utilised equipment... but it is in fact very very useful... You can train almost every parts with it. You can even use it as a chair!

Now serious, some exercises you can do with swiss ball:

http://exercise.about.com/cs/abs/l/bl_core.htm

Abs Wheel @ $19.90, also got 20% off + 10% off... - To train stabiliser muscles/core. Train doing one rep with your feet on the ground... :) for beginners, try doing it with your knees on the ground... its not that easy too. Do not cheat! make sure that your body is flat/horizontal to the ground before you pull back again. Lots of stress on the shoulders and back area as well... so.. be gentle on yourself eh...

abs wheel rollout: http://www.beastskills.com/AbWheel.htm

Lunch At Ikea

My internship is almost coming to an end, but i have yet to post up any of my lunches... and my fellow interns is kao-peing me wheres the pictureS!!! ok..so ya... finally... Usually there's a third guy Eric, but he went to celebrate farewell lunch for his team mate.

Lunch was at Ikea alexandra... finally...

Fish and Chips @ $5.90 - Hong'er ordered this, and according to him, it is nice and being a giant eater, this can fill him up!

My order - Poached Salmon @ $6.90 - It is nice, but any tom, dick or harry can also cook this themselves. See my previous attempt on my own poached salmon with cheesee... it is equally good too! Only if the salmon is bigger, but it is filling due to the potatoes! Brocolli is nice too! This is a healthy meal as the carbs from potatoes are complex to fill you uo longer, salmon with the protein and good fat omega 3. Brocolli is a low GI carb. Probabaly only the gravy is the spoiler, but it is insignificant i guessed!

Swedish meat ball (Kids Set) @ $2.90 - I hope you know that meat balls are actually quite unhealthy, cos it is heavily processed, with fatty cuts of the meat. This aside, the swedish meat balls is a blend of pork and beef, maybe that is why it taste so good! On top of that, it taste even better when eaten with the jam.

Anyway, I did a analysis of the price for fun!
kids set which consist of 5 balls and 1 potato = $2.90. Adult set of 10 meat ball and 3 potatoes cost $6.50. so that means 1 potato cost $0.70.
So each meat ball for kids set cost ($2.90 - $0.70)/5 = $0.44
Each meat ball for adult set cost ($6.50- $2.10)/10= also $0.44

=|

BreadTalk @ Citylink

After 10pm, certain breadtalk outlets have a special promotion - 5 buns @ $6, or 10 buns @ $10. Its a good thing that they have this promotion, cuz its really a waste to see this buns dumped into the bin.

I have tried almost all their bread, and I must say that, not all the bread are fantastic. Probably out of all their collections, only 10% is nice. Since this is not a japanese bakery, so it will be unfair to compare them to bakeries like Provence or mama bakery. I am not saying breadtalk is fantastic, but they do have some bread which are nice imo!

Some of my personal favourites in order of ranking are:

1. Sunny Side Up: Toast spread with butter, and topped with a sunny side-up and ham. Simple yet so beautifully done.

2. Cranberry Cheese: I like the fluffiness of the bread, and the occasion burst of flavour from the cranberry, and the ball of melted cheese in the center of the bread. Spendid!

3. Curry Dozo: Its deep fried breaded bun, filled with curry potatoes and egg. Eat them while they are hot! Get the cold ones, and you will regret big time!

4. Coco Terry: a bearish look-alike bread, filled with milk chocolate and white chocolate.

This is coco terry, it is supposed to be a bear, but sometimes, due to human error, it looks like a pig!

so what is your favourite bread from breadtalk? =)

Can our society accept overweight people?

This Video showcase the mockeries and pain that overweight people go through... What TAF Club is like, as well as it's success and failure.

What is your opinion of TAF Club?
Can you accept fat people?

Is it one's fault to be fat?

Cake and Beer, Secret Recipe and BeerLao

Chocolate Banana Cake from Secret Recipe

For my dad's birthday! It was a joyous occasion this year, because this year, we have baby giselle, my 2 mth old niece =) celebrating with us! and so ya... this was how the cake in my previous entry came about... lol. They bought a BIG cake, and left SG the next day, leaving the cake and me behind... =( how bad can my family be... lol

Seee... the bananassss, giap between layers of chocolate cream, which in turn kena giap by chocolate sponge cakes, and sayang by a top layer of chocolate fudge... nice right.... but wait till you eat consecutively for a few days... and i tell you, you will get so sick of it, that the first thing in the morning you think of bananas, sleep also dream of bananas... and ya... chocolatey nightmares as well... just exagerrating. =D

And a can of beer to call it a celebration truly~ but it was for the sake of socialising laa... btw me and my bro-in-law...haha. Anyway, BeerLao taste is lighter than most beer, and it feels as if you can drink a cart, no, i mean carton and still feel fresh and sane... and perhaps the traffic police dun even know you drank. Its a pretty decent and nice beer, really...
Why tiger? give BeerLao a try...

Dallas Chicken & Ribs

Extracted from MY PAPER July 18 2008 - Imran Shahid

Chewy Junior - Coffee Muesli

Chewy Junior Coffee Muesli @ $1- Sinful and Good but Once is enough

Sinful - The whole thing is filled with cream! and cream is nothing but fatttsss and sugar!!! The one I had is coffee cream, and the coffee taste is very light but sweet.

Good - Its crispy and pretty crusty on the outside, yet so soft and chewy inside. Just like Banana and chocolates go hand in hand, Crispy(outside) and Soft (inside) is a perfect match too!

Once is enough - Its good but not fantastic to the stage that i die die must eat. It has loads of sugar which i would rather waste something else more worthy.

Chewy Junior is located @

http://chewyjunior.com.sg/findus.html

Training 14 July

I have started reloading creatine again! Felt the effects today... and training feels good with it! Creatine is no myth! Creatine works wonders!

A damn good pecs workout, kena forced by R, someone i met from Safra gym (IBM manager, can pull strings...hehe) Was trained to the breaking point laaa... and I feel so stress training with them, but stress also good! I need someone to force me...

After the pecs workout, it was triceps... did loads of skull crushers alternated with dips - a deadly combo that helps to bulk. After that was weighted dips, triceps pulldown, dumbell triceps extensions... lots of them! grreeeat!

Preworkout nutrition: Peanut Butter Wholemeal bread + some leftover Banana Chocolate cake (opps! ) + one chicken breast

In-between workout nutrition: ON Strawberry protein shake with milk

Post workout nutrition: somemore chicken breast + Vitamin E + Flax Seed Oil + PAPAYA

time to sleep... no sleep no grow... no grow = waste the time and $$$ i spent in the gym! hohoho

zzz

July 13 Sunday of Foodie Gymmie - Sunny

0700: bid farewell to my family who are leaving for a holiday. I cannot go anywhere else bcos of the stupid intern larh.

0730: Breakfast - Breakfast was horrible because my parents bought 6 bread from Cake History + My sister bought another, that is total equal to 9! I was "tasked" to finished 3 bread + A big box of cakes before they are spoilt! OMG! The 3 chosen bread are Cheese Raisin Bread, Sweet Potato Bread and Ham and Cheese Bread. I ate Cheese Raisin which was my favourite as the combi is lovely( is it cos of oil price or what??? how come significantly lesser cheese already!) next was ham and cheese, quite bland, so i added peanut butter to it! After the 2 breads, ate 1 slice of Gardenia Raisin bread and next was the cake! then I also ate some junks.... junkie me! Urgh.

Butter Cookies - one of the morning junks... anyway the dark blue tin one from Denmark is nicer than this!

Raisins - Popped a few...

Chocolate Banana Cake from Secret Recipe which I was tasked to finished! I cannot finish them lar.. still got leftovers..who wants?! lelong...

Gardenia Raisin Bread - Gardenia one is nicer than Sunshine's one FYI!

Tried 2 different brands of Peanut Butter on the Ham and Cheese bread to test the different. Skippy one is nicer.

ALL CARBS SO FAR!

0800: Feeling uneasy, I left for gym. Trained mostly my back and shoulders. Met Alfred and he asked me train him for back, I obliged. Met this young guy 17yrs old only, but body of actor vincent! Future commando-to-be. He wants to train biceps with me, I obliged. I nearly died under his hands! haha. Met Biaos, he was training under his PT, and he was doing front squats la...i hate that exercise la... feels like the whole world is on you!

HAD A WONDERFUL WORKOUT

1200: My Lunch: Protein Shake and Sandwich! Protein for post-workout recovery and bread to spike the insulin level after workout to reverse catabolism, and to make sure I have energy for later activities.

ON Whey Protein... one of the better tasting protein... Many people tried some sucky ones before, and now they have this lasting impression in them that all protein shake sucks... this is not true k!
anyway this is very ex now la... where got cheap lobang?!

I WAS SATISFIED WITH LUNCH. BUT TOO LITTLE PROTEIN

1300: Swimming @ Safra Yishun. Sunny, then cloudy, and then sunny... intermitent. swam 20laps. took 2 hours... cos i hiao(slang), want to tan abit and dun want to look like snow white JJ =| and the swim, I am really shaggggg... and hungry...

Safra Yishun Swimming Pool... nice hor...

NICE SWIM

1530: comtemplating if I should go to the stadium for a short run and do some abs exercise. But I was lazy, so i went home.

1600: Home, but not to rest, took out my mat and skipping rope. Skip and did crunches and some core exercises while watch Discovery Channel. It was showing Japan Tokyo Fire Department. Kind of interesting.

Skipping is a good cardio workout!

1630: Ate 3 Eggs + Milk + 4 Strips of Turkey Bacon

Turkey Bacon, better alternative to Pork Bacon, less fats!

1700: Proper Rest.

1800: Out

1900: NTUC Grocery Shopping. Being alone for the next few days... I need to stock up my food pile. lol. The housebrand tuna is on discount now!!! 2 cans for $2.65 only! + on top of that, there is another 5% off... my goodnessssss.... so cheap cheap cheap... having Singapore blood in me... I cannot resist... =\ Bought chicken breast too, for I love chicken breast, be it steamed, boiled, fried, deep fried, grilled, bbq..whatever... I still love it.

Who loves Tuna more than me??? lol

1 can of Wasabi Salmon Spread???

Leaning Tower of Tuna...

Tuna in water, in brine, in Penang curry, in Chilli and wasabi salmon!

Bought Tabasco Sauce for the Chicken Breast, else steamed chicken taste quite bland

2000: Being protein deficient for the whole day... I need a protein power-packed dinner! so I prepared my own protein dinner. woohoooo... here it is.

Chicken Breast and Pacific Dory - Marinated with salt and pepper, sprinkled with tabaso for some spiciness!

2100: Finished Blogging... and I am hungry again... Eat Papaya...

And this more or less sums up July 13 Sunday of Foodie Gymmie.
FYI: this is not the typical sunday of foodie gymmie and he usually doesn't buy so much tuna, and he does not eat chicken and dory every sunday! =)

Wild Olives @ Airport T-2 Staff Canteen

Changi Airport is not just all about popeyes! Wild Olives - very nice and cheap western food hidden in T2. Not at the usual restaurants you see at T2, but at its ulu, secluded staff canteen... Its a challenge to find this place! If not for my sister's recommendation, I will never know about its existence!

Met her for lunch as my mentor for my internship happened to ask me to drop by her company to supervise some stuffs... yeah... "supervise" with the inverted commas! hehe!! So we went for a looooong lunch since I was a free man for the whole day! purrrfect! =)

Grilled Catfish with Dili sauce, served with Herbs Potatoes and steamed veggies
@ $5.50

Can you see that the catfish is so big and thick? Its so soft and tasty? and its not too oily! Its damn nice can!? my goodness for the price that I am paying I cannot believe it! The herb potatoes (those black black thing that you see at the top left) are also damn nice lar... Usually western food sides are either fries, wedges, jacket potatoes or potato salad, but this one is very unique! Some food are unique but cmi(cannot make it), but this one cmi(can make it!). It has a very special herbal taste, and the potatoes are not mushy... very nice to munch! + got healthy steamed veggies to add some fibre and slow digesting carbs to your meal!

I love everything la... and nothing was left on the plate! slurpZ~

Black Pepper Chicken Pasta @ somewhere around $3

My sis was telling me how great it was... but I had a taste of it... and i give it..erm.. just a pass. Its a tat too oily... like "hokkien mee", and the black pepper is not pepperish enough, but taste kinda sweet instead. And I don't like over-cooked pasta... this is over-cooked! So much bad comments, but looking at the brighter side... they are generous with the chicken... and of cos... the black pepper sauce... and the oil!

Wild Olives is located @
Changi Airport
Terminal 2
Level 3M
Note:
Fried Food is served on odd days
Grilled Food on even days