A Gastronomic Adventure..

I guess I finally realise the importance of family bonding.
I've been spending so much time w/ my relatives that I find myself actually starting to like it.
Michelle is turning into a family person! :D

3 consecutive days w/ my relatives.

1st day, Friday, 26th Dec

It's shabu shabu time! (@ Shabuya, Vivo City)

my cousin & my brothers (yes, we don't look alike)

the 2 sauces. left: soy sauce, right: peanut sauce (it has a really distinctive peanut smell, so you'll either love it or hate it)

soft shell crab. yummy!

ebi tempura
very very nice.

the famous wagyu beef

it literally melts in your mouth!

the veg pot. radish, leek, shitake, jap fishcakes, jap fish paste and some other ones that i don't recognise.

pork

2 soup bases, the clear one & the sweet one.

i personally like the sweet broth, it tastes a bit like watercress soup.

this cute lil thing is actually raw beef.

after you mix it with the egg yolk on top, it tastes really nice.

something new ^^

And there were complimentary desserts served too.

2 bowls of 3 scoop ice creams, Macha, Chocolate & Vanilla.

So basically, I only have good comments about this place.

It isn't cheap, but you're paying for the quality.

My uncle treated us anyway.

After the meal, we went to look for sandals for my 2 brothers as theirs was torn. So rough!

We went to several shops before finally stumbling upon the right sandal

My brother's very picky, he only wears those strappy ones.

And it's not worth it, $69 for an ugly sandal for my first brother (at least I think so)

My 2nd brother's one only costed $20, though.

Bought snacks @ Shih-lin before cabbing to my aunt's hse @ Jurong west

Egg crepes w/ pork floss. One w/ sweet sauce and one w/o.

By the time we reached my aunt's hse, it had already turned hard and dry, but still very oily!

Really inedible, but I still forced myself to finish it all

Cannot waste food right.

Crispy Chicken~

thankfully this was still edible, albeit not that crispy anymore.

Seafood tempura.

What the heck is this?!?!

It was my virgin attempt to try this, and it tasted like oily rubber to me.

Hard and tasteless, eww.

I guess fried food has to consumed immediately.

Lesson learnt.

My aunt's husband, which is my uncle, bought back more fried stuff. Great.
Big eater me couldn't resist.

Old chang kee.
I immediately regretted it after eating them.

I DREAD pimple breakouts more than anything else.

Chatted with my 2 aunts and her husband all the way until night.

Made plans for tomorrow's outing then we went home @ around 10+

2nd day, Saturday, 27th Dec

11am shopping @ Tangs.

Nothing caught my eye, the only purchase was an Estee Lauder Powder compact.

My aunt got it for me :)

Headed to Wisma next, Aunt got me 3 outfits @ Hypnosis

& also a necklace, which is like $28.

I think it's not worth its price, as it looks pretty ordinary.

But well, Aunt says it goes well with the jumper.

Last stop was at Taka.

Aunt wanted to get a bag for me, but after walking the whole department, nothing caught our eyes.

Even Guess was disappointing :(

However, she got a pair of wedges for herself and bought one for me too.

U.P. was $70, but after a 20% discount it was only $56 each.

It's really great, sales are everywhere! :D

All that shopping made us famished.

High tea @ Crystal Jade Palace

pan-fried carrot cake

best one i've eaten so far.

it's very soft, and not so oily.

chicken feet

i don't know what's its name, but it's basically fried har gao.

soft & fluffy char siew bao!

this is good. the char siew filling is very sweet and fragrant.

siew mai.

very, very ordinary.

XLB

average. skin was thin, soup was a little too salty.

fried bean curd roll w/ prawn

crispy & delicious. but still, oily.

egg tarts & my favourite water chestnut cake!

love the sticky texture with the chunky WC bits inside.

har gao, another fav.

skin too thin, prawns not fragrant enough.

normal.

claypot stewed beef w/ winter melon

soft meat stewed in rich gravy, what more can you possibly wish for?

Followed my aunt back to her house as she has stuff to give me.

My other aunt said it's my '2nd shopping trip',

and true enough, I went home with many big bags of free stuff. Tee hee.

She has boxes and boxes and boxes of makeup, and they're all branded.

Some are not even used yet.

I was flabberghasted when I saw the amount of cosmetics she had.

The ones she gave me weren't even 1/4 of her total collection.

She gave me so much makeup that I doubt I would ever use every one of them.

Eyeshadow palettes, lip liners, eye liners, eye brow pencils, eye lash curlers, sharpeners, mascaras, loose powders, lip glosses, lip sticks and brushes.

Note that all are in plural, and are all branded.

Dior, Chanel, Shu Uemura, Prescriptives, MAC, YSL, and more.

I felt so giddy after seeing so much branded stuff, I'm not kidding.

Sorry, it's just too overwhelming.

That's not all, she gave me 7 boxes of masks, a body scrub, makeup remover, peeling gel and a purifying mask from the Face shop.

That's still not all yet, there were bags and some caps.

All from the past seasons' collections.

A big thank you to my aunt! :D

Cabbed home after that.

I was so tired, and i looked like a wreck.

3rd day, Sunday, 28th Dec

Steamboat dinner @ my grandma's hse.

I love goin to her house, as it's like going to a buffet, only free.

After eating to my stomach's content for the steamboat, we all sat down and chatted, munching on fruits.

Apples, oranges, guavas, persimmons, pears, her house is like a fruit palace!

Next, my grandmother brought out more snacks that she bought from Taiwan for us.

Nougats, pineapple biscuits, taro biscuits, wife biscuits, and some I can't remember.

My stomach was alr on the verge of bursting after eating all that,

and she even wanted us to eat ice cream!

OMG. I refused of course, overeating makes my stomach uncomfortable.

But I takeaway-ed the snacks, though! Muahaha.

9 hours more to school reopening,

and I'm looking forward to it! :D