Brotzeit (German Bier Bar & Restaurant)

Hi everyone, =)

I had an awesome dinner session with my University friends last week. Definitely a good way to celebrate before my first week of work!

We went to Brotzeit's flagship outlet in VivoCity. Queued about 15 minutes before we were let in. I really don't mind waiting for the good food and ambience! To avoid queuing, you can make a reservation in advance (to play safe, call in at least 3 days in advance).

Before commenting, a little background of Brotzeit (Source - http://www.brotzeit.co/about.html):

"Brotzeit offers the world famous quality of German beers accompanied by authentic Bavarian cuisine in a chic and contemporary setting.

"Brotzeit" is a typical Bavarian expression – "Brot" being German for bread and "Zeit" for time, referring to a cozy meal complemented by fresh beer."

The atmosphere of Brotzeit at VivoCity is unbeatable! There are 3 "themes" - outdoor table seats, bar counter and indoor table seats. I visited this outlet a couple of times before so I had tried all the "themes". I personally prefer the indoor table seats because of the coziness. If there are empty seats, you can choose where to make yourself comfortable. We were allocated seats outdoor (near the seaside facing Sentosa).

Every time I visit Brotzeit, I will order the Smoked Pork Sausages! In my eyes, they are something to die for. Not too salty, not too hard, just right for me!

These are the dishes we ordered for the night:

1. Salat mit Wurst (mixed salad with the best of our julienne cold cuts, emmenthaler cheese, mixed bell peppers, gherkins, boiled eggs, onions and sour cream)

I am not a super salad fan. To me, this is average to slightly above average. Worth ordering if you want some greens.

2. Kaspressknödelsuppe (Onion soup with cheese dumplings)

I love this soup! The onions are not overpowering and the cheese dumplings are lovely!

3. Naturschnitzel vom Huhn (Grilled US chicken breast on mashed potatoes with sour cream sauce served alongside a mixed salad tossed in balsamic vinaigrette)

Average. I don't really like the taste of the chicken breast.

4. Würstelplatte (Authentic sausage platter with spicy chicken sausages, Nürnberger pork bratwurst, mini pork-beef cheese sausages, weisswurst sausage and garlic sausage with sauerkraut and mustard)

The dish comprises of 5 types of sausages. The spicy chicken sausages have a thrilling and somewhat addictive spicy aftertaste. Recommended for those who love the thrill. Certainly not for me, I can't even finish one.

The most memorable sausage for me is the pork sausage. I simply love the taste.

The other sausages are rather average.

There are 3 sauces for dipping - sweet mustard, sweet chili and "satay sauce". The best for me is sauce that tastes something like our Singapore satay sauce.

5. Pork Knuckle (Served with potatoes and some greens)

The pork knuckle has a crispy texture. I must say I am a little disappointed. It has this meaty pork taste that not everyone can appreciate.

Please enjoy the photos that I took:







Feel free to share any comments if you have! I would love to hear them.

p.s. The menu can be found on Brotzeit's website.

Pasta for dinner

Hi all, =)

Tonight I had a wonderful time preparing dinner with my Mother. =)

We cooked pasta (Spaghetti and Linguine) for four. But probably is enough for five.

These are the ingredients we used:

1 carrot
2 stalks of celery
6-8 mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus)
1 brown onion
$5 minced meat
1 can of Campbell's Pasta sauce (We added 1/2 can of water to make a larger serving)
2-3 tablespoons of Tomato sauce
1/2-1 tablespoon of sugar
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil (to stir fry the first five ingredients above)
1/4 pack of Linguine
1/2 pack of Wholemeal Spaghetti

All we did was to dice up the first four ingredients. We did not have to dice the meat as it is already minced when we bought it from the market.

To cook the pasta, just boil enough water to submerge the pasta in the water. After the water is boiled, leave the fire on. Place the pasta into the water. Depending on what type of pasta you use, the cooking time will differ. Usually, there will be a label on the packaging stating the time needed. In our case, we decided to use linguine and wholemeal spaghetti for a healthy combination. (It's like mixing brown rice with white rice). Two reasons why people mix the rices instead of using pure brown rice I believe are, brown rice is more expensive and some people dislike the taste. After the pasta is cooked, take it out and pour some water (we just use tap water) onto the pasta so that they will not stick together.

Our dinner is perfect. But I feel that we should dice up the mushrooms in larger sizes. Or next time we shall try using a different type of mushroom. Probably a can of straw mushrooms will do fine. In my opinion, I think that it is good to mix wholemeal pasta with another type of usual pasta because the wholemeal pasta does not taste starchy, which I happen to like the starchy taste of my pasta.

These are the pictures I took:





Please feel free to share your comments or cooking recipes/tips.

Colored "Sand"

Hi everyone, =)

Every time I see that piece of decoration in the cupboard of my living room, it never fails to make me feel so warm inside!

Recalling my polytechnic days, when my friends and I signed up for the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes programme... It was a really meaningful programme!

A little background:

"Citi-YMCA Youth for Causes is a community initiative launched by Citi and the YMCA of Singapore since 2002. Funded by Citi Foundation, the programme is a catalyst to promote social entrepreneurship and community leadership development among Singapore youths. It provides youths aged 13 to 35 with seed funding, resources and guidance of selected mentors, to execute sustainable social entrepreneurship ideas and business models that benefit and support Voluntary Welfare Organizations (VWOs) of their choice." (Source: http://www.youthforcauses.com/)

Our business model was simple - to sell as much items as we could to raise funds. We managed to source for cheap food items and gifts.

This is one item that we DIY (Do-it-yourself):



We actually use different colors of chalk to color salt. And then we place them into test tubes. I believe you can use food coloring and sand instead. Sand is more fine than salt. So it all depends on what you are looking for.

I encourage everyone to contribute their parts (big or small) to the Community. There are many people who need our help. =)

Patience is the Key

Hi all,

I was at the Traffic Police Headquarters a few days ago. I saw a few interesting banners (motivating phrases) on the wall at the waiting area.

I took a photo of the banner which was the closest to my heart at that moment.



I feel that Patience is really important. Time will tell everything. So try to keep your cool. And everything will be fine!

I hope it can give you some motivation at some point of your life. Please feel free to share your comments. =)

Watami - Japanese Casual Dining Restaurant

Hi everyone,

I MUST blog about this Japanese restaurant. What I love about the restaurant? The great service, the variety of food & beverage choices, and the warm and relaxing dining experience! And not forgetting - the prices are so reasonable!

To date, I have recommended the restaurant to more than 10 people. It has 4 branches in Singapore - Clarke Quay The Central, Orchard Ion, Raffles City, Bishan Junction 8. I personally patronised the first 3 outlets, 7 times in total!

You can look at the online menu - http://www.watami.com.sg/menus/grand-menu/

I have tried several dishes myself. Just to name my 2 hot favourites:

1) Tonkotsu Kimchi Nabe



But I changed the soup base to Sukiyaki (soy sauce base) instead of Tonkotsu Kimchi (pork bones + kimchi base). If you do not feel like having a spicy meal for the day, feel free to ask the friendly staff to change it for you.

They will give you a raw egg with the hot pot. I would recommend that you beat the egg into the soup so that it would not be too salty for some. Don't get me wrong! I love the soup base. And I love the thinly sliced pork. I love to play with my food, especially when it comes to Shabu-shabu. So if I were you, I would remove all the raw sliced pork from the hot pot and slide each slice on the surface of the soup for about 10 seconds when I am ready to eat the pork.

Oh, you can choose to order either pasta or udon at an extra cost. I prefer to eat rice with the hot pot though.

2) Tompeiyaki (Omelette with sliced pork and cabbage)

Oh!! I love this dish! Don't you just love the combination of egg, sliced pork and cabbage? So Yummy and nutritious! You can have protein, fiber, vitamins from eating the dish. I always order a bowl of rice to go with it - Carbohydrates to fill my stomach.

To conclude, you must really go down and try! A good hang-out place for gatherings and celebrations! So many choices of appetizers, main courses, side dishes, drinks and desserts. And they do have a few choices of sushi for those who love sushi like I do. Trust me, you will be spoiled for choice! =)

P.S. Sorry, I only took a photo of the hot pot. I will post more photos when I get the chance to visit the restaurant again.

Hi all, =)

Have you guys seen the latest Singapore Airlines (SIA) advertisement on TV? Singapore Girl has made her comeback!

For your background, Singapore Girl is sort of the personification of the Singapore Airlines. The Singapore Girl has several key characteristics - gentleness, caring and a great serving attitude.

Back to topic, the TV ad is well-shot and it has definitely achieved its intended impact in my mind.

The general mood of the ad is so relaxing and comforting (with the great scenes, background music and the lovely smile and actions of the Singapore girl). The ad was filmed in four different countries in sequence - USA, India, Europe and China. But I could actually only recognise 2 countries correctly. I thought it was India, Europe and Vietnam.

Laughing out loud! Anyway, the general objective of the ad is to remind the public of the characteristics of Singapore Airlines, which I believe it had been successful!

The video for your viewing:

WeFeedback (A Programme by WFP)

Dear all,

I would like to encourage everyone to look at the new initiative by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) - WeFeedback. (http://www.wefeedback.org/)

"WeFeedback's mission is to enlist your help and the help of your social networks in the fight against the chronic hunger that burdens families all over the world."

I think the new programme launched in February 2011 is really meaningful. Imagine a life where you are constantly starving. Imagine having to sleep on an empty stomach!

If there are meals provided in school, the children will look forward to going to school. Their parents would even encourage them to go to school (both for learning as well as for food). They will have ample energy to focus in their classes. They will not have to suffer so much physically and mentally. If the children can attend school, they may have the chance to break out of poverty and contribute back to the society!

Basically, it's really simple. Just enter your favourite food into the bar. Afterwhich, estimate the cost of your favourite food. You will get to see the number of people being helped with one serving of your favourite food. There is a button where you can click to feed them now.

Please help spread awareness through your social networks now.

P.S. I think having enough teachers, classrooms, books and food work hand in hand. One cannot do without the other. Food is especially important in getting the children to have a constant attendance and energy level both mentally and physically. =)