Yum @ Arab St

You can go wrong in finding the direction to this restaurant but definitely not with the decision to dine here at Alaturka.

Thanks to my initiative of doing a quick research that afternoon before the mass went down to Arab Street for a dinner. Seriously, walking around aimlessly would be a disaster in that rain and there are just too many identical places providing Turkish food. I chanced upon a forum thread talking about Arabic/Turkish food in Singapore and thought "this is it".

Alaturka is not a gigantic/classy restaurant, however it offers a kind of personal touch (the decor) and also very cosy place to dine in even it was going to be pouring outside! The service wasn't the best as the service staff doesn't seem to be a native English speaker. Besides that, the food and drinks were served promptly and of good quality. We were pretty happy with the stuff we had... even had a second serving of the Kuzu sis (Chicken pieces on skewer with capicum, served with a salad topped with demi glace sauce). We were tucked in the cosy corner with 8 of us, perfect ambience to smoking sheesha too (but we didn't!!). It was a little dim without proper lighting - but that doesn't dampen the mood at all!

I shared a main course Adana Kebab (Spices frill chicken mince serve with garlic tomato, green salad) and an appetizer Falafel (Middle eastern mint leave and bulgur salad) with a friend. But we all ended up sharing each other's food. Hummus (Middle eastern chickpea with tahini dip) and Borek (Pastry with feta cheese) are equally yummy!!

All in all, I would recommend this place and will definitely bring more friends back there again. Reasonable price, good and delicious food with prompt service. Ambience is a plus!

Note: Description of food in green is taken off from their website's menu.

Made for X'mas

With the new oven of course :))))

Spicy crabs by Ms. Potatoe

A week ago, my mum kindly let me take over the cooking wok and did the chilli crabs... So hey, the list of things I can cook is getting longer as the days go by. Especially now, we have also newly added a Tefal oven purchased from Carrefour. More baking fun! Okay, instead of getting out of the point, here's my simple pictures-tell-the-story on the crabs-cooking (not crap cooking!).

World's 'wurst' lovers?

Oliver shared this with me, I just find it hilarious though I decline to comment whether I agree with it or not. *mouth zipped*

Read about "World's worst lover".

Before Christmas

Here's my second German poem which wasn't up to my own standard, so it has been sent for editing by 2 German-speaking friends. First edit is done by an Austrian, and the second by a German friend who seems to understand it from my romantic point of view (luckily!). Thank you my helpful friends!! Danke schoen sehr!!

I'm not highlighting the changes that have been done like the first time though I'd really like to. It has changed quite a bit but it has been altered to better represent what I have wanted it to express! So anyway, a draft version (After 1st edit version) below will show the rough one which I have initially came up with.

It's named "Before Christmas" in English and it's something I definitely want to be up before X'mas:)


Vor Weihnachten

Weihnachten war zu Ende, als wir uns getroffen haben
Weihnachten ist wieder hier, aber du bist weg
ich musste an dich denken als der sommer vorrueber ging
Der Winter ließ mich fragen, ob du dich erinnerst, an die warme Umarmung die wir uns geteilt haben

Wie geht's mein Schatz
ich frage mich, wie es dir ergangen ist
ich denke an all das, was haette sein können
ich erinnere mich an jene Tage, als waere es gestern gewesen

Erinnerst du dich...?
ich glaube nicht...
aber insgesheim hofe ich dass du es tust
ich weiß, dass wir so glücklicher sind, aber es hätte besser sein können

Weihnachten kommt, Liebe ist überall
Kannst du sie fühlen...? Meine Liebe ist auch dabei
Kannst du sie sehen...? In meinen Zeilen?
ich vermisse dich, und will es dir sagen, bevor Weihnachten zu Ende ist


After 1st edit version (which remains 90% unchanged from my own German writing):

Weihnachten war zu Ende, als wir uns getroffen
Weihnachten ist wieder hier, aber du bist weg
Der Sommer ging mit dir in meinem Herz vorbei
Der Winter ließ mich mich fragen, ob du dich erinnerst, dass warme Umarmung wir uns geteilt

Wie geht's mein Schatz
ich frage mich, wie du gewesen bist
ich denke an all das, was haette sein können
ich erinnere mich an jene Tage, als waere es gestern gewesen

Erinnerst du dich
ich glaube nicht
ich hoffe heimlich so
ich weiß, dass nun wir glücklich sind, aber es hätte besser sein können

Weihnachten kommt, Liebe ist überall
Kannst du sie fühlen, weil meine auch dabei ist
Kannst du sie sehen, weil ich sie hier schreibe
Ich vermisse dich, und will es dir sagen, bevor Weihnachten zu Ende ist


Links to my previous poems:
Der Geliebte

Perfecting the home

I finally convinced myself Toshiba Portege is for me, actually I need little persuasion as my heart has already been set on it. That little rascal ibook-alike has stolen my heart, right from the beginning... LOL. Well, the older 12.1" model was what I have been eyeing on for a long along time! It used to cost S$2699 and today it is only selling at S$1599 at Sitex (the PC fair). And this newer model M600 is retailing at S$2299, managed to get it a little lower than that. I can't reveal how I manage to afford this, but somehow I'm very lucky and thankful to someone:))

Vista isn't really my cuppa tea but the thing is it does work or even look a little like Mac operating system! My heart with Apple has died along with my ibook and even today I have little yearning for a Macbook, let alone a Macbook Pro!


My sister has suddenly gone crazy about the idea of getting an oven. It was my plan but somehow it has affected her more than me and she's dying to get one ASAP to start baking Christmas cookies for her "teachers". I told her to spare them from being her guinea pigs! I was easy with the choices but after reading up, I realize choosing an appliance is not as easy as I thought. What method and component an oven uses can greatly affect the quality of the end products, I want my cookies to be nice and juicy, not dry and hard!

Memory reformatted

I'm suffering from childhood memory loss, is it dissociative amnesia??

Yesterday while watching a girl being scalded on the TV drama, my sister casually remarked I had a similar accident when I was young. And I could not recall a thing. After she has mentioned it, I was trying hard to dig back into my memories... I vaguely recalled a very short scene (well I could imagine I guess), but nothing else besides that. What happened to my childhood?

The time I was a baby till 5 years old, I can very certainly say I don't have any memory at all. From my kindergarten days till my school days, I do have a very faded memory, mostly comprising of my friends in school and some incidents that happened in school. Any accident at home or anything else, they aren't stored in my head.

When I watched Flo's childhood video the last time, somehow it triggered me to find back my childhood memory. But it didn't come back. I reckon I need to take more pictures and videos for my children next time!

The winter rain

The German poem I have been working on is about to be out of the oven, but let's wait patiently. It's done in fact but I'm just not so sure when I want it up.

It has been raining continuously for at least 6 hours, I'm afraid Singapore is being flooded. I'm sure some parts are already, like it always does. The past few days, I have compensated more than enough on my beauty sleep but I didn't feel the benefits on my health somehow.


On the other side of the world...

Miss China is being crowned Miss World 2007! Not only has she brought glory to the Chinese people, and I feel it is important that the Far Eastern is being recognized as well. Miss Japan has been crowned Miss Universe earlier, and it is becoming increasingly significant to show that everyone can be equal regardless of skin color.

Quoted from BBC News:
"Miss China, Zhang Zilin, has been crowned Miss World 2007 in the Chinese resort of Sanya, the first time an East Asian contestant has won."

My hoodie, where are you??

I wanted this from Forever21 but now it's not available anymore :((((((((

I guess it's just not meant to be - like many things in life!