Alvin Lai

Pepper celery/onion/meat

Tomato/onion/meat

Bak Kut Teh!

Although I succumbed to not wasting the extra red dates and it turned out a little more like red date soup grr

Finally, after wading through tons of work and distractions, I found some time to post this up. Enjoy!

Uncertainty was abound during the first week, when we arrived without knowing about anything. But it was also the period where everyone learnt the most about themselves. A wonderful experience!

Takeoff from Changi Airport

Transit in Narita Airport

2 hour wait, with Kaiwei looking funny :)

Esther and Quek

Kaiwei and I were bored so we went exploring.. and found a Akihabara store!

that sells delicious looking cuttlefish!

and some kinda small fish.

Finally, off to America!

Food-fare on board Northwest Airlines.

Some nice looking American bridge

Reach liao woo!

Breath taking scenery outside San Francisco airport

More breath taking scenery outside San Francisco airport

Waiting for seniors to pick us up. Still remember Devika coming to pick me up wearing her act-seh sunglasses :)

What's my first meal in America? In and out burgers!

The burger you guys saw in the previous blog post

Fries done animal style!

Seniors kindly put us (Bernard and I) up at their place, at Bernado's.

Bernardo's damn hip la.

As public transport is virtually non-existent here in Sunnyvale California, the first batch rented a Pontiac — USD$400 for a week man!

Weather's great, nice and cool with interest flora and fauna to see..

Beautiful leaves, aren't they?

The Vine's household, who put up the rest. Wonder what Bernard is really clutching. :)

Driving around in the rented Pontiac

Vine's mini eco-system in a rice-cooker..

David then brought us around in San Francisco..

The car got hyperdrive mode one u know.

You never know how it feels like in hyperspace.

Happy that we came out alive, 70MPH hyperspace haha.

Saw Gap!

The night streets of SF.

Try parking man.

Can eat happy liao :D

Shuyang no look tea pouring

Here comes the food. Jellyfish!

Crab! But still no match for my Dad's :D

The walnut prawns are seriously good.

Pork, I think..

A wholesome spread!

Awesome fish..

I couldn't resist a picture with this steep a car park.

We then drove up to Twin peaks and savored the stupendous scenery..

Happy birthday Yingli and Xinyi! My JC classmates of CG25 decided to celebrate with crab this fine Saturday evening.

I was initially puzzled having to meet at 1730 for dinner. Upon reaching I understood why.

And mind you, it's not a restaurant or anything. It's a KOPI TIAM (COFFEE SHOP)! We started queueing at 1800 and the kopitiam auntie was like broadcasting a 60 to 90 minute wait for a table, even suggesting to try out a rival kopitiam just across the carpark!

Eventually the queue spilled onto the carpark and they had to redirect it.

I can't resist Xinyi's expression here :)

They even take orders while we queue to ensure that our crabbies arrive promptly when we get a table!

The birthday girls beaming when we're finally next in line for a table. Notice the sign at the background, it reads: Please Q For Table N Order, Thank You.

Interesting!

Just look at the queue that formed behind us! Singaporeans will die for food.

A group of a while later, we learnt that a group of expatriates came by and unknowingly occupied a table was meant for us, without realizing that you actually had to queue to eat at this kopitiam.

Additional waiting time..

We got a table! Look at the happy girls.

And a hungry Bingxiong :) Joel looks like he's wielding a light saber on his head :/ We finally got the table at 1910 - a 70minute wait!

Here comes the food!

Fried bread to go with the crab sauces..

Playboy Chicken. Serious! That's what it's called! It tastes damn good too!

Paper wrapped ribs.

Wok egg toufu. This is the bomb I tell you.

I can't resist a nice closeup!

Front shot of the first crab. Butter crab! This is just sinfully delectable man.

Rear shot! They use fresh lettuce which goes so well with the sauce! Ohhh!

Frontal shot of the black pepper crab. Apologies for the unfocused picture.. Didn't have many clean fingers left after the butter crab :p

Rear shot.. Thank you everyone for patiently waiting for me to take a shot before attacking the crab haha..

Damn solid the meat I tell you!

The flesh would like fray out like sea anemones!

The butter beehoon (thick vermicelli) crab is their signature dish. It doesn't look much but I tell you the soup is.. you gotta try it out for yourself man. Butter and crab goodness!

Satistied tummies.

Marvelling at Bingxiong's big bike..

A failed attempt for an artistic night shot at some random bushes..

Before finally leaving for AMK Central..

for supper at MOS Burger..

Wonderful night! Happy birthday Xinyi and Yingli!

Ah, nice dinner outings with the family. Dad discovered a newly opened food store just across the street, and off we went!

Simple delectable foodfare such as..

Fried Hokkien Mee and..

Oyster Omelete.

In a separate dinner outing the next evening, we went to try out satay at kopi tiam (coffee shop) near Serangoon central.

Heavenly I tell you.

I will so miss them in America. For a whole year too. Sigh

After that feast of stingray, blachan kang kong and pig trotters, we proceeded to the supermarket to get groceries and snacks for the World Cup.

After reaching home and settling down for a while..

"Eh cook shark's fin liao! Want to take picture?"

"Okay!"

Here you are, more pictures of in progress cooking!

The ingredients

3 cans of Rabbit brand sharks fin soup base

Freshly chopped GARLIC (yum!) and just 1 beaten egg. Dad emphasizes just one egg here, unless you want to sample shark's fin porridge haha..

From this angle, Dad reflected that it would be better if the garlic were chopped up into tinier chunks.

The Chef Works

Emptying the last drops of cooking oil - just nice.

Fuuu! Sizzling garlic!

Cooking under a medium flame like this.

Looking at this, yea the garlic chunks would be better, smaller.

Pouring in the first can.

Adding water, followed by the other 2 cans.

Waiting for it to boil.

Irresistible close up shots

Dad told me to look out for this, where most of the bubbles would accumulate at the middle, where it's time to add egg.

Adding egg. As this step is critical to the texture of the soup, it was essential that it was done in a prompt manner, which explains the unfocused picture.

See the clear streaks of egg emerging? Oishi!

After turning off the stove, I once again had time to take another nice close up macro shot.

Served up nicely in a delectable orange melanin soup bowl.

Four bowls with more left in the wok for seconds. This was taken under florescent lighting, maybe this is why Steve said my pictures look disgusting :p

Shark's Fin soup, XO Brandy and black vinegar. Another lip smacking family feast!

With an uneventful day comprising of creating powerpoint slides for a client and a few games of DOTA, things turned out for a change when Dad suggested eating out.

That means...

Stingray!

Maybe rice just looks extra yummy on green plates. Maybe I'm just hungry.

Blachan Chilli Kang Kong! Fuuu!

This is THE bomb I tell you! Mom even had to instruct the stingray lady to go easy on the blachan :p

And as though that's not enough, Dad ordered Tur Kah! (Pig trotters)

Bought Mom's favourite chinese pastries from the famous Thye Lee

They've been consistently yummylicious, with the thin crisp outer skin and rich sweet inner lotus paste. Absolutely fabulous.

Then Mom returned with a red bundle of suprise.

I took one up, examined its texture.

The slightly moist reflective skin indicated ripeness. It felt a little squishy too!

I couldn't resist squeezing..

Splat! Squeezed a little too hard, sending bits of durian cream on my face and all over in the vicinity of 1 meter.

Joking.. :D I simply took a bite.

It really felt like custard pie, only creamier and sweeter!

The durian season is here!

Just as I needed to take a break from Rails, my Mom called out to me.

"Boy ah! Your father cooking crab now! Want to see?"

I've always relished Dad's fantastic culinery skills from young and he has never failed to facinate with his seemingly simple procedures.

Not forgetting my loyal blog readers, I snagged my trusty K750i camera phone on the way to the kitchen.

Dad already had the oil heated up,

which filled the entire kitchen with the aroma of sizzling garlic.

Then into the wok these babies went.

The siblings just couldn't wait for their turn.

As soon as they got partially cooked,

They were taken out and placed aside.

Looks almost eatable already :D

Scraping off the loose shells.

I can't resist this masterpiece.

Back to garlic!

The browning signalled for..

Crab Bodies: "Yippie! My turn!!"

I can't resist. Forgive me.

Getting ready Dad's specialle crab sauce..

Pouring it in..

Sizzle sizzle...

Now if only you can smell the lethal combination of thickening special sauce and power punching stir fried garlic..

After a little while..

Dad explained that as the bodies were bulkier and required longer cooking times, it was covered to retain maximum moisture. Something I've noticed successful hokkien mee hawkers employ too.

Ahhh...

Pouring in egg..

Buay tahan liao..

Same thing for the pincers..

:p

:)

The Lai family proceeded to feast and I was appointed the official crab body cruncher.

As if that's not enough, I still had century egg porridge and this afternoon's uneaten curry puff.

70.7kg.. Don't run also cannot liao..

All in all, a wonderful family dinner :)