Fraser Suites Harmonie La Defense

Comfortably settled in a serviced apartment at La Defense, at the edge of Paris. Just a train stop / 15 mins walk away from a shopping mall with this huge supermarket called Auchan. How I love this place. Million and one types of foie gras, cheese, ham etc etc, even frozen escargots clams prawns and all! But no, I haven't started my cooking adventure yet. Sorry to disappoint. Haha. Planning to start this weekend with S. Patient k. ;)

In case you're wondering what I've been doing so far, I've been clocking many miles checking out the vicinities of potential apartments. Hard work! Looking for a place to stay can be such a headache. We have to balance factors such as: near station (be it tram or metro or RER), near shops, near Paris, near S' workplace, not too quiet, and not too old! Viewed one this morning and it looks promising. Am quite hopeful :D

Had some exciting food for dinner last night...

Oysters bought along the streets... 9€ for a dozen. And that's not the cheapest (!!) Prawn salad & terrine 7€, whole roasted chicken 10€, and wine 5€. Enough to make us happy :)

Teochew Porridge

Craving for some light teochew porridge today, S searched online for some recommendations and brought us to this place tucked away in Joo Chiat. We were all pleasantly surprised by the variety. You know, most teochew porridge places like the one I used to frequent at Havelock Road offer ready-cooked dishes then you just pick & choose right. This one has quite a few 'tze char' dishes, so the spread's rather different.

You gotta try the steamed fish & clams!! Fish was fresh & the soup stock tasted very teochew -- closest to my mum's cooking already..so I loved it. Clams (everyone's fav) had a very unique & fragrant gravy. Tofu w prawn so-so only. 'Hei Chou' (traditional prawn roll) was good despite the weak dip sauce. Veg & fish cake, normal. Their other signature dishes include cold crab (so enticing!) & stew pig trotter. We were so happy to have found this treasure. Not the cheapest, but definitely the better ones around.

Name: Xu Jun Sheng (long ji) Chao Zhou Mei Shi
Location: 59 Joo Chiat Place
Total expenditure: $50

Sakae Teppanyaki

Never imagined I'd mention 'Sakae' on my blog, but alas, it proved itself worthy today. Was at Plaza Singapura to send in a Samsonite luggage for repair, only to realize it's such a scam. 1 handle + 4 wheels cost $175, and I'm quite sure before GST. Tsk. No way I'll fall for it. Can so get a brand new one already. Of course not another Samsonite since it's marked up like nobody's business. ANYWAY, this huge red sign board with 1-for-1 HSBC promotion at Sakae Teppanyaki caught our eyes. Pondered quite abit, considering how much I dislike Sakae Sushi. S was insistent though, so decided to give it a try (since 1-for-1 right).

Meal includes salad, venison, salmon, cuttlefish, mixed veggies w shrooms, miso soup, rice, dessert. All for $29.90 ($15 per person only!). Topped up $2.50 for garlic rice (a must) & $13 for sake. I tell you, our tummies felt so happy and satisfied after the meal, very much to our surprise. Perfect for garlic lovers and value hunters. Ok la, I would say the promotion was value for money, not sure about ala carte.

And so my conclusion for the day is that sometimes you don't need to spend the big bucks to have a hearty meal. Oh yes, no photos today cos didn't cross my mind. That's how skeptical I was. Haha.

Name: Sakae Teppanyaki
Location: Plaza Singapura (they hv many heartland branches)
Total expenditure: $52

Moving to Paris

It's confirmed. I'll be flying off on the 6th of April (just 9 days away!) at 11.40pm. Excited but nervous because of the pile of administrative work we gotta settle when we're there. Like housing, car, visas, french school etc. Have to settle in soon as we're expecting our first visitors in June! (No, in fact, there's already one arriving in April) Hmm..

Next time I'm back, it'd be to escape the winter and to attend Ruth's wedding, meaning December! Hopefully by then my knowledge of France, or at least Paris, would have increased many notches. But before that happens, any recommendations of places to visit/food to eat in and around France will be very much appreciated :)

Julien Bombard (Restaurant Week Mar10)

S & I headed to Julien Bombard today for the Restaurant Week lunch (thanks YT & Sharon for giving up your places!). Although not the most super value lunch set around, the food turned out to be really good!

Highlight of the meal for me is the smoked duck breast. If you do go, try not to de-fat! For me, it made all the difference.. Ordered oysters as an extra dish. Really salty since (as the manager explains) it's all mineral. Good thing he gave us heads up. Nonetheless, they were very fresh. We tried one of each of the main course & shared, which we thought was a very smart thing to do. Portions were well-balanced as a result. As for the pork platter, the pork loin seemed to be the tastiest. Paella was sufficiently fragrant as well. Indifferent about the sorbet since both of us aren't really fans of desserts. And as usual, what's a meal without a bottle of wine? :D

Name: Julien Bombard
Location: Ascott Raffles Place
Total expenditure: $260 (40++pp for set, 28 for oysters, 110 for sauv blanc)