new year's eve this year was pretty good! i left work at about 330pm and walked over the One George to meet up with LL and R. we made a reservation for a table of 9 at this Peranakan restaurant in Joo Chiat at 7pm. but we've decided to start our "The Little Nyonya trail" early! started off by going into this very traditional baba nyonya cafe for some nyonya kueh kuehs for afternoon tea.
rempah udang, a traditional kueh made famous again because of the show...
notice the huge porcelain plate behind me? it appeared in The Little Nyonya's final episode, that's how we figured that it was filmed in this restaurant :)
then we walked along the streets of Katong to explore the old houses.. the colours and designs really caught my heart.
if only my ancestors left us something like this! too bad, both my grandmas used to live in a Kampong and there's nothing left of it now!
imagine having a house with a history of more than 80 years.. and you can pass it down to your descendants. it's a shame to know that there's not much culture/tradition or old wares my mum can leave with me, and i probably will have ZERO culture or traditions to pass to my kids in future too??
anyways here's the restaurant where we had our Tok Pan-jang!! good atmosphere and it was very, very busy at the restaurant. dont know if this is the effect of the TV drama??
the restaurant was also selling lots of new year goodies.. yum!!
ok and lian's words came true.. our Tok Pan-jang (long table feast) became Tok Bulat (round table).. and it was a very big "bulat". damn it.. cannot recreate the "feel" of my Little Nyonya show
we ordered ALL the dishes that was mentioned in the TV show! we had Ikan Assam Pedas, Nyonya Chap Chye, Ayam Buah Keluak, Ngoh Heong and many more.. but most importantly.. BABI PONTEH!! this was Yue-niang's Mah Mah's favourite dish in the show, and it turned out to be our favourite dish of the night too! :) very, very nice.
after dinner we retreated to LL's place, and why is it not surprising that we put episodes after episodes of Little Nyonya on TV?! heh!
but of course, there is always time to pop a champagne. everyone's hopeful for a good year in 2009.
my favourite Moet & Chandon! it just tastes better, especially when you share it with friends whom you have known for more than a decade.
ok now the funny part of our celebration - we started gambling blackjack throughout the night. why is it that for a moment i thought it was the Chinese New Year? ahhaha.. funnY!
oh i think this is the part where Gin thought she was going to strike a blackjack!!... and she didnt. hee hee hee...
thankyou all.. for the wonderful night. i had fun discussing about Little Nyonya's story plot and singing pantun with you guys!
tri la li la la baba... tri la li la la nyon-ya!!!
this was the exact round table were yuenniang (jeanette-aw) and aunty xiujian (cynthia koh) sat! it was so much fun because there were people like lian and GW who loves The Little Nyonya series like me too!
on the 2nd floor you can also find a small retailing space selling nyonya wares and apparels
a display of spices used in peranakan cuisine
the babi ponteh we had at chilli padi was much better but the ikan assam pedas here at kim choo is tastier..
rempah udang, a traditional kueh made famous again because of the show...
then we walked along the streets of Katong to explore the old houses.. the colours and designs really caught my heart.
if only my ancestors left us something like this! too bad, both my grandmas used to live in a Kampong and there's nothing left of it now!
imagine having a house with a history of more than 80 years.. and you can pass it down to your descendants. it's a shame to know that there's not much culture/tradition or old wares my mum can leave with me, and i probably will have ZERO culture or traditions to pass to my kids in future too??
anyways here's the restaurant where we had our Tok Pan-jang!! good atmosphere and it was very, very busy at the restaurant. dont know if this is the effect of the TV drama??
we ordered ALL the dishes that was mentioned in the TV show! we had Ikan Assam Pedas, Nyonya Chap Chye, Ayam Buah Keluak, Ngoh Heong and many more.. but most importantly.. BABI PONTEH!! this was Yue-niang's Mah Mah's favourite dish in the show, and it turned out to be our favourite dish of the night too! :) very, very nice.
after dinner we retreated to LL's place, and why is it not surprising that we put episodes after episodes of Little Nyonya on TV?! heh!
but of course, there is always time to pop a champagne. everyone's hopeful for a good year in 2009.
my favourite Moet & Chandon! it just tastes better, especially when you share it with friends whom you have known for more than a decade.
ok now the funny part of our celebration - we started gambling blackjack throughout the night. why is it that for a moment i thought it was the Chinese New Year? ahhaha.. funnY!
oh i think this is the part where Gin thought she was going to strike a blackjack!!... and she didnt. hee hee hee...
thankyou all.. for the wonderful night. i had fun discussing about Little Nyonya's story plot and singing pantun with you guys!
i get to visit my taiwanese friends!!!! (havent seen them for like 5 years!)
and i get to do what I LOVE - taekwondo!! i taught in their TKD schools for a couple of days!
END OF CHINA TRIP! not coming back again for at least another 3 years!!! :)
and stay there till sunset...
sigh... and we did that for.. 2 days.
i never dared dream of going to the Olympics.. i probably would have made it to the Olympics if i wasn't trained in Singapore? hmm.. still, it's far beyond my imagination. although i did dreamed that i can represent Singapore in the Asian Games it was achieavable if i hadn't left the national team..hmm..
met up with XX to have our last dinner in Beijing, and walahh.. it was HOTPOT like AGAIN. gosh, i swear i'm not going to eat another hotpot until next Chinese New Year lor.
this t-shirt is one of the coolest buy it was just 15 RMB! walau!!!
of course must sing "One Night in Beijing" lah... 
next up, Hangzhou and Shanghai... then i am so done with China. heh.
this is like an arty farty lane with speciality shops and chillout cafes. i really like modern Chinese Art. it captivates me, maybe because i sort of could relate to them.
it's a good place to spend a lazy afternoon there, having brunch in a chillout cafe before going around the small little shops, there's something for everyone there.
it gets really busy even on weeknights so reservations are always encouraged. sipping on red/white wine before dinner whilst waiting for a table is really cool!!
we had a good chat and some decent wine before dinner, definitely made the wait much easier.
before long, we ordered our dishes and trust me, with this bunch of mates, we ALWAYS over order. but then again, maybe i'm the bad influence here??
dude, we ordered like two freaking Peking Ducks. not one but TWO! plus like 10 other dishes. (ok not ten, but close. haha) 
i really like to eat with them. they make the food taste much more delicious than it already is.
