Christmas Eve High Tea by Pastry & Baking class

On Christmas Eve, for the first time in my life, I stepped into the ITE College West for a fabulous Christmas Eve High Tea event organized by my brother's, Leon's, Pastry & Baking class - PJ5114. His class hosted this event and spent like a week just to get the menu set, to get the pastries baked and finally, to present their masterpieces to us, family members - how sweet right~~

My father and I arrived at the campus in the afternoon and found ourselves up to Level 4 of one of the many sleek looking buildings of the school. I tell you~ I had never imagined an ITE college to look any better than any other universities or polytechnics! College West's architectural design blew my mind off because it was so gorgeous! If you have a chance, do visit it one day! I believe Ang Mo Kio is building a similarly inspiring college just opposite the old school too~

We were ushered by Leon and his friendly classmates - all excited and beaming at the arrival of us, VIPs. :D They brought us to their demonstration room which is like a classroom just that instead of the classic table and whiteboard in front of the class, they had an oven and a kitchen table! Really cool!

Along the way, we saw this really huge Western kitchen! It's as though you've just walked into a MasterChef kitchen because I had never seen anything like this before! The students really did a fabulous job keeping the area so literally sparkling clean! Doesn't this kitchen make you feel like you want to cook in there?

Another shot of the same kitchen. All the equipment look top notch, no? They have things like the pasta making machine too! I want one but I don't know where to get one!! But again, I don't think I can afford it because they look really expensive~

That was the Western kitchen which had nothing much to do with my brother's course because his is into pastries and baking as opposed to meats and other stuff. This is his heaven - a pastry kitchen equipped with professional mixers, fridges under their metal benches, ovens, commercial giant mixers, etc. Whatever you need to build a cake, they have it there! So extremely cool, no? :D Maybe one day, I shall go there to study... Hee hee~ But I think I'm overage...

Presenting to you my brother on the right of this shot with a spoon and fork in his hands. After walking around the campus on a "tour", we were brought into the metallic kitchen you see above and welcomed by the vibrant spread across a bench. What a contrast! All these colorful goodies are made in this kitchen which seems intimidating and unwelcoming but it's these little chefs that commands the kitchen to bring the human side out of it.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOD?! Well here they are~! The spread was awesome! Whatever kind of pastries you can think of, they did it and probably even better! These little finger thingies sprinkled with pistachios are obviously not banana cakes. I forgot what they are called but I know it starts with a "F". All these food are created FROM SCRATCH by the students. Aren't they amazing?!

This is probably the tastiest 5-star grade classic baked cheesecake I had ever ate in my entire life! Although the cheese is dense, the flavor is not overpowering like the ones you get outside. The flavors are well balanced so that you do not get sick and tired of eating the cake after your first few bites. It sure doesn't looked baked because the color is sickly beautiful but it is! And do you want to meet the chef who created this masterpiece?

TA DA! My brother may not be good at Math but he's damn good at making a perfectly calculated and balanced cheesecake that everyone had to go for seconds. In fact, at the end of the whole event where there were some left, his classmates were fighting for his cake. Well~ At least he managed to bring one home for me to enjoy. Are y'all jealous? :D

More delicious sweets - in pictures. This is their Christmas reinterpretation of the classic strawberry shortcake in the form of the Christmas log cake. Really creative no? The students and their head chef really went all out in terms of creativity, bringing old classics and giving them a Christmas twist to everything to make sure that we are feasting on top quality desserts.

Eclairs anyone? Instead of the typical chocolate ones, they made different flavors like vanilla and strawberry. The color, however, is not as flattering even though the eclairs taste fantastic. This eclair looks like it's stuffed with fish cake instead of vanilla cream though - you know the ones they have at yong tao fu stores? Well at least the other eclairs look nicer.

Bet this strawberry mousse cake makes those people who are allergic to strawberry hate their allergies even more because the smooth mousse is really amazing! These students may be pastry chefs but they are artists as well in terms of arrangement of their toppings and compositions. Nowadays, people eat with their eyes and if they do not possess the eye for aesthetics, no one will give two hoots to their creations, yes?

One of the "WOW" dishes for the day - a Black Forest reinterpretation! Leon told me that when they were going through their menu, they realized that there were way too make cakes so they decided to recreate some of the classics into little pieces of art like the one you see here. In a small saucer, you get really nice cream with a huge cherry topped with bits of cake, silky chocolate mousse and a blueberry. You can literally finish this thing in one mouth but you will definitely go for seconds because it's so good!

For the first time in my life, I finally had those highly acclaimed macaroons! They are really soft on the outside and creamy on the inside. I've heard that macaroons are one of the hardest things to make because they are so delicate. Picking them up with your fingers can create dents on the hamburger buns if you exert too much strength. The student who made these is really skillful in the sense that all the macaroons are replicas of each other and their buns look so smooth and flawless. Fantastic job~

At first, you might think this is another eclair but when you put it into your mouth, this innocent looking thing exclaims that it's a donut coated with chocolate and sprinkled with rainbow sparkles. Another reinterpretation of another classic which I thought was a genius idea because of the surprise element in taste. Looks are sooooo deceiving! Who said a donut has to have a hole in it?

This is definitely one of my favorites of the entire day - fruit tarts! Instead of putting these fresh fruits into the tart molds, they topped them onto these bite size biscuits. I'm truly amazed at their creativity because they really brought pastry art to a whole new level with their non-stop innovations and creative ideas. This tart has a story behind why it was made so though... My brother told me that they were out of tart molds so they created biscuit instead. But~ When you put the whole thing into your mouth, it tastes exactly like a fruit tart! That's the magic in these little monster~

Got to love these cupcakes because they have my favorite maraschino cherries on these freshly made cream! Of course they do not use these cream out of a can~ They made them all! These cakes are really yummy and at the base of each cake, you get a little surprise as well, depending on which flavor you are having. The chocolate version has a chunk of melted chocolate at the base and it was al-so-sinful!

Throughout the whole thing, the students had to make sure that all the guests have something to eat and they have to constantly top up the buffet table. Here's Leon and his chef discussing something. His chef, from what I heard, is actually a pastry master at Marina Bay Sands and is quite acclaimed. It's good to know that these chefs are taking their time to impart their skills to others who are as passionate as he is. See those chocolate tarts on the tray? They are the loves as well!!

Had to take this photo of Leon with his best friend in class - the mixer. Each student is equipped with their own bench and gosh it's not like the secondary school's pathetic home econs where you had to share an entire work space. Due to the nature of their assignments, pastry chefs need a huge surface area to work on - the dough needs space, the equipment needs space, they need space! I really want to see how the class works during a normal school day though~ They should totally invite us to witness one day~

Got to give these aspiring chefs a huge round of applause and a huge THANK YOU for their marvelous job creating my favorite part of an entire meal - the desserts! This is Leon's class and probably future working colleagues if they continue to pursue their passion in cooking. Now, are you amazed at what they teach at school nowadays? Not only do you gain knowledge, you get sweet treats every other day! Best course to be in ever!!


Hope y'all are feeling hungry and extremely jealous of what I got to eat that day. I had to say that the creations that they made were so inspiring, I couldn't stop taking photos of them. As a photographer, you need subjects that inspire and they really inspired me - the students and their creations. Maybe I shall study food photography even more because they are so fun to photograph~

Shall end here! Certainly hope that I will get another opportunity to witness more creations from these people because I have to say, I had a really sweet Christmas Eve this year thanks to them. :)

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Lady Gaga - Born This Way The Collection

Sometimes I wonder why the artistes like to release their studio albums again and again in different versions over a span of time - like what Lady Gaga is doing this time round with her multi-platinum album "Born This Way".

Because of this collection box, I have 2 copies of "Born This Way" on my shelf. Not to mention, I also have 2 copies of "The Fame" as well because it came with "The Fame Monster". Marketing strategy? I'm confused, honestly, because I don't need so many copies of the same thing, yes?

Anyway, back to the topic. "Born This Way - The Collection" was released last month on the 21st. Uh huh~ Another belated post but hey~ I don't have time to go shopping often you know. Furthermore, this collection box was delayed in Singapore due to some weird issues but at least we still managed to get it.

And... After a long time since I blogged about CDs, it's time for the photos... :)

Presenting to you Mother Monster's latest release - Born This Way The Collection!! Basically, this box set contains 2 CDs and 1 DVD and these are her studio album, the remix album of her studio album and her Monster Ball Tour performed at Madison Square Garden (where ever that place may be...) The reason why I bought this box set is simple - I LOVE THE COVER! I have no clue what Gaga is covered in but it's just aesthetically pleasing to my eyes~

However, if you feel like you do not want to spend S$49.90 (hmv) / S$45.90 (MJ Multimedia) on something which you already have - the studio album, you can buy the remix album and the DVD or Blu-ray versions of the Monster Ball Tour separately. The remix album costs around 14 bucks while the Blu-ray is at a surprisingly affordable price of S$29.90. DVD's going at S$27.90. Gosh!! I'm so proud of myself for being able to remember all the prices!! Anyway, here's the how the back of the gorgeous off-white cardboard box look like.

Here are the spines of the cardboard sleeves which are used to hold the discs - my most hated packaging ever because it's flimsy and provides minimal protection to the discs. Furthermore, when you shake the whole box, which I wouldn't recommend unless you want scratched discs, you can hear that annoying loose disc sound. Design wise, it works. Practicality, no way.

The other side of the box. Kinda reminds you of ayumi hamasaki's A BEST 2 -WHITE- yeah? Font choices, color choices and all...

As expected, when you pull out the cardboard sleeves from the outer case, you see each respective disc contained in the appropriate sleeves with the corresponding album art. If only they used jewel cases instead of cardboard sleeves like what they did to P!NK's "The Album Collection".

Instead of spelling it out in your face, you have to either explore the contents of these cardboard sleeves or be as knowledgeable as me to recognize each album art to know which sleeve contains what. From left to right, we have the Monster Ball Tour DVD, the remix album and lastly, the studio album in its same, scary cover. I think the covers actually look quite good without the titles on it - keeps the cover cleaner.

Let's start with the Born This Way - The Remix. I'm not a huge fan of remixes and I honestly have no idea how this album will sound like because I have yet to listen to it but at least the cover looks better than the motorcycle monster that we see on her regular versions of her album. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm actually buying her photos or buying her music because obviously, I'm more interested in the covers than the remixes of Born This Way.

At least the track list looks pretty good, with songs that I like for instance You and I, Judas, Scheiße, Marry the Night, etc. Well, that's basically the whole studio album that I like, no? :P I just hope that the remixes are not those trashy ones with more electro music than there is actually singing.

The CD peeping out from the cardboard case. Nothing really special about the disc.

Here we have the studio album, Born This Way - the reason why this entire box set could see the lights in the CD shop. Still features the scary Gaga with her bloody red lipstick and her eyes staring right down into your soul, as if seeking out your darkest secrets and your deepest fears...

At the back of this sleeve, you are also greeted with the album art of the regular version of Born This Way - the motorcycle-thing. Seriously, I still don't get this motorcycle madness because no matter how hard I try, it doesn't relate to the theme of the album. Well, unless Gaga is trying to say that she's born a motorcycle then I have nothing much to go against that creative.

Unlike the remix sleeve, this sleeve allows you to open it up like a book. The right side of the sleeve stores the lyric booklet and the left side holds the CD itself.

Here's how the studio album looks like with the CD and the lyric booklet. If you are keen on peeping into the lyric booklet, be sure to drop by my previous post on the deluxe version of the album by clicking HERE. Well, come to think of it, I did not exactly get the same thing. The deluxe version comes with a bonus disc but the collection one features only the album itself. Okay~ Enough of the reaffirmation talk...

OH YES!! In case you're wondering if The Collection copy of Born This Way is censored or not, it unfortunately is. What a letdown! I was hoping that it wasn't censored because I saw the Parental Advisory and M18 sticker but oh well... Don't think they will release the uncensored version any sooner with suckers like me buying copies after copies in hopes of getting the raw one.

Here's the part where I'm most interested in - the Monster Ball Tour sleeve! This is the first English artiste concert DVD to make it into my collection because it's conveniently sold in this box set. I'm more interested in Japanese concerts than English ones because they are more dramatic but since this is Gaga, dramatic is an understatement. The cover features Mother Monster's boobs on fire - who would have thought of that other than Katy Perry, no?

The back of the cover. Did you know that the Parental Advisory label, or in Singapore, the M18 sticker, is "awarded" to this box set due to the concert DVD? Wow... That means that this concert must pack helluva things to make it adult-rated. I have yet to watch it but I definitely will tomorrow when the sun is up, in case the concert gives me a nightmare.

By the way, lucky for me, the M18 sticker is stuck onto the plastic wrap of the album so if you buy this album locally (by locally, I mean Singapore), you can get rid of the M18 sticker by just removing the plastic wrap - easy peasy~~ No hairdryer and baby oil~

Similar to the studio album's sleeve, this sleeve allows you to open it up like a booklet and apologies for my stupidity because I just realized I missed out the shot of her climbing onto a car - the image that you see when you open the sleeve up. Anyway, the Monster Ball sleeve comes with the DVD as well as a booklet of pictures.

Out of all the three discs, this is the nicest looking one because it has fireworks on it.

A close up on the front page of the Monster Ball photo booklet.

The back of the photo booklet featuring a tamer version of Gaga.

Well, just to entice you to go to your nearest CD store to get your own copy of this collection box, I shall post some random shots from the photo booklet. From the booklet, you can tell that throughout the concert, she changed costumes again and again - just like the rest of the Japanese pop stars. Really excited to go watch it tomorrow~ And notice that finger? That small gesture might have been the reason why this collection box is M18.

I love the outfit on the left~

Gaga loves her spikes, no?


Well overall, I would say that this box set is worth your money because...

A) You love the cover like I do because finally, it's not just black and white - it has colors and goo and things that makes you go "What on earth is that~?!"

B) You're a collector like I am

C) You're a Baby Gaga like myself

D) You don't have the studio album (shame on you!!) and you want to redeem yourself from the embarrassment by getting yourself a copy then this collection box would definitely be fantastic for you

E) You like the packaging as much as I do despite the flimsy cardboard sleeves

F) Come on! It's only S$49.90 for 3 discs! That's extremely cheap as compared to the rest of my Japanese CDs!

GAGA) Because you love Monster Mother~ :)



Well, that's all I have to cover for Born This Way The Collection. Let's see if this post can bring up my viewership for this month higher because I'm pretty sure it will. I realized that any post with "Gaga" in it is a sure hit. Let's see then~!! :D

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Sizzler - Suntec City, Singapore

I'm finally back in Singapore after my FORTY DAYS WAR in Australia and yes, this blog had been doing nothing other than collecting dust for the past month. Well, it's really difficult to be blogging proper in Australia considering that the internet is pretty unstable and that I wasn't in the right frame of mind to write properly anyway.

Australia was dreadful. Didn't really like the second part of my exercise but I must say that the first part of it was pretty memorable with my IS platoon mates. Shows that working with people who you are familiar with and people who aren't always haunting you for things that are not even supposed to be under your charge really makes the working environment different.

Anyway, this post is not meant to be a rant of how much I enjoyed/dreaded Australia but for my first meal other than fast food in Singapore since I've returned and I had my lunch yesterday at Sizzler!

YES!! People had been telling me that the Sizzler in Australia is really awesome because the steak is obscenely large but unfortunately, due to time constraints as well as budget (P.S. I only brought like AU$230 there), I couldn't really enjoy their Sizzler. I saw their advertisement on TV though.

Well pardon the obvious distortions of this photo but yeap. A Sizzler actually exists in Singapore, well hidden behind an escalator the moment you walk into Tower B from the Wheel of Wealth (I was meant to say Fortune) in Suntec City. There's another one at Toa Payoh so maybe one day, I'll go there because Sizzler is really good! SALADS!!

Here I am in Singapore enjoying something that Australia has too but so what? I prefer to eat in the comfort of my own country and my own company. Firstly, it's so much cheaper because of the currency and secondly, the portions should be just fine for my tiny stomach. We had the lunch time deal which basically means you pick a lunch entree and you will be able to enjoy the salad bar, soups, desserts (fruits and sundaes) and a drink. How economical!

Since it was a weekday yesterday and that kids normally do not want to eat anything else other than free chicken McNuggets, the restaurant was relatively empty. There were a bunch of slightly older ladies sitting one of the tables in this photo, preaching at their daughters regarding their studies and causing lots of distractions to my dining experience but other than that, all was well.

I love Sizzler for the fact that they have a whole salad bar in the middle of the restaurant filled with an assortment of greens and other delicious but healthy goodies. Doesn't the bar look so inviting in the photo above?

A close up on the tropical fruits served on platters placed on a lots of ice. This is also officially the first time I see dragon fruits being served in a buffet other than the standard oranges, pineapples, apples, watermelons, etc. Bet you can't get such an array in Australia, yes? :)

The salad bar is filled with different things to decorate your greens with ranging from cherry tomatoes, crushed boiled eggs, cheese, ham, beans and others. Of course, if you are lazy like how I was feeling yesterday, you could always go for those that are well tossed for you. They had Caesar salad and some other seafood ones yesterday. I wonder if they change their menus now and then though...

I always start buffets with a serving of greens because the entrees are normally deprived of vegetables. People call me crazy but I love my veggies~~ Furthermore, with so much to choose from, how can you not be tempted? Unless you're a carnivore then you probably should go to Carnivore (check out my opinions of that meat buffet - click on the word!!) instead of coming to Sizzler to stretch your dollars.

My salad of the day - Caesar salad topped with broccoli, mushrooms and cheese. BROCCOLI!! :) Should have added some ham to it but I think I missed it because I didn't fully explore the whole salad bar because I was lazy. :(

I suppose the lunch deals come with these cheesy toast because we didn't ask for these but the gesture of surprising us with something that's seemingly free is a really kind gesture and what I would say good customer service. Well, that's assuming that these are indeed free and provided out of the goodwill of the restaurant. Anyway, these toasts are amazing because they are so thick and soft~ Sinful!!

I did mention soups previously, yes? They had tom yam soup, cream of mushroom and cream of chicken yesterday and I picked the mushroom one because... there are mushroom inside? I wonder if they vary the soups each day though... Would be good to see other things like vegetable soup. Gosh the meat lovers will hate me~ :P

You can tell that these soup aren't like the ones you get elsewhere because of the ingredients they use inside. Just look at how big that chicken chunk is! What we did was to use the ladle to go all the way down to the bottom of the cauldron to fish for these goodies. Even their mushrooms come in huge chunks! Really delightful~

A serving method of the cheesy toast - if you're interested in knowing how I had mine. TIP: Do not dip the whole toast like what I did in the photo above because you will taste more soup than bread. Exercise a bit of common sense because I really lacked those yesterday. :S

Now here comes the real deal of the day - the entree. I had steak served with a mushroom dipping sauce which actually has a mushroom inside and accompanied with the crispiest fries you will ever find! The fries are to die for - crispy on the outside and so so so soft on the inside! Furthermore, the skin of the potatoes are still on it and gosh I love those parts!

I always have my steaks done medium-well and at Sizzler, they have these little toothpick thingies pricked onto your meats to tell you how they are done. Honestly, I don't really know how to tell they are done because I trust the chefs to know what they are doing. The steak isn't as monstrous as what I thought it would be but it will suffice, considering that I stuffed my face with other goodies from the salad bar.

Honestly, the steak isn't a big WOW factor of the restaurant but it's still amazing anyway. It's soft and succulent. The sauce is a surprise though - creamy but light in flavor, not those oily ones that you find in hawker centers or other cheap places. Because it's so light, you can actually taste the goodness of the beef and enjoy the texture of the dead cow (oops - how unappetizing). Nevertheless, it's still really good if you don't like things to be too heavy.

To keep things slightly lower in calories and fat, I went for the iced lemon tea even though honestly, I doubt it makes much of a difference because these tea still has a high sugar content and is fattening anyway. At least as compared to Coke, Sprite and Grape, I think it's the healthiest, no?

After stuffing my face with the fabulous steak and *holy sound* fries, we had, that's right, DESSERT! My favorite part of any meal! Though Sizzler is not like JustAcia where you get to pick from tons of different flavors, you are still offered the basics - soft served chocolate and vanilla ice cream. On top of that, you are also offered an array of toppings and sauces to decorate your dessert to satisfy that sweet cavity of yours. For my vanilla soft serve, I topped it with chocolate sauce, chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, crushed peanuts and raisins. That's basically everything...

Well, other than the rainbow sprinkles because I don't really like those but you're free to top your ice cream with them. Other than the toppings, you have chocolate, strawberry and caramel sauces at your disposal. You can really get fat at Sizzler because of the things they serve you but it's definitely worth it!

Here's my second serving of ice cream! One serving is never enough! For this one, I had the mixed soft serve (chocolate+vanilla) topped with everything but the rainbow sprinkles. Those sprinkles are good for donuts but not for ice cream in my opinion because they tend to stain the cream and make it look funny.

Well, that's about all the photos I have for Sizzler. Overall, we spent almost 50 dollars on a lunch meal but I say it's really worth it. 50 dollars for a meal is actually not that pricey (though it's definitely above average) as compared to Carnivore's 90 dollars.The quality of the food is remarkable, the selection is vast and everything's pretty value for money. Well, that only applies if you're having the lunch deals - the dinner ones burn holes in pockets.

Conclusion: RECOMMENDED!! I will go there again next time to try something else~

Time to end yet another mouth-watering post (blogging about food makes me hungry)~ But before that...

Since I've been mentioning that Australia has a Sizzler as well as Singapore, yes? Now, I realized that Australia and Singapore have more than that in common when I realized that Singapore has a Payless Shoe store as well~ When we visited this in Australia, we were confused because apparently, the shoes were arranged by their sizes so to pick a shoe you want, you have to search via your size. Weird way of shopping for shoes but we believed it to be the Australian's way. Looks like they are invading Singapore too. :)

Well, that's all! I'm still editing the film that I shot at Australia reeeeeeaaaaaaallllllllllyyyyyyyy slowly so please be patient ya? :)

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