Gorgeous Butter Cookies

There are some snacks I do it, especially when they're savory, like belinjo crackers. I generally skip sugar, although I'm quite fond of dark chocolate or butter cookies. When you add sea salt the mix, it's irresistible.

There're so many versions of butter cookies. It's subjective. I do not like those from Jenny or anything that's Kjeldsens or Danisa 'Danish butter cookies'. I like those closer to a galette. Oddly, this little brand called 'St Michel Galettes' which are easily available at the supermarkets, are to my taste. 

J gave me a box of butter cookies from Mon Gateau by Chef Then Chui Foong. Now, these are gorgeous. Great butter used, along with a delicate crunch. That smell of butter is heavenly and isn't nauseating the way cheap butter deteriorates into. They're not greasy and not that sweet. 

I love these butter cookies. They're crumbly, so I put them in fridge. I tend to put everything in the fridge anyway. I don't want them out on the counter in this heat and humidity. Once chilled, they're still melt-in-my-mouth, but not in one second. Heh. 

Small Bites at Orihara Shoten

I'm so glad that when Roberston Walk was slated for demolition and redevelopment, Orihara Shoten stayed in the area and simply moved across to Mohamed Sultan road. It has been here for about six months. I would not like it if it moved out of this area. This is such a great location for me to get to. 

The outdoor patio is so lovely and unhurried, unlike the tables at the corridor. The foot traffic sometimes bother me a little. The izakaya literally watched Choya grow up and bore with all her antics. In the new location, she has her favorite table, and the regal little floof takes her place in her favorite corner. 

Stopped by that night with V for dinner. Easy highballs, and delicious bites. We could eat as much or as little as we wanted. I was hungry and wanted a bowl of rice. I've not had it for a while, but my body has been craving rice these two weeks. So I gave in to a fluffy boy tonight.

I like ika shiokara (fermented squid) in small doses, and this menu's $3 small bowls work for me. I randomly had a craving for cooked liver topped with a raw egg. So I had that too, along with stir-fried shishito peppers with kelp. They go so well with whisky.

The oden was completely unnecessary, but so yummy. Remind me to order three items instead of six next time. Of course I ate my rice with chicken hearts! Wheeeeee. Happiness. For added nutrition, I ordered chilled tomato, quail eggs, gingko nuts and mushrooms. Heh. 

Chilling Out at Empress Lawn

I have a fair bit of work to do at Singapore Art Week that's still going on, but I'm glad I can have Choya come along for many events. One of them is the 10th edition of 'Light to Night Singapore'. Over two evenings last week, the Good Pet Fair hosted the festival's first-ever 'Pet Weekend' at Empress Lawn in the Civic District, featuring 'low-noise' performances and 21 vendors selling pet items, as well as food and drinks for humans.

We didn't intend to have dinner here, and actually took a late lunch so that we wouldn't be hungry while checking out the area, and I got my hosting duties done. How long we stayed would be dependent on how comfortable Choya would be. We stayed on quite bit. We hung out near the pods (lit when night fell) on Empress Lawn. These sculptural pods are done by Weixin Quek Chong, titled 'Instar Dreaming (in slow wave)', part of the 'SANTAI' series of installations across five locations by various artists including Amanda Chong and Michael Lin, Firdaus Sani, Syahmin Huda, and the duo Amanda Tan and Irsyad Ishak.

Choya enjoyed the transition of well, light to night — from the 6pm sunset hues to nightfall. She wasn't perturbed by crowds or humans, or other dogs and cats. She happily chilled out on the nice grass. Choya was absolutely comfortable tonight. She just didn't like the drums very much.  

Of course I advocated for her. My RBF ensured that not many people would come near. At our timing, and where we were perched, most pet owners were respectful of our space and kept their dogs on leash and away from Choya. The ones who did approach, asked for permission or got the vibes right. Heh. Choya didn't mind those floofs who approached.  

Besides hanging out and checking out the going-ons and flood-watching, we also watched projections on the iconic Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall, we also took a stroll over to National Gallery, then back to The Arts House. The projections on the heritage buildings are always lovely to watch, to see what the artists created come to life in a big way. 

These light projections across the buildings are always a sight to behold. Even Choya was fascinated and she took in all the changing colors and patterns. And we should know the artists behind them. We have, National Gallery Singapore: 'Ansiblomoo' by Fyerool Darma (fiber-optic ecosystems) and 'Memory Gesture' by Ngoc Nau (Vietnam agriculture), The Arts House: 'Larut’s Tears' by Gerimis Art Project and Youngsook Choi, and 'Start Here: From Every Vantage Point', Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall: 'Flower Power' by Noah Tan and Dr. Azariah Tan.