A Halibut Burger

It has been an intense and long work week. I'm pretty fine physically since it wasn't that exhausting, but my brains are fried. Tonight I wasn't really hungry, but I needed to eat, of course. Wildfire Burgers do last orders at about 8.45pm. I had reports to draft later tonight, and would be working through the weekend. 

I went home to retrieve the dog and the husband and we toddled off to dinner. We got there in time for a satisfying meal. The husband went for a 200-g hanger steak. He likes how the kitchen fires it up. He had a side of roasted vegetables of mushrooms, zucchini and capsicums in balsamic glaze. He's still on his low-carb diet and wants plenty of protein. So this sort of food is perfect for him. But the cholesterol level is a question mark. 

The restaurant now offers nibbles for floofs too. That's a really nice touch. It's unseasoned patties with no oil or garlic or onions. It might be a bit fatty in terms of the cuts of meat — say, chicken thigh and wagyu beef. But if a few dogs share nibbles, it isn't an issue. Or if yours is a big dog whose stomach can manage the portions fine in relation to the patty eaten. I didn't bother ordering for Choya. She's not allowed these cuts and she doesn't bother to eat outdoors either. 

I didn't feel like having cooked vegetables tonight. Hehhehe. I had a regular chopped Caesar's. I didn't want beef or a beef burger. The restaurant offers up a fish burger that suited my stomach. They use a delicious beer-battered Norwegian black halibut. But tonight, I didn't want buns. Opted for a low-carb version with lettuce. It was delicious. 

Noodles & Soups at Nooodon

This is a totally new-to-us hood and area — The Shoppes at The Venue Residences at Tai Thong Crescent. It's quite amazing how many casual eateries there are in the area. That's a great concept because the chain restaurants aren't here, and the smaller eateries cater to exactly what people want to eat. For example, Springleaf Prata, Hoe Nam Prawn Noodles flagship store and Nat's Chicks that moved from Chinatown to Tai Thong.  

We have stopped by Nooodon for a few times now. Last orders at 8.10pm or so. Get there before that. We usually sit outdoors with our portable fans. Never go by on a weekend unless you want to wait up to an hour for your food. At peak, the kitchen has limited capacity to churn out bowls fast when orders come in 4 to 10 pax per table. 

Yes, there're plenty of noodles on the menu, including their bak chor mee and such. Our friends told us to skip the dumplings and all versions of kimchi noodles and soup. We've wisely followed that advice and never bothered with those. Their dashi is okay too, so I assume the udon soup-whatever versions would be fine.  

We like its spinach and egg soup, and the bittergourd soup. Their soup base is lovely, unlike the rubbish powdered stock used at many of the stalls at the kopitiams and food courts. The husband prefers the spinach soup, quite exclusively. I like the bittergourd soup, and especially enjoy the broth, and all the fishballs and meatballs. We'll just add on a slab of tofu if we want extra protein. 

Mocktails & A Beach Clean-Up!

Bundled up the dog and went to Pasir Ris Beach to join Ocean Purpose Project (OPP) for the morning for their reception to mark the closing of Singapore Maritime Week. 

Ocean Purpose Project is a lot more than just doing beach clean-ups and planting TCM and Ayurvedic herbs in its eco-garden. The chillies and bittergourd and all are happily flourishing. I'm so glad they've got this little plot of land allocated by our National Parks Board (NParks). 

It was a good turn-out. We did a short 20-minute beach clean-up. We've done countless beach clean-ups, which literally means bending over to pick up litter brought in by the currents. It's a never-ending job because our oceans are soooo polluted.

I gotta admit I didn't really pick up litter. I had to hang on to Choya. It isn't conducive for her to be walking in all that litter and sharp bits, or hot sand. I had to make sure she didn't get heatstroke. I delegated the husband to do my part. The dog was in charge of supervising the humans, looking cute, and I was just her minder. Heh. 

Choya was soooo pleased to be rolling around and sniffing all these new-to-her and new-old smells. She identifies places by smells, so when this is a spot that she doesn't come often, she goes crazy. She also loves the beach. She totally enjoyed chilling out with us in this manner. 

But OMG, Choya's licking. Grrrrr. Clostridium strains are heavy in decaying leaves and marine sediments. I had to clean her up thoroughly, but I was still frightened by the idea of her mushy poop for the next two days. (It wasn't too bad. It was foul-smelling; some clostridium spores activated, but very manageable.)

After the hot-hot-hot bits, we retreated to OPP's little hangout. There were house-made pesto with bread. NOMS. The pesto was super garlicky. Loved it. Went well with small bites of bread. I loved the mojitos that they served up. The sea grapes were sooooo cool. (It is an algae.) I loved that salty tang. It was a mocktail, to be specific. This was at 11.30am. Too early for alcohol. The mocktails were "crafted with seaweed, sea grapes, and herbs grown using our own seaweed fertiliser — part of Singapore’s first seaweed blue carbon sequestration site under UN Ocean Action (Project Tanah Air)".

It was also meant to be a networking thing. You know me. I left it to the husband to do so; he returned with a big bag of garbage, as much weight as it could hold. I watched the dog, and chilled. After all, I would be networking next week at a conference, and I would have no choice but to be social. So that would be sufficient for me.