Thursday, November 28, 2013

Juicy Fruity Diet Day 3!

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Officially the last day of juice diet but I will be having lunch today (farewell lunch for a colleague) and gonna have some carbs intake before bootcamp tonight. 

Juice for the morning and post lunch juice.


- 1 box of spinach 
- 5 sticks of celery
- 4 green apples
- 2 carrots
- 1 lemon

Blend the spinach with hand blender and some water...


Beautiful dark green of goodness..


Refreshing and just the right amount of sweetness. Delish!

Lunch today was actually quite sinful. Mutton briyani and some share dishes to share. 


Body adjusted back to solid food without any issues and I feel full easily. Bowel movement no problem at all! *Sorry but important to know!*

Had a slow jog (2km) to bootcamp and the session today was pretty routine but it feels tough!!! Before our last run, I had a white flash of blur vision for a few good seconds. First time that happened to me in bootcamp so it was slightly freaky. Recovered well after so all back to business.


- 1 handful of wheat grass
- 6 celery (I really like celery)
- 1 green apple
- 2 golden kiwi
- 1 dragon fruit

Feeling a bit fancy tonight to celebrate the 3rd day milestone. And so... We blend the kiwi, set aside. Blend the wheat grass with some water and juice everything. Add the kiwi blend into the amazing concoction and it taste like a dessert. Looks amazing, crunchy and yummy!










Juicy Fruity Diet Day 2, Late PM + Night

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3pm: Fading a bit more than yesterday I have to admit. Have to make a trip to the juice bar. Thought I could tolerate till 4 but losing concentration at work. 


Green power to the rescue! Spinach, apples and lemon. Refreshing, did the trick. 

After 8 juices, I really wanted some hot and healthy so I made a trip to the supermarket to pick up some vegetables. Let's have soup tonight!!


- 6 sticks of celery
- 3 carrots
- 2-3 onions
- 1 broccoli
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 bag of spinach

Dice up everything and stir fry for 5-10 minutes. 


Top up with water, two vegetable cubes (optional) and add in spinach when water starts to boil. 

Purée with a hand blender. There you go, liquid happiness!




Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Juicy Fruity Diet Day 2, AM + Early PM

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Exactly 24 hours later, my weight plunged 2kg. In one day, I'm back to my pre Birthday celebration weight (which I've celebrated for over a week)!! Woohoo! Still too early to rejoice so let's keep the juice diet going strong.

Woke up today feeling pretty decent, nothing shouts hungry. Must be body adjusting well. Took my usual multivitamins and there's a bottle of oolong tea (known to be good for dieting) so why not? *gulped, gulped*

Alright for breakfast and early lunch, let's experiment with new goodies.


2 servings: 

- 1 small box of blueberries
- 1 dragon fruit
- 1 handful of wheat grass
- 2 carrots
- 3 cucumbers


Blended the blueberries and wheat grass as they don't juice very well and then poured it into the juicer (am I doing it right?) and taadaa....! What a gorgeous color.


I threw in an orange for the PM serving to get more juice and I'm definitely enjoying the creativity (or randomness)!

Noon Updates
Had the second serving of power juice around noon and feeling a bit hungry but still quite energetic. I wonder if its the daily dosage of biotin supplement (energy production, increase metabolism and improves hair + nails) that's kicking in or effects from detoxification. Couldn't mingle much with colleagues in the pantry while they are having lunch or I will steal a bite or two from their lunch boxes! And they think I'm crazy doing just juice even when it's just for a few days.

Gonna go groceries shopping again tonight. It's quite crazy how much stuff you've got to get thru the juicer to get such a small volume of juice. Karen will be tagging along and doing juice dinner together before our piano class. Yay peer support!!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Juicy Fruity Diet Day 1, Night

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Mum decided to join in the juice diet so I doubled the portion tonight. We have something orange :)

- 6/8 sticks of celery
- 2 green apples
- 3 carrots
- 4 cucumbers
- 2 kiwis
- 1/2 pineapple

Not too sweet and has a very clear taste. 

Day one accomplished! My stomach was growling like embarrassing loud when I was in my facial appointment just now. The hunger pangs was rather unbearable for a short moment but passed easily. 

I stepped on the weighing scales 24 hours after my first weigh in. And guess what? 1.freaking7 kg, gone. Water/weight loss or rah rah rah. Let's see what happens tomorrow and day after. 

If this diet plan works, I'm so gonna adopt it pre/post Christmas and Chinese New Year baby! 

Juicy Fruity Diet Day 1, Late PM

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3PM alert! Ok, this might sound crazy but I am NOT hungry. It's not raining today but I'm feeling a bit chilly in office. Might be body temperature adjusting to the new diet. Slight headache, drop in energy level and it's a familiar feeling when I started the south beach diet. So all manageable.

Off to the nearby juice bar for some energy refill.



Beet, green apple and star fruit. Pretty nice color and taste good. Ok... Juice diet isn't too bad for now. I admit I was really skeptical to start with. Drinking juice still feels a bit miserable but I shall keep my chin up as the mindset is the utmost important factor in a diet. Commercial juice bar adds too much ice and it's brr....... cold.... Gonna brew a hot green tea now!

Juicy Fruity Diet Day 1, Early PM

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I survived till 11:15AM. Surprisingly, even though I am feeling a bit buzzed, I am not desperately hungry. 

Recapping the recipe for afternoon juice:

A pineapple a day

- 1/2 pineapple
- A bit of ginger (trying to jazz things up a little)
- 1 carrot
- 1-2 sticks of celery
- 1 green apple

 Keeping the juice in a thermal flask actually works out well. The temperature isn't too cold for a chilly office environment and does not make you feel more miserable.

The ginger jazzed up the drink quite well and I think I should incorporate more celery into my drinks since I like the taste and it is super healthy. Sweetness from the carrot and pineapple, zinc from ginger, a bit of tart, tanginess from the celery. This recipe is a keeper.

Updates from late lunch in a bit.

Juicy Fruity Diet Day 1 AM

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After yesterday's brief introduction with a simple juice dinner. Today let's officially kick start day 1 of juicy fruity diet! For 3 days, I'm only allow fruit and vegetable juice and some portion of fruits. I am pretty sure there's sufficient vitamins with the pile of fresh produce I'm having but I'll take my usual dose of multi vitamins just in case anyway.

How am I feeling now? 
I've been trying to eat healthy, reduced carbs and sugar. I can survive without rice, noodles, soda drinks and junk food with dedicated effort up to 6 days a week. But obviously I've been cheating for a while since I only see toning up but no weight loss. Nevertheless foundation to survive a new diet plan shouldn't be a problem.  

After one replacement dinner, I have to say weight is never the accurate benchmark to indicate your progress but it was rather encouraging to see a drop of 1kg overnight. Water loss yeah yeah I know. 

Felt hungry.... Didn't help when you engaged in an interesting culinary chat with a friend who's so passionate about food. Sous vide pork... Yeah I'm talking about you... Grr.... 

Night one. No problem. So let's start the actual fun! 



Gonna go orange for breakfast and early lunch today. I will take a big glass of juice before heading to work and second glass of juice around 11. 

For breakfast, I'm gonna have:

Orange Brekkie (Stupid name I know, will try to come up with more creative names. If I have the energy... :P)
- 2 carrots
- 1 green apple
- 1 red apple
- 2 sticks of celery



This is something I will order at a juice bar, taste wise, I find it a bit too sweet for me. (I can't take too sweet stuff) Should have used all green apples. But still yum. 

For early orange lunch,

A pineapple a day (See... I'm trying)

- 1/2 pineapple
- A bit of ginger (trying to jazz things up a little)
- 1 carrot
- 1-2 sticks of celery
- 1 green apple



Didn't perform taste test, leaving the surprise for later. So thermal flask and gonna pop it in the fridge when I reach office. Will update on how "wonderful" it taste with late lunch posting in a bit. Stay tuned. 





Monday, November 25, 2013

Post Birthday Detox Program Starts Tonight!

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Alright!!! After a week of indulgence, my guilt trigger is now set off and I am self declaring war with fatty food for 3 days and my first attempt with juice diet. Last salad for lunch today.


P.S. The base is full of mixed leaves and spinach.

Will post daily updates if I survive... 

And here we go... 

A trip to Fairprice to pick up groceries.


We have spinach, wheat grass, celery, pineapple, carrot, cucumber, lime, dragon fruit, green apples and I have red apples, oranges and kiwis in my fridge. 


*Drums roll...* Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we will be going green, very green. 

Green with Envy
- 1 bag of spinach
- 1 handful of wheat grass
- 3 sticks of celery
- 1 lime
- 1 red apple
- 1 green apple
- 1 cucumber 

I realized my juicer doesn't juice leafy vegetable very well. Probably need to top up with a blender to extract the goodness from the greens. 

And you know what? It actually taste not too bad! Dinner mission accomplished! 





Monday, June 4, 2012

Bali 6D5N Itinerary

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A lot of my friends are asking me for my Bali itinerary so I thought it will be easy accessible to share it via my blog. Now here you go! 6D5N Bali Trip

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Buko Nero

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I shall let the pictures do its own story telling. In short, Buko Nero is a gem despite having to place reservations way in advance. Good food is worth waiting for, don't you agree?

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Celebrating Chinese New Year with Lerk Thai

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My first yu sheng for the new year! We had dinner in Lerk Thai today and they have an exclusive Chinese New Year menu. So we usher in the new year in advance!

I love love love yu sheng!

With fresh fresh yummlicious ingredients

Gong xi fa cai and wan shi ru yi with fresh and succulent parang fish!
Not forgetting da ji da li with fresh lime juice

Nian nian you yu and long ma jing shen as we placed the fish onto the rest of the shredded ingredients

Yi ben wan li (flourishing business) as we add pepper and five-spice powder to the yu sheng

You shui duo duo with adding the golden cooking oil

Jin yin man wu (abundance wealth) with golden sesame seeds

This sauce is really really G O O D! It's sweet, tangy with a little OOMPH.

Man di huang jin (gold scattered all around!) Who doesn't love these crispy little crackers?

Lerk Thai's yu sheng has all the essentials of a good yu sheng and more! I'm surprised to find green papaya, jelly fish, and well candied goodies such as pomelo skin, orange peel. The thai twist to our beloved yu sheng is well balanced and nicely executed. The sauce is plate licking good!!!! Kudos chefs!

Next up, we had fish maw soup with crabmeat. It's hearty and pretty generous with fish maw, mushrooms and of course sweet fresh crabmeat.

The seasonal vegetables have a great crunch with the flavorful sauce that goes well and more yummy crabmeat!

This is one of my favorite dish. Lerk Thai excelled with their black and green peppercorn sauce. I really enjoy the full bodied salty awesomeness. The meat was a tad overcooked but the sauce and bell peppers made this dish very enjoyable.

Next up, we had crispy seabass and....

They served a plate of leaves? I put on my food detective cap and found out that they are call miang kham leaves. It was meaty with a nice citrusy fragrance.

Then we wrapped the crispy seabass cubes in the leaves and eat it with one meaty bite.

We didn't forget to leave some room for desserts and the all time red ruby favorite was refreshing and I enjoy the crunchy chewy red ruby with fresh coconut flesh.



Huat ah!

2012 I'm Back!!!

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I'm back!!!! After 1 year + of bouncing around, doing nothing and rotting *kidding of course!* Life has been good after embarking with my new career and a new nest to call my own. My gastronomic adventures has certainly reached a different milestone in life and it will be exciting to share with everyone! It's time to kick start 2012 and wish me luck to be more disciplined in blogging more goodies!!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Iggy's Festive Menu 2010

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Classy, intimate & outstanding. It was our first visit to Iggy's after it's relocation and this all-new, beautifully transformed hidden gem coupled with impeccable service welcomed our festive cheers in a perfect note.


Chic contemporary decorations adding edgy, modern vibe.


Our festive gastronomical journey begins...


Me likey flowers :D


It was very interesting overlooking the kitchen, watching the chefs at work. And yes, I did manage to "bribe" the cute-looking dessert chef to share his new creation banana chocolate (Not in the menu) that's being lined up infront of us.


We had two hors d'œuvre (appetizers) that teased our palate. First up was fresh oyster with crushed ice, sea salt (Gotten too excited and didn't quite pay attention to the server in the first dish) and foie gras creme brulee with pear.


Explosion of the taste of the sea with chilling combination of crushed ice and hint of sea salt tickled our appetite and the richness of foie gras with a thin layer of brulee crunch is a real awesome kick start!


Next up, we had Monk fish liver, lined with fish stock jelly consommé and topped with caviar and chives sour cream. I'm never a fan of fish liver but this dish surprised me with a great combination of richness, saltiness from the consommé, slightly crunchy caviar for texture and sour cream with chives for balance.


Kohada


Kohada/コハダ、is not the Japanese name of gizzard shad, but a generic name for the small fish as sashimi or sushi.


Here we have kohada lightly marinated in citrus, fresh garden tomatoes, clementine, mango, toasted quinoa and beets. A very playful dish with rich cheerful colors and a very satisfying layers of different textures that blends freshness from the sashimi, sweetness from the mango (honey sweet!) together with the rest of the ingredients.


Hokkaido Scallop

Iggy's is so cheeky! Ceviche of Hokkaido scallop lightly marinated in hints of lime and salt, beautifully transformed bacon foam, light fluffy celery snow and granny smith apples.



Needle Fish

Our first hot dish of the night is steamed needle fish over pink garlic puree, fresh dill and shallot vinaigrette. The cooking time was captured just right to retain the texture of the fish and served hot at the table. Aromatic garlic (yes, it's slightly pink) partnered with tender texture of the needle fish and slight crunch from fresh dill pleasured our palate.



Raviolo

Home-made fresh raviolo filled with duck confit, yam, a soft cooked egg and topped with duck bacon.



Presented like a piece of art, we delicately cut the raviolo with our spoon and the oozing egg tickled a warm smile to our face. *Ooohhh.... we went* The slightly firm pasta texture with rich soft fillings of duck confit and yam is well balanced. Companied by small glass of hot savory duck consommé and a delicious slice of *I-wanna-have-more!* duck bacon.


Iberico Pork

Oven-roasted loin of Iberico pork, sautéed winter vegetables, chestnuts and garlic scape oil.

Iberico pork, the new pig on the block. It has a delicate, nutty, with melt-in-your-mouth marbling and a nice hint of curing, goes very well with chestnuts and garlic oil.




Vacherin Mont D'or

The almost runny consistency and a rich, creamy flavor of the Vacherin Mont d'Or, beautiful golden rich, creamy Yukon potatoes with fresh mache and shaved Alba white truffle. Need me to say more?



Iggy's Pop

The chocolate ball, lined with strawberry gives you a outstanding surprise when it POPS vin cotto, a cooked down, wine-base syrup when you sink your teeth into it. Firstly, take 2-3 bites to chomp down the mandarin- orange, strawberry and gorgonzola sandwich. Italian blue cheese with a sweet twist, very very refreshing indeed.



Winter

Can you feel Christmas nearing? Yes we do! Chestnut mousse, coconut snow, coffee pudding and lemon sorbet is both pleasing to the eye and rounding up the meal with a satisfying note.



Chocolate bento! I felt like stealing the entire bento box home!



I had one each from the selection.


A heart warming pot of earl grey to blend with the wide variety of textures & taste from the last sweet finale.


Well done Iggy's! Happy Holidays!