Cavalock and The Mona Lisa Affinity

So 10 years ago, I made the smartest decision of my life and to celebrate that rare moment in time when my brain and heart actually worked together for the greater good of mankind, I booked a table at Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse last week. Now I have always wanted to check this joint out since I heard about it cos I was really hoping to recapture bit of that Italian Florentine steak experience. First up, sorry bout the dark shots, mood was a little too cozy to ruin by using the flash. Anyway I gotta say the steak done medium was just right for me. I thought the Wagyu beef was even a little juicer than the one I had in Florence. Everything else was pretty close to perfect too. The burrata starter and lemon dessert were perfect tasty bookends to a very memorable meal. And our sommelier ever had an interesting story for us too. Seems like our chianti came from the Mona Lisa's family vineyard. Yah, the lady who posed in the painting, apparently that's from her family's estate. How neat is that?

Signature Sharing Steaks

Costata (1-1.2kg bone-in rib eye)

Burrata intera con melanzane fritte e pomodori biologici 
Whole creamy burrata with grilled eggplant and heirloom tomatoes.

Tartlette di frolla riempito con zabaione al limone e crema al mascarpone

Tartlette of shortcrust filled with lemon sabayon

Vignamaggio Chianti Classico

2009 Sangiovese (Tuscany, Italy)

LEGO Jekyll and Hyde not included. ;)

Here's something you don't see everyday, well, at least according to my 79-year-old Dad. The black and white bird with the long tail feathers is apparently not a native bird from around here. He said it's from South Africa and it's probably someone's pet bird that got away? He also managed to snap a whole buncha close-ups of this little sunbird nest. If you like the pix, leave a tick in the box below! Thanks!

Looks like my little flea market thing this Sunday 2nd June at Tanjong Pagar Road is coming together just fine. Got at least 20 vintage/retro items for sale. Some of them I have already posted here before. I'm trying not to bring the big or fragile stuff unless there's a request for it. I'll probably be twitting any updates bout it too. Wish me luck! <^;^>

Cavalock and The Accidental Mee Rubus Power Up

Talk about your accidental foodie encounter. This is one of those times when I wasn't out looking for good food but just stumbled onto one by accident. So on some Sundays me and the guys would meet up for boardgames in Ang Mo Kio, and for the first couple of afternoons I would head to Block 721 for lunch. Always noticed there was an incredibly long queue at Rahim Muslim Food stall, so I never tried it until last week when for some weird reason there wasn't a line.

Finally had a chance to read all them reviews they had pasted up at the stall. Decided to try their signature Power Mee Rebus (not a big fan of mee rebus but my late Mom luved it so why not?) with chicken and satay sauce. And damn, it was as good as them reviews said it would be. I was at first rather wary of the generous serving of satay sauce as I was afraid it would be too spicy. But the satay sauce was really the "Power" that gave the dish the extra flavor and texture. The little crunchy peanuts and the satay spice made the difference. Plus the whole pieces of chicken (not shreds like some other places) that really made a most satisfying meal and all for less than S$4.

Spotted at Meidi-Ya earlier this week were these two very interesting beer flavors from Japan. I wouldn't mind trying the Red Miso Lager. Not at all crazy about chocolate in general so I'll stay away from the Imperial Chocolate Weizen.

Oh, one more thing! Keeping my fingers crossed, if all goes well I'll be selling some of my vintage retro stuff from the old family home at a flea market next Sunday. ;)

Cavalock and The Mushroom and Beer Batter DIY Kits

Geez, at this rate of not visiting any new eating joints, my dream of becoming a full-fledged, free-meal-guzzling food blogger is falling apart faster than a cheap Happy Meal toy. ;) But I did managed to drop by the new Cold Storage at Plaza Sing, same floor space that used to house the old Carrefour supermarket, and it still kinda does, judging from the number of French groceries that are still sitting on the shelves. Hmmm... I dare say this is probably the largest Cold Storage around, right? Glad to see that they do have some stuff that I have yet to see elsewhere locally. So I'm guessing these mushrooms are sold like that so you can go grow them at home?

Now if you like your fish all beer battered and fried, here's something you can try. Not really my kinda thing but it's not something I have spotted anywhere else. The ol' 'Just-add-beer' is a cooking method you just can't go wrong with and I can definitely see the fun in trying out all kinds of beer.

My 79-year-old Dad has discovered a new nature stomping ground for more bird pix. These bird nest pix were all taken at Hort Park. I asked him if he had seen any of the infamous monkeys around but he didn't. Remember the bird nest in this post? Well, my Dad said that it's gone now cos a bunch of photographers ruined it when they were jostling around for a better shot and started breaking branches and stuff. He also told me that he's getting old and all that camera equipment that he lugs around EVERYDAY is just too heavy now. Might have to sell them off one day as he looks for a lighter alternative.

Cavalock and The Retro Ramblings Recollection

A little warning first, this is gonna be one of those weird posts where I just ramble on bout a bunch of non-food stuff sometimes not making any sense at all cos I just ain't got the time to try any place new these last few weeks.

So it's Mother's Day weekend and it got me thinking bout how my late Mom would always tell me not to celebrate Mother's Day and that everyday should be Mother's Day if you really love your mom. She did so much for me and my Dad and wasn't into celebrating stuff like Mother's Day or birthdays. It got me thinking bout young moms today who I feel spend less time with their kids but expect more from them, as in big Mother's Day meals etc. Moms from the old days sacrificed much more for their kids and expected almost nothing in return but it's like the opposite today. Something's not right I think.

Reading bout the death of Ray Harryhausen also had me reminiscing bout my childhood. I had a wonderful, carefree childhood. I dare say much less stressful than lots of today's primary school kids. Afternoons after school were spent watching TV with my aunt. It would start with the soaps like General Hospital and Peyton Place, followed by comedies, sci-fi series or monster movies like the ones by Ray Harryhausen. Whether it's cowboys fighting dinosaurs or Sinbad's newest adventure, damn, we all know that without him there would never had been a Star Wars or Lord of The Rings movie. Where or how are kids today gonna see them classics like Jason and The Argonauts or It Came From Beneath The Sea now?

Right now when I look back on all those hours watching TV with my aunts and uncles, I'm also thinking bout "political correctness". Here's the connection. Alright so I finally watched Django Unchained last week and that kinda led me remembering how my family would use the word "negro" all the time. I mean, whenever we talked bout black actors on TV or in the news, we would always use that milder "N' word. Back then, and especially here in this part of the world, no one batted an eyelid when I used the word. Nowadays I wouldn't dare utter it, I'll just say "black". I guess what I'm trying to say is time sure messes up one's vocabulary. Hah!

Well, speaking of my old family home, here are two more retro or vintage nuggets belonging to my late uncle that I'm actually trying to sell on my Facebook. These are United Nations guided tour pins from the 1970s. When you went on a tour of the UN building back then, they'll give one of these little pins. And next to them is a blue UN coin purse.

I'm guessing this little Solvil Titus keychain ball watch is from the 1960s. It looks pretty cool and you sure won't find anything like this anymore. It's not working but it ought to be fixable. Not really sure how much anything like this is worth. Hey, I bet it'll look great in steampunk cosplay with the gears and all!

Cavalock and The Asparagus Aspiration

It's asparagus season! Well, at least that's what the magazines and blogs are telling me this month or was it last month since May just started? So I went and bought some US asparagus from NTUC, hoping to try a couple of the online recipes.

Anyway, after getting them I'm suddenly reminded of the aftermath of cleaning up the kitchen if I were to saute them. Meaning the whole place is gonna get greasy and I gotta mop the floor after that. Decided to steam them instead. Here, everything's steamed including the pork. It's really fast, easy and I guess healthier too plus you can drizzle them with some olive oil, herbs and feta cheese after that.

It taste so good, I had it two ways. First with a bowl of rice and then mixing them up with pasta the next day. Fast to prepare and best of all, no messy cleanups at the end. If you haven't tried steaming them, you should give it a shot.

So yesterday was May 4 and it's Free Comic Book Day and Star Wars Day all-in-one and all over the world. And that means it's time to reaffirm my geek-cred by criss-crossing Orchard and Bugis for several geeky events. Started at 10am at Kinokuniya Orchard, then it's off to GnB at Bugis then back to Orchard for the free Boba Fett figure from Hasbro. Check this out, the one on the left is the new remake of the original vintage action figure (on the right) that yours truly got when he was a kid. Yikes, showing my age again!

Earlier in the morning, the cool folks at Kinokuniya were nice enough to include this year's free Wizkids Heroclix figure with their bag of comics. Following their theme of making figures based on that's year's big super-hero movie, Wizkids's latest free figure is Iron Man in his new armor!

If I'm correct it started four years ago with the free War Machine Heroclix figure (with unique dials and tourny legal) during the release of Iron Man 2 movie. Then it was the DC's Green Lantern one in time for the Green Lantern movie a year later and last year it was back to Marvel's Thor.

Cavalock and The Bukit Panjang Stakeout

Whenever I see a string of pearls, the first thing that crosses my mind is Batman Year One! Well, you gotta be a comic book fan to get it. Anyway, here's why I'm talking bout pearls. Been awhile since I posted some of the vintage/retro stuff in the old family home. These were in a cupboard back in the family home and as usual, I have no idea if they are valuable or not and I reckon they are at least 40 to 50 years old. There's a necklace and a little bracelet. Always thought pearls were real classy but I sure don't recall seeing a lot of women today wearing them. Maybe they'll be back in fashion when the movie The Great Gatsby hits the big screen?

My 79-year old Dad has been busy staking out Bukit Panjang recently and has taken a ton of bird pix especially of this little bird hole nest. My last post was of that sunbird building the nest, well, here's another bird feeding two little ones.

You can actually see the two nestlings growing (feathers), fighting for food, cleaning up in my Dad's collection. I think the next few pix are quite neat as you can see one of them getting fed.

Oh, here's another resident of Bukit Panjang that my Dad spotted that day. He's at least a meter long, enjoys long swims and according to my Dad, has relatives all over the island like in Ghim Moh and Chinese Gardens. Gimme a tick in the box below or leave a comment if you like the pix! <^;^>