The Hungry Bunny

The office is closed on New Year's Eve, so technically, the last day of the work year is the 30th of December 2009. I decided to end off the work year with a bang (meaning: alcohol buzz induced bang) at The Pump Room for LA Drinks and Dinner. Despite the initial insipid response, a lot of colleagues turned up! The free booze and food must have played an irresistible part in the attendance. As a result, we ordered almost everything off the menu. Somehow, everyone ordered different dishes, which gives me much to blog about! The early birds got to enjoy the 1-for-1 happy hour promotion (see, it pays to be early). Since The Pump Room was known for their on-site brewed beers, we got 3 of them. From left to right, the Straits Ale ($13.50), India Pale Ale ($12), and Scottish Ale ($12). These were so smooth, light and easy to drink. Freshly brewed beers are always the best. Onto the food, we got a few starters to share, the Fisherman's Basket ($26), battered scallops, praw

During this festive season, L.A. Dinner for the month of December was a special epicurean treat at Aburiya Japanese BBQ for a taste of charcoal grilled premium meats (read: wagyu and wagyu and more wagyu). It was truly a gastronomic feast that night, we had such a blast at dinner (so much so the dinner lasted past 10pm). The company was fantastic, conversation was enlivened by banter and Mr Motormouth's antics, the food and drinks flowed freely, and surprisingly, the men actually did most of the cooking. Without any prodding from us womenfolk! I'm not going to describe each meat/seafood individually because they were ALL good. No, good is an understatement. ALL the meats were decadently succulent, mouth-wateringly juicy, addictively aromatic, melt-in-your-mouth tender, headily robust and blazingly flavoured. Aburiya marinates their meats in a variety of flavours, I especially liked the Tare , traditional yakiniku sauce, a sweetish soy-based sauce. I chose most of the

My firm organises an annual Christmas Party and this year's party was held at the Suntec Convention Rooms. As part of the organising committee, I get to veto the menu ( MAJOR perk of being in the committee, yay). The buffet food was catered by the in-house kitchen of Suntec Singapore, halal certified for a number of our staff. There was the ubiquitous Roast Turkey , Cajun spiced, with traditional chestnut stuffing, doused in a luscious brown gravy and sprinkled with cranberries, roasted chestnuts and asparagus. This was a little one-dimensional, but I liked the chestnuts, roasted so soft that no chewing was required. The turkey was a little dry, but since it was doused in the gravy, it wasn't too noticeable.The stuffing was a little pulverised though, but good for people with dentures I guess. There was another meat option, the Hickory Smoked Chicken with Pineapple and Raisins . The chicken was breast meat and very lean, and topped with julienned red, green and yel