Mint.Music: Valentine Day

Valentine's Day this year is so much more special than any other.

14 February 2014 is also the 15th day of Chinese New Year, which is also our Chinese Valentine's Day!

2 Valentine's days in one means everyone from all over the world is going to celebrate the day of love TOGETHER.

Prepare your chocolates,

Order your flowers,

Buy your gifts,

Get ready your text messages for your loved ones!

Valentine's Day Special with Corrinne May

Here's a song by Corrinne May titled 24 Hours.
If you only had 24 hours, what would you do, what would you say?

Love songs from Corrinne May share with us meaningful values of love.
Imagine listening to them under the stars and beautiful Supertrees with your loved ones.
Comfort, cosy and full of sweetness.

This Valentine's Day, slow down your pace and spend precious moments with your other half at gardens By The Bay with Corrinne May. Bring along your picnic mat and food to go along with the performance.

Date : 14 Feb 2014, Friday

Time : 8:00PM to 9:00PM (Registration at 7:00PM)

Venue : Supertree Grove

Admission Is Free

This event is brought to you by Gardens by the Bay.

Year of the Horse Floral Display
17 Jan - 16 Feb 2014
Venue: Flower Dome
Time: 9am - 9pm

Gardens by the Bay ushers in the Year of the Horse with a new floral display on 17 January 2014. The display will bring an auspicious and prosperous start to the Lunar New Year with sculptures of horses amidst colourful blooms such as chrysanthemums, cherry blossoms, kumquat (citrus) plants and camellias. Designed by award-winning sculptors, each horse sculpture is made of a different material such as driftwood, galvanised wires or willows, with the concept of the centrepiece inspired by the Chinese painting "100 Horses" to tie in with the Chinese zodiac sign.

This marks the Gardens’ first display for the new year and kicks off the “Gardens by the Bay Goes around the World” series for 2014. Visitors can look forward to an exciting year of floral displays that will bring the different geographical regions of the world - starting with Asia - to the people of Singapore.

I had dinner with my friends at MOF の My Izakaya: Japanese Casual Restaurant & cafe at Suntec City on Tuesday. MOF here stands for Ministry Of Food.

Oh boy, the ice-cream counter at the door seems to be welcoming my arrival!
NOTE: Mint is a sweet tooth

The interior is furnished with japanese-style wallpapers & patterns. Also, the meticulously-designed chairs are designed at just the right curves for the most comfortable support.

There are two extremely special occasions this February you can strongly consider celebrating at the MOF Suntec Branch with your loved ones:

Here's the first: Chinese New Year; Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Traditionally, the Chinese eat Yusheng on the 7th day of every Chinese New Year.
That's 9th February 2011, because it is everyone's birthday on this very special day!
Yusheng is also known as 'Lou Hei' in cantonese.
Having Lou Hei on this day means good luck, long life and abundant wealth.

This year, MOF has prepared something special for you this CNY season.
Apart from their normal Japanese cruisine, they have improvised and came up with their in-house Lou Hei, guarantee to tease your taste buds!

MOF Lou Hei Ingredients

Salmon Slice

White sour ginger strips

Red sweetened ginger strips

Preserved mixed melon strips

Preserved melon strips

Preserved cucumber strips

Sweetened lime strips

Preserved leek strips

Pomelo

Chuka Kurage

Chuka Fukahire

Mash peanut

Fried sesame

Pok chui

Cinnamon powder

Pepper powder

Every ingredients in this dish mean something auspicious.

One of the ingredients is very unique(to me): The preserved orange skin.

Oranges are called 橘子(Ju-zi) in mandarin.
橘(ju) has a similar pronunciation as 吉(ji) which means 'luck'.
大吉大利(Da-ji-da-li) means Best of luck.

Remember to say something good as you spread the ingredients onto the big plate, just like Cecilia did in the pictures below. Well if you don't really know what to bless and wish...

Sidetrack abit:

Yongwei kept repeating '早生贵子' for everything!

早生贵子 (zao-sheng-gui-zi) stands for 'have a baby soon'.

It's an auspicious phrase to use of course, but more for weddings and not for chinese new year! Seriously Yongwei, you have to brush up on your mandarin if you want to hit into China's music market.

Back.

So if you can only think of '早生贵子' to say and nothing else, like our genius Yongwei, here's somewhere you can check out; Silver Ang's blog post about a detailed Lou Hei-know-how guide for you: http://thatsilvergirl.blogspot.com/2010/02/lou-hei-know-how.html

You see, when you eat with joyous people, say joyous things, you will feel really happy yourself.

I am lucky that friends around me are mostly happy and joyous souls!

* We're going to mix the Lou-hei real soon! Check out my 'heh-heh-heh' expression*

And HUAT AH!

Look at the group indulging themselves in the Lou-hei process.

Lou-hei is really something happy to do with your friends!

The Yusheng was sweet and delicious, complimented by the plum sauce.

It was so yummy we finished the entire plate in 5minutes.

Doubt: Who's hand is this, scraping up every bit of what's left on the plate?

The one which we ate cost about $28.80, excluding the service tax,

it is enough for 3-4 pax.

Price of Yusheng:

Small(1-2pax): $18.80

Medium(3-4 pax): $28.80

Large: (6-8pax): $38.80.

All price quoted are subjected to 10% service charge & 7% GST.

I bought one of those large ones home for my bf's family on CNY New Year's Eve,

and they enjoyed it as much as I do! Order in-advance at the Suntec City Outlet and reserve one for yourself!

Here's the second special occasion on the same month: Valentine's Day.

Check out its exclusive menu:

You will get 2 set meals with Seafood Obinmushi(teapot soup) which look like this:

4 types of main dish of your choice. You may choose:

Beef Slice

Teriyaki Salmon Slice

Unagi (My favourite!)

or Salmon Belly.

While waiting for your set meal to be served, enjoy yourself to MOF's hot green tea.

The set meal also comes with Chawanmushi, Japanese Flavoured Rice, Mix Vegetables, Pickles & not to forget, the teapot of soup!

I was with Calvin Timothy Leong, an avid food blogger! :)

Yongwei could've helped himself to more than 2 servings of the rice if we did not distract him from the idea by reminding him of dessert.

Check out the teapot soup from my set meal:

First you pour out the soup. Then using your chopsticks, you take out the seafood from inside the teapot. It's best to drink from the bowl(lift it up) itself. The spoon given to you is for the rice.

Additional Add-ons:

For $8.80 per glass, compliment your set meal with strawberry white wine.

Otherwise for only $8, the two of you can enjoy a plate of specially selected 4 pieces of Sushi, "FOUR" for you.

The Valentine's day menu also includes 1 Strawberry Kurian per couple- Strawberry Gelato & softserve ice-cream topped with mixed fruits, red bean and Kanten Jelly! I took the Kurian from so many different angles just so you know it looks yummy no matter from which perspective!

Facts about Kanten Jelly(as you can see like Nata De coco in the ice-cream glass):

It is a natural product which is extracted from the cell walls of red algae. The Kanten Jelly is said to lower blood cholesterol & promote weigh loss. The jelly is also high in calcium and fibre as well as possessess multi-vitamins which are healthy for you! As such, Kanten Jelly is also known as the 'Bird Nest Of The Sea'. It is tasteless but really Q! In Japan, the Japanese ate it with honey or other sweet additions- like in this case the ice-cream.

The Kanten Jelly is awarded the Healthier Choice awards 2009/2010.

There's a healthier choice symbol on the little slip introducing about the Kanten Jelly!

The dumplings(looks like fishballs on the ice-cream) are still my favourite of all!

Ops, I was playing with the wafer- pretending to be a bunny where the wafer are my bunny ears. Aw come on, this is the bunny year!

We felt sweetness both in the mouths and our hearts!

Look at smiles pasted from ear to ear across our faces in this candid shot:

Want some Kurian?

Let us feed you!

Every couple walks home with a gift too- One random shape of these 4 romantic candles will be given to every COUPLE. One candle for One Couple, please do not mistake it for one candle per person. MOF will wrap it up nicely for you.

*Hint*

One of these beautifully shaped candles changes into different colours when you light it up!

WOOOOOoooo.... We also found out about this 'hint' when we lit up that shape. Good luck to you getting that special candle! :)

So there, let me revise on the MOF Valentine's Day Special Menu again:

Available period: 9th Feb 2011- 14th Feb 2011

2 set meals

...................

There's 4 choices to choose from(beef, salmon, unagi & salmon belly). The set meals comes with 2 cups of chawanmushi, 2 sets of mix vegetables, 2 Japanese flavoured rice, pickles & 2 pots of Seafood Obinmushi(teapot soup).

1 Strawberry Kurian

....................

Strawberry Gelato, Softserve ice-cream, mixed fruits, red bean & Kanten Jelly.

Optional Add-ons

.................

"Four" for you- specially selected 4 pieces of sushi for $8 AND/OR

Strawberry White Wine- $8.80 per glass.

Doorgift: 1 candle per couple

................

4 designs randomly picked for you.

1 of the designs flanks off pretty colours when lit.

Price: $58.80

All prices quoted are subjected to 10% service charge & 7% GST.

I have joined MOF as an MOF member to enjoy more benefits and discounts for only $10.

(A 2-year membership) Recently, there's a promotion which cost only $6 now!

Check out the MOF membership benefits:

2 year membership benefits

10% all year round

2% rebate dollars

Member complimentary drink

Complimentary Birthday Dessert

20% off selected Member’s meal and dessert

For more about MOF, visit their website here.

So be it friends, families, couples, siblings, classmates, cousins etc. Head down to Suntec City, MOF の My Izakaya and indulge yourself in an affordable yet quality Japanese food!

Here's YOUR chance to win $20 MOF Vouchers:

If you like what you've just read, click here which links you to Contest Empire Fan Page. "Like" Mint Leong's MOF blog post to show your full support and you might stand a chance to win the $20 MOF Vouchers! Voting begins on 6th Feb 2011, this SUNDAY, You can also blog-hop to the other starbloggers' blog to read about their experience at MOF. If you like them, do vote for them to show your support too! :)