Especially when it ended off with the company of a friend who came to visit.

If you recognize her from the picture.. Yes, Sharon came to visit in December!

Met her and her friends for dinner at Monjul

They serve really interesting food. Think modern, food science kinda food – a touch of Heston Blumenthal! I don’t remember what exactly we had, but it was exciting, different and inexpensive. It’s about 35 euros per person for a set meal.

For starters..

In the cup I remember it was a foie gras paste, with a corn biscuit spoon! Popcorn.. some beansprouts.

There was soup.. What exactly, I forgot, but it was foamy on top, we didn’t expect soup to look like that!

The pretty Sharon

It has a nice ambience, small and cosy! What was nice is that the servers spoke english, and they would explain to you every single thing that is on the plate!

A hazelnut cake with praline

A meringue sphere!

With lime sorbet and rosemary I think. I didn’t finish it because I thought the rosemary was way too strong.

The whole group of us!

Sharon, Amilus and I.

After dinner photo!

Love this picture so much.

Sharon is so cute. She saw fluffy shoes and bought them for me! She said she hopes it keeps me warm when I’m away from home. Awww.

Overall I really liked the restaurant, would definitely go back there again. Especially because they don’t have a fixed menu. Would love to try their other stuff. Thanks for dinner, Sharon!

We met for lunch, coffee and dessert the next day, before heading to the Pompidou for an exhibit.

Arhur joined us a while later.

This was in a cafe opposite the Pompidou. Am very impressed with the dessert! Wouldn’t think that a cafe near somewhere kinda touristy would be any good.

The Pompidou seems to always have such a long queue. But it was really fast moving.

Arthur is the most beautiful boy on earth I swear. Am so jealous…

Am not exactly a museum person. Not that I mind, just that I’d rather be eating and baking you know Hahaha.

Sharon wanted very much to see the Edvard Munch exhibit, so I kept her company. Strangely enough I really enjoyed myself. It was interesting to see the pieces of art and read about his life. It was nice because Sharon did tell me a lot more about him during the visit too.

Since it was still kinda early, we went to see the exhibit next door, about dance.

And later headed to meet friends for dinner! We had awesome udon at my favourite udon place in Paris! We easily queued for an hour or more.. But it was worth it! I was starvingggg.

And look what my dear friend brought from Singapore to me? Ba Kwa!!! Thought I’d spend Chinese new year in Paris without it!

How cute is that? It’s in the shape of a pig! Tres mignon

Finally at the front of the queue!

My dinner companions.

Ordered my favourite Katsudon.

And as I was starving.. I finished my dinner way faster than the rest hahaha.

Ended the night with drinks at the cutest cafe.

Ma belle!

And on another night, we went over to a friend’s for dinner. Nothing like an awesome homecooked dinner!

Oysters! Mmmm.

Veg and Scallops! Super satisfying dinner. And awesome hospitality.

With lots of brilliant wine btw.

And I brought over an apple tart for them. Am very glad they liked it! The tart was gone by the end of the night Caught the last train home right after.

Was so happy I got to spend so much time with Sharon when she was in Paris. We got to learn so much about each other and got so much closer. We’re missing each other so much already. Can’t wait to see her again once I’m back in Singapore! Thanks for the company Sharon, I really enjoyed myself when you were here! Bises!

Speaking of which.. I’ll be back in a month’s time. Just ordered some boxes to pack and send back home. Mixed feelings really. Am excited to go back home, but at the same time really sad to leave Paris But I’ve a strong feeling I’ll be back!

See you soon, Singapore!

I crashed my family’s holiday in Crans-Montana!

I was really excited to hear that they were heading to Switzerland for a ski trip. Since it’s only a 5 hour train ride from Paris and because I’ve never skied before, and also it has been a good 6 months since I’ve seen them!

It was really nice to see some of my cousins, aunts and uncles again.

My youngest cousin! Super cute.

There was a snowstorm when I arrived! Cars got stuck.. Traffic was just a pain. But we went to ski the next day anyway!

I was the only one who had no idea to ski..

My cousin all geared up!

Looking like a pro

They went ahead to ski in a group while I needed private lessons. Don’t talk about skiing, I had difficulty just walking in snowboots.

She’s so photogenic!

We had snowball fights, of course

Here’s Alin, my ski instructor, and me! He was really patient and helpful, especially when I kept falling. Hahaha. Surprisingly there was no avalanche created by me. Hohoho.

My cousins’ snowman got covered after the snowstorm and we revived it!

Made our own snowslide too.

Up the gondola! And lunch up in the mountains. Amazing view!

Eating more than 2000m above sea level!

We had hot chocolate every single day. The kids love it!

There was a waiter with his awesome mustache. My cousins couldnt stop laughing and wanted a picture with him! He’s really proud of it and shared about how he combs and conditions it. Hilarious.

After 6 days, we drove down to Lausanne!

Cupcakes in town

Pretty but super expensive. A mini cupcake is 3.50 CHF!

Beautiful views. Like this! Sunrays coming through the clouds

Group pic with 2 of my cousins!

I’ve a distant cousin who stays in Lausanne, Romina – thus the visit. She’s amazingly talented! I really hope she gets into fashion school. Should’ve taken more pictures of her sketches, designs and such!

Her talent shouldn’t go to waste.

Romina has a flair in the kitchen too. She made sushi! Which I was really happy about because the last time I had sashimi was months ago.

Love the kitchen island!

And the decor

This is one of the reasons I love Switzerland. The scenery! of the mountains and the waters.

Went to the forest for a morning walk.

This is Romina and my cousin Ray Yi. They’re gorgrous aren’t they!?

By the lake.

You guys should really take a look at Romina’s fashion blog!

Click on the above to link to her blog! Was asking her to upload her sketches as well. Made my jawdrop!

Hope you guys had an awesome Christmas like I did!

Joyeuses fetes!

Look Pa! I’ve a toque that’s as tall as the chefs! I’ve graduated from Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. Best day – Ever!

One intense month of Superior pastry!

Did more modern cakes and tarts.

Sophisticated and plated desserts.

Lots of chocolate making/tempering.

And had a marvelous student dinner at a 3 michelin star restaurant.

Did some candy making and some jam too!

And then the most intense week of pouring and pulling sugar.

Which.. all paid off

The graduation was held at the prestigious Cercle de l’Union Interalliée

The cuisine and pastry chefs

I wanted to do something special to show my appreciation for my pastry chefs. And so I thought why not do a fondant cake? Also since I haven’t been doing any since I left for Paris.

Made the school’s chef jacket!

It was a big challenge as I didn’t have any of my tools with me that I have back in Singapore. I had to make do with my mini oven and limited ingredients and tools and they are expensive here.

I waited till the ceremony was over and walked up to my chefs to present them the cake.

It was nice having the chefs compliment the cake I made, I was really nervous what they’d say! It was also nice to see people taking photos of it and asking who made it. That really made my day.

Chef Deguignet and me! He immediately wanted to take a photo haha. Love him so much. Most of us thought he was the meanest chef of all when we were in basic and intermediate pastry. But as we got to spend more time with him and got to know him better in superior, he’s probably the most popular chef in school!

Chef Nicolas Gordon joined in.

And so did Chef Tranchant.

The awesome pastry chefs at the graduation ceremony

The designated photographer asked me to take one with the cake as well!

My classmate Cindy, and my guest, Nathalie!

My best friend in school I invited her as my guest to the ceremony. She completes her course in 2 months! A pity I won’t be able to attend hers..

Cindy and I. The only 2 Singaporeans in this batch! We made it!

Some of my classmates with chef!

Chef asked me to bring the cake to the table upstairs where we were having finger food and wine, to share with the others.

After a few minutes, someone cut the cake!

One of the cuisine chefs ate it too and liked the cake, even joking with me and asked if it was a recipe from one of our pastry chefs hahaha.

Nathalie, chef and me!

Leah and I!

Zhan Class is never boring with him around!

Nancy, who has been in the same class as me since the beginning.

Huai-Yi and Fang Cheng.

Midori! The cutest japanese lady around.

Awwww. Nat surprised me with lovely peonies she bought. Love her and the flowers so so much!

Cindy, Sneha and I

Just having fun taking group pictures. Won’t be seeing some of them anytime soon

Peggy and I. The life of the class!

Alison! Amazing in the kitchen and one of the few who got the Grand Diplome – completing both cuisine and pastry courses.

Dangerute and I. She’s super gorgeous you’ll never guess her age!

School’s president and the girls

Lovely view out! Love the sunset and the Eiffel tower peeking out.

Le Cordon Bleu was nothing short of amazing for me – a big stepping stone in my life! Can’t decide if I’m happy to graduate, or sad that pastry school has ended. Never thought I’d love a school so so much.

I have mixed feelings about leaving Paris as well. Will be back in Singapore after 2 months of internship. Am already starting to miss you, Paris!

First came Brad..

From ladyironchef.com

It was a good day. Brought him to a few of my favourite places. Angelina for hot chocolate and mont blanc, then to Pho 14 for lunch and icecream at Berthillon.

Believe it or not it was our first time meeting! We hit off really well. Think it’s because we have a common interest: FOOD

Instagram: Notre Dame

Instagram: By the Notre Dame

Instagram: Gloomy Skies

Brought him around for a bit and ended off the day with a cup of coffee.

And then came Ju

From thelittleteochew.com

The last time I saw her was a good 2 years ago I think? It was nice seeing you again!

Had a good lunch with my two foodies.

And of course, what would stop us from guessing some sweets from PH and Sadaharu Aoki?

PH Macarons

Sadaharu Aoki Macarons

PH Plaisir

We also got PH’s mille feuille and the legendary Ispahan.

Enjoyed it so so much. What harmony of flavours!

Went for crepes one day too.

Both savoury..

and sweet crepes! Nutella is my favouriteeeee.

Although I met you guys for a short 2 days, I hope you guys enjoyed your stay in Paris! And of course, letting me (a tourist too) take you guys around hahaha.

See you two back home next year! x

My dear Joanne came to Paris.

Went to Leon’s for mussels.

Brought her down Champs Elysees and to the famous Arc de Triomphe.

And also, Martin came down from Luzern!

Look at what this sweet boy got me, knowing how crazy I am over everything cupcake.

Being very very touristy hahaha.

And guess we headed to!

Disneyland Paris Took us a good 1.5 hours on the train to get there.

Really excited because it’s my first time in this Disneyland. The last time I went was more than 10 years ago in Japan. The weather was really cold! Even colder than what it was in Paris.

Was fun trying out all the ears.. hats and everything!

All of us had a go at it

Loved how everything looked.

Even coffees are so cute.

Helloooooo Goofy!

Pluto! My childhood favourite.

Saw a cupcake looking house. NEEDed to take a picture.

Off to the rides soon!

I want all these teapots and cups in my kitchen please!

Martin fit perfectly with this hat. Little irish man! His clothes matched the whole look hahaha.

No idea what’s the name of this character, but it was hilarious with its grumpy face! Look how tiny Martin looks

After a couple of rides.. We were like “Pffffft. After all that, Indiana Jones was nothing!” Thus my facial expression and hand hahaha.

Swordfight! Check out the Mickey popcorn tub I was carrying around everywhere

Bobby looked so good in all of the hats. He should cast in Pirates!

Whole of Disney was so Christmasy. Loved it.

We found Ratatouille hats! Super cute. Got one for my little cousin.

Look at the picture she sent me after she received it. How precious is that!

Evening Christmas lights and tree after the Disney March. Beautiful.

Ended off with a good dinner and some Disney shopping!

That’s pretty much it for Disney. 11am to 9pm! Was just nice for just one park. Would love to visit the other park one day!

Did something more touristy the next day with Martin. Notre Dame.

The Lourve.

And later at night we joined 2 friends to the club!

Johan!

Was a fun night.

Went to the Eiffel tower the next day, late afternoon. And rushed down to meet Joanne and Bobby for dinner.

A really nice and quaint restaurant.

I highly recommend this place! It’s called Robert et Louise. Made a reservation. They take reservations at 18h30 or 21h30.

Joanne and Bobby were really sweet. This was our last meet in Paris before they left! They said they saw it and it reminded them of me so they had to get it for me.

Awww. Is that sweet or what? It’s a jewelry holder.

Started off with some drinks and a cheese platter.

Their signature steak. It was so good! Even the potatoes. Still don’t know how potatoes can taste so good! *Cues tears of joy*

The boys.

The girls.

The restaurant serves good dessert and coffee too!

Creme Brulee

Warm chocolate cake

Chocolate Charlotte

Afterwhich Martin and I headed back to the Eiffel tower because he wants to see it at night! Believe it or not, it’s my first time up the Eiffel tower then hahaha.

Beautiful view of Paris.

Brought Martin to my first class of Superior Pastry!

“Look Pa, I’ve been to Le Cordon Bleu!”

Martin went back to Luzern the next day!

And a couple of days later..

My big sister came to visit!

Along with my friend! Went to the Notre Dame, again hahaha. Lost count how many times I’ve been there.

And..

Up the Eiffel tower again. 2 times up the tower that week! Hahaha!

Sister and me

School already started then, so it was hard for me to meet them. Only met them one other time for dinner before they left

It was nice having family over though. Makes me miss home so much!

Yeah November was good having so many visitors all around the same time.

Thank you Martin, Joanne and Bobby for the company and so much fun. See you guys back in Singapore!

Thanks Jiejie and Xiaowei for coming over to visit and paying for everything hahaha You guys are the best! See you two next year when I’m back home.

Miss you all already!

Bisous,
Felicia

Learnt and made so many things..

Puff pastry, tarts, assembled cakes..

Tempering chocolate, plated desserts..

Something savoury, dome shaped cakes..

Breads and even a croquembouche!

These were my exam pieces

At graduation with one of my favourite chefs ever – Chef Nicolas Gordon.

Done with basic and intermediate pastry. Superior… here I come!

I had to take 2 trains to Cambridge. From Paris to London, and another 45 mins to Cambridge.

It’s a small town surrounded by universities!

Weather was nice and cool in August.

Went punting too! So many good looking punters there

Punting was a good way to sightsee and looking at the many universities around.

My friend Mark brought me to a few nice places for dinners. Want to share them with you guys! I don’t remember what exactly we had.. But I’ll try to remember.

This was a pigeon terrine Mark had for his starter.

And I had a seafood soup with mussels, prawns and crayfood. Pretty damn good I must say.

Roasted Partridge.

Grass fed, fillet steak.

I think this was a chocolate tart with 2 kinds of chocolate or something. And vanilla icecream.

And a peach part with icecream.

Nice place with 2 levels.

It’s really not bad. I would actually go back. It’s called Cotto if you’re interested You might want to make reservations in advance!

One of the many beautiful universities in Cambridge. So many that I don’t actually remember what each of them are called. You’d have to pay a small fee to visit the universities, unless you have a friend who studies there, like me

It’s really interesting to see the architecture and read about the history of these buildings. Including their Chapels, libraries etc.

They have cool stories and myths behind all the bridges too. This particular one is called the Mathematical bridge if I’m not wrong.

We had lunch at Bill’s one day. I really like their layout!

It was modern and really colourful. It’s relatively new there and there seems to always be a queue. We had to wait half an hour before getting a table.

Mark being boring, ordered burger and fries. Hahaha, but it was good. I ate half of his fries.

I had a really good butternut squash risotto!

I love the sceneries in Cambridge

One other place we had dinner at was at Fort Saint George. Apparently one of the oldest pubs in Cambridge. Well, according to Mark that is. It’s a small restaurant bar, nicely and simply furnished. Wooden tables and chairs, really nice.

That’s Mark, whom I’ve known for 10 years now. Like a big brother to me!

I had steak and red wine for dinner.

We went up to the highest point in Cambridge, St John’s Chapel if I remember correctly. Though your regular Singapore HDB flat is easily taller than this hahahaha! Was really quite breathtaking.

And again.. back to food.

Had dinner at Zizzi.

Had duck.

And a pizza.

Loved their gelato!

That pretty much summarizes my stay in Cambridge. Had a good time visiting the universities and eating so much. Thanks Mark for having me

And then I left for London to meet my friend Samantha.

We had cravings for Chinese food.

So here we are having some duck.

With the wrappers and sweet sauce. Yum.

Makes me miss Singapore food so much.

Beef horfun!

Sam and I in Chinatown. Only spent a day in London though. Was short but a good time catching up.

I stayed with classmate Nancy who graciously put me up for the night before we headed back to Paris for class together. What do you get when you put 2 pastry students together? We bake and cook, of course!

Nancy wanted a go and making macarons, so we did.

Just made some with chocolate ganache.

She also made dinner! Wicked pasta I must say. Loved it.

An awesome dinner and drinks, good sleep and trip back to Paris!

Thanks to Mark, Sam and Nancy for all the fun and company during this time

Round Donuts
Recipe from here

1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg (which i omitted)
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp melted butter

Put and mix all your dry ingredients in a bowl. I got to use my new cupcake measuring cups Just thought i’d show it off hahaha.

Then add in the rest of the ingredients (egg, milk and melted butter) and mix well until smooth.

The batter is nice and thick, somewhat between a cake batter and a dough kind of consistency.

Heat oil in a pan of about 2 inches deep and spoon batter into the hot oil. I used the help of 2 teaspoons to do this. Don’t worry about getting perfect rounds! Takes a little practice. It’ll get better trust me.

Drain oil on kitchen towels and coat with whatever you want! I like to coat mine in cinnamon sugar!

Et voila. I’m a happy girl!

Have fun all of you

It’s amazingly easy to make. I personally like my man tous fried. And eaten with crab and whichever sauce they come with. Otherwise having it with condensed milk is equally awesome.

Man Tou
Recipe from Almost Bourdain
5 g instant dried yeast
250 ml water
500 g all purpose flour
25 g caster sugar
1 tsp vegetable oil

Dissolve the yeast in a bowl of warm water and add the rest of the ingredients. Knead well until you get a very nice and smooth dough.

Flour your table and dough when necessary to prevent sticking. Shouldn’t need much though. The dough is too good! Roll it out nice and long.

Fold it in thirds.

And roll it out again.

Brush the surface of the dough with a little water.

Roll it up tightly. Then use a serrated nice to slice.

And place each bun on a piece of parchment paper. Cover and leave to rise for 20 mins.

Then steam for 20 mins until ready.

It’s ready. But I like mine fried, so i did.

Voila. Hahahaha. Sadly i only had pepper sauce to eat with the man tous I made then.

On a happier note, I was at the farmer’s market last week and found crab pincers. Ended up making black pepper crab

Bon Appetit!

No I didn’t disappear from the face of this earth.. Have just been really really lazy Here’s a summary of what I’ve been up to in August!

I had a whole month’s break in August.

I paid the Clignancourt flea market a visit. Quite a sight! Never seen one so big. Didn’t buy anything though. Just thought it’ll be nice to check out.

And of course, the Paris Plages. They don’t have beaches here, so for the summer, they turn the highway along the quai into the beach. Though it’s a man-made one, I must say it really is beautiful. But you’ve to get used to seeing people walking by with shopping bags and driving along the roads It’s only there for like a month I think?

Then I spent 3 days out of Paris! I went to Loire Valley Rented a car with 2 of my friends and drove down. It’s known for their castles! Paid a visit to 3 of them.

First stop was Amboise! It’s where Leonardo Da Vinci died.

Then spent almost 2 hours cycling to Chanonceau! 15km there and 15km back. Surprised I made it back alive really Passed by beautiful vineyards, farms and saw many sunflowers! They were not in season though, most of them were looking down.

Saw the castle there! Cycled back to Amboise, had some cheese and wine tasting!

On the 3rd and last day, before heading back to Paris, we dropped by Chambord to see another castle! Loved this castle best out of the 3. It was massive! End of adventure

Spent some of my days in August cooking, baking and eating. Promise to do up a recipe post soon!

The last week of August was spent in Luzern! It’s a 4 hour train ride from Paris. I went to meet up with a senior of mine back in secondary school. The last time we saw each other was probably 7 years ago, and now we meet again, in Luzern!

I really enjoyed the scenery there. Huge difference from the city life here in Paris. In Luzern it was so nice to see the mountains and waters for a change!

Rented a boat with Martin and 3 other friends. Got to know a few of his friends including Charity who got married recently. Congratulations dear.

Went to the park.. walked around, people watched. Mmmm. So many good looking people omg no kidding. So glad Martin put me up during the trip, he was such great company and I saved so much money hahaha!

Martin was doing culinary arts and management! And so.. What do you think happens when you put 2 people who love food under the same roof?

A LOT OF FOOD. Hahaha! Don’t remember the last time I ate so much. He’d make such a good housemate

I also met up with Analiza. She lives in the mountains with a gorgeous view! Thanks for having me.

A lazy morning, with our need for coffee and cake. Mmm.

And of course, there’s Aor. A lovely friend of Martin’s! She’s a real sweetheart. Enjoyed her company so so much! She brought us to the club one night. Drinks and dance during the Drum and Bass party was cool.

Thanks a million hugs and kisses Martin, I had so much fun See you and Aor in Paris real soon!

Et voila. That’s all for August. Hopefully my next post won’t be a month or more later hahaha! More soon.

xoxo