With a name like "Fat Boy's", you know that you need to keep your trip to this joint a secret from your cardiologist. Just as the name suggests, chuck out your diet and just enjoy a burger. If burger isn't your thing, there are other 'healthier' options such as salads (expect the meat toppings) and some other mains such as salmon and chicken and waffles (was sold out when I went).

I love the sense of humour that surrounds the whole place. The sentence above the exit reads, "If you don't like our burgers, the clown is just around the corner". On a wall, there was the phrase "Fries are vegetables" too! They had a very tongue-in-cheek sign at the window which played on typography and in huge upper case lettering, you would've read it as "Naked Girls Work Here" but it's only when you're right in front of the sign would you see the smaller print which were talking about their naked burgers or something along those lines. Hilarious!

"Fat Boy's - The Burger Bar" was opened by the brothers Kennie and Bernie Tay in 2009 and their first outlet was in Katong. It has now expanded to Malaysia and even China! I went to their less well-known (it's not even listed on their website) in MacDonald House, located next to Plaza Singapura. The decor of this branch is laid back and in the typical black, white and red colour scheme. Reminded me a lot like an American diner and the pop songs from the 1960's - 1970's playing in the background certainly played a part in it.

I ordered the Bleu Peppercorn burger (S$11.50+) and it's a beef patty coated with crushed peppercorns with a fried onion ring topped with blue cheese sauce between a wholemeal bun. I must say that it's simple but yet really satisfying. I loved that the distinctive taste of the blue cheese was not overpowering but helped add flavour to the burger. I like thick fries so the fries here were of a nice thickness although I couldn't help but think that they need to fry them a little less because they were strangely not very fluffy when you bit into the centres.

My friend ordered the Elvis (S$10.50+) which is so-called because of the King's love of peanut butter sandwich with banana. Thus, this burger is a bacon stuffed pork patty topped with a browned banana and peanut butter spread. Verdict from my friend - interesting, in a good way. He described each bite as a mix between savoury and sweet, where each ingredient had its distinctive taste. Individually, the peanut butter was really good. Would he eat it again? He said that he would. As for myself, I think I'd rather take a bite off his plate and let him have the rest of the burger.

There were a lot of other interesting types of burgers, one that I remember off their menu being the Mahalo burger and it's Hawaiian-themed (surprise, surprise) and it has a grilled pineapple ring in it. If you aren't in the mood for any of the burgers on their menu, build your own! There are 4 types of patties, 25 types of toppings, 11 sauces and 4 types of buns for you to choose from. Fat Boy's have done their calculations and that's 4,400 combinations to try every permutation of patty/sauce/topping.

All in all, I think that the prices of their burgers are quite reasonable considering the quality and when you compare it to Carl's Jr. It isn't pretentious and just like that sign above the exit, if you don't like it...you can go to *censored company name*.

They have outlets in the following cities:
Singapore
Kuala Lumpur
Johor Bahru
Beijing

To find the nearest branch near you, do check out their website www.fatboys.sg. That said, do note that the outlet that I went to is NOT listed on their website. If you noticed, I only put 1 plus sign after the prices above as Fat Boy's does not charge the 10% service charge but only the 7% GST.

Siew Mai and I met up for dinner at Salt Tapas & Bar last Wednesday because I read in an email/article by HoneyCombers that Salt has a ladies special where ladies get a free cocktail for each tapas ordered.

Alas, the promotion was over AND we just missed their Happy Hour (ends at 7pm).  Nonetheless, the grub there is good and they change their menu regularly!  I should know since this is my 2nd time there.  You can read about my first visit here.

Above is their Tuna Sashimi Pizza (S$23++) which has avocado and a wasabi mayo dressing.  It was really tiny (7 inches?) but it was good, although I had to scrape away the wasabi dressing.

Below is their Haloumi (S$13++) which was very good!  Meant really for the vegetarians or those who really like Middle Eastern flavours.

These adorable Pork Belly Sliders (S$18++) were very tasty and reminded me of the Vietnamese Bahn Mi although the sliders have softer buns. 

In my hunger, I forgot to take photos of the truffle parmesan fries (S$10++) and the Meatballs with mash potatoes (S$18++).  The truffle fries were very very good!! They used fresh shaved Parmesan cheese instead of the powdered version and when the bowl of fries are placed in front of you, the smells of pungent cheese and truffle simply permeates the air.

As for the meatballs, it was a bit disappointing in terms of taste.  In fact, the mash was the one that stole our palates.  It is the BEST mash I've eaten so far.  Buttery and smooth, what else can you ask for in a mash?

Once more, both of us got a shock at the bill.  This little bit of food plus a beer and rootbeer caused us over $96...Sigh, my wallet becomes lighter.  At least the food is good!

As the advertisements go: Don't tell your cardiologist! I managed to get Mel Li to join me for a Carl's Jr lunch yesterday as I had a sudden craving after watching an episode of "True Blood".

We shared a meal - just to lessen the guilt PLUS we get to eat the wonderful chilli fries!! We both love avocado and so, it was a no brainer to get the Guacamole burger. Half each. We were really making full use of the refill-able drinks and we drank 2 huge cups of Diet coke (yes yes, the things we do to lessen our calorie guilt).

Anyway, on the front of Oct 1983's latest collections....yes, I am in the midst of creating 2 collection and although I'm a little late, its still going to be part of my Spring/Summer collection =P

On the right is a necklace that I made to match the pair of customised earrings, which I made earlier. No, this wasn't a customisation order but I just felt like making a matching necklace. A slight variation is that I used antiquated leaves as well as white beads. This is a semi-choker so I felt that one could be a wee bit more drama.

Yes, I spent 1 whole entire night painstakingly winding the brass wire around the choker wire but I think the whole effect's quite good. I varnished the whole wire because I don't want it to tarnish AND I suspect that there are loads of people out there who are like me - sensitive skin and skin will itch like mad once the tarnish resistant coating comes off thanks to perfumes/perspiration.

Back to the main topic - my collections! I've got 2 main collections that are coming up - Titania and Cutie Pie.

How did I come up with these 2 collections? Well...for this particular two, it is the direction of the items that I bought and the designs that I think up.

I had bought a lot of cute enamel charms last week so naturally, I created a few really cute pieces, which will ALL belong to the Cutie Pie collection.

The necklace above and the earring on the left are more mature but yet have a certain whimiscal feeling. The colours are also popping BUT they're still more towards organic colours. Which reminds me of fairies and it struck me that these pieces are accessories that I can imagine Titania - the fairy queen in Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" would wear.

Btw, the earrings on the left are made with rainbow quartz. There are 2 distinct shades of blue as well as a green that looks weirdly like jade. Was tempted to put it on the 14k gold plated hooks BUT I don't want to create earrings that I have to sell at $50 and above. Moreover, I don't have 14k gold plated wires. Am tempted to buy....but they're expensive!! :( Someone please order a gold customised piece to give me an excuse to buy!! HHEHHEE.....

Oh...I actually showed my mum those quartz earrings and she actually asked me, "Plastic ah?" Hello....no...they're not blue and green stones either. They're real quartz!! Higher quality than the jade that I used for my enraptured earrings/ customised earrings/ necklace above.


Look to the right!! Tada...my horribly expensive but adorable enamel ballet shoe charm makes its appearance!!

I have to price this bracelet around $15-$20 thanks to the charm and I had to use another daisy enamel charm to complete the look. In order to keep costs reasonable, I used white beads and plastic pearls as well.

The charm's sooo cute...*oogggles*

Ok...this is just a preview. I've made a couple other pieces but I'm not gonna post the pics up here. You've got to keep a look out for the launch of the collections on my website!

Speaking of my website...I'm going to revamp the current Oct 1983 website. I hate the html coding and its wonky. Not multi-browser compatible either. I finally found another template that I like AND *drumroll* I managed to configure the php coding for it yesterday (or more like this morning since I started at 2am and finished at 5am)!! I'm turning into a geek.... @_@

Okies...lemme tweak the website now as there are still some kinks. I have yet to add in the content either. I wished I could clone myself. No no...I want to do the Naruto Kagebunshin replication. =P