Istanbul and more kebabs

Greece has gyros, Turkey has Kebabs. I'm sick of both. I'm craving for

1) wantan mee
2) crystal jade fish porridge
3) hokkien mee
4) chicken rice
5) beef noodles
6) bedok south market prawn noodles
7) pei pei mian
8) chng tng
9) durian!!!!!!! durian !!! durian!!!!!
10) malay curry

I'm so bored that I'd rather research for my powerpoint slides and animations.

Fairy Chimneys and Cave Hotels

Hello! Forget Blue Mountains (Sydney, Australia) come to Goreme Cappadocia (Turkey). Its a really beautiful village full of fairy chimneys which look like gigantic mushrooms which can reach up to 4 storeys high. Hoteliers have carved out lovely rooms (and charged lovely prices).

More pics when I get back.

Cheers

Turkey and the New Lira

hello!

i thought ıt wıll be cool to blog from Turkey. I am in Çesme using the free internet at Hotel Bella. Lovely n cosy lıttle place for 40 new turkısh lıra per nıght per double room wıth bkfast. the keyboard here is a little strange. 1 ntl ıs 1.25 sıng dollar and prıces here are cheaper compared to Greece but still rather expensıve but very worth ıt.

i like turkey! people here are very frıendly and genuınely warm. Its a 180 degree about turn compared to Athens.

Weather here is rather cold.

will blog agaın next tıme!

see ya all

Singapore Changi Airport

I'm at the airport (its 1258am), waiting for my 0305 flight to Dubai. We came early to avoid the midnight surcharge.

Well, I've always wanted to comment on our airport. It is indeed one of the best in the world! I'm using the free 24hrs internet service, they have free cable tvs, free shops for window shopping (some 24hrs eg DFS, Timesbookstore,chocolatiers etc) , some 24hrs dining( Macs, Coffee Bean etc), lovely carpeted floors, friendly staff (mostly), 24hrs bars, chances to win a Beetle, transit hotel, pool, gym, shower room, prayer rooms, baby rooms, gardens,open viewing, FAST immigration, (check in can be slow cos of luggage and passengers etc)and lotsa more! I'm proud of our airport.

Since I'm free, lets compare other airports I've been too

Bangkok: rather cheap massages, some shopping, very very few restaurants
San Fran: nice food court thingy, some shopping
Seattle: Coffee!
Penang: 1 ringgit massage chairs


Gotta go~
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Best Things in Life Aint Cheap

Ritz Carlton Millenia, Singapore

SS and I went for Brunch at the Greenhouse at the Ritz. Approx $125 (including +++) per person. Is that expensive? We booked for Afternoon Tea at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai for UAE190.00 which is about $75 Sing, without alcohol. Well, more food stories from across the globe soon.



Service@the Ritz: Ritz always had exemplary service. From the dining staff to the maids in chamber to the recep and the operators and even the security guards. (Am I being paid to advertise? NOOOOO!!!!.... Do i want to get a free room? YESSS!!!!) If they was a FriendsoftheRitz Club(for free) ss and I would be the first few on the list! Well, at the Greenhouse, their service was excellent, from Helen Tan who chatted with us for a while and took photos for us, to the guy who was making pasta and souffles, to Weimin, who was carving the duck and the people behind the wine counter, to Remi who kept topping up our champagne glasses. Yeah,I remember some of their names.



Band Playing: There was this really good instrumental band playing lovely evergreen songs, there was a pianist on the grand, a couple of violinists, and some other i cant recall.

Food: Where shall i start
1) The major counter, from the left
Lobsters, Roast beef, Roast duck (DAMN DAMN GOOD), Foie Gras, Various types of sashimi and japanese condiments, sushi, crayfish, lobsters, prawns, crabs, more sushi, oysters, different types of salads, egg benedict station, pasta station, more lobsters.

2) Cereal and juice counter
the normal stuff, cereals and juices and milk

3)Soup counter
Lobster bisque (very lobsterry) and sharks fin soup( better than some chinese restaurants)

4) the circle
nasi briyani, curry vegetables, butter chicken, gratin potato, sauteed vege, salmon, veal shank, curried cod, udon, pork ribs, chili crab(great stuff but No signboard still the best) and some other stuff.

5) Two dessert counters


Hazelnut mousse (out of this world!!), raspberry and chocolate cake, cheesecake, a couple of cuplike stuff, opera, a couple more mousselike cakes, chocolates

6) souffle counter
Dark choc, white choc souffle with ice cream topping! Ice cream flavours: walnut, chiku (not very good), lime and vanilla.

7) fruits station
longans, strawberry, mangosteen, rockmelon, watermelon, etc etc, wasnt too interested in fruits

8) Cheese station
All sorts of cheese and crackers, mouldy cheese and watever (wasnt very interested either)

9) Wine station
Kir royale, Strawberry champagne, midori, white wine, red wine (fontera, Merlot, 2004;VERY VERY GOOD), port.

10) Pastry station
from croissants to choc puffs to muffins and cinnamon rolls.

11) Free flow of champagne (moet and chandon)and the wines that i mentioned above and coffee and tea.

Isnt that a lovely spread? We sat there eating and drinking and reading papers from 1130 to 3pm and if you pay with citibank, you'll get a dining voucher for $50.
I SHOULD BE PAID TO PROMOTE!

St Francis Xavier
The difference between a short mass and a long mass is the priest. It look a long time for me to figure out the meaning of the homily, which i wondered why i even bothered, cos it was in his last statement. I cant recall what he said but the meaning was (something like) "no matter who you think u are or what other people think of you, you are good, because you are a creation of God" . Or something like that. Today was the last day of the Feast for St Francis Xavier.

The other message was that we are preparing for HIS arrival. We are supposed to be prepared as He can arrive anytime. HE meaning GOD not St Francis. Will we ever be prepared? What can we do to be prepared? GO find out!!!

THe church was lovely, with stained glass at both ends. My first reaction when I saw the church was to take photos ( I dont only take photos of food ok) , but I din lah.


Soul Kitchen (PURVIS Street)
It was about time we met up : YY and Cupcake (KB). Our friendship/relationship took us as far back as Sec sch with YY and jc with KB. We were the windsurfing/bridge/taitee/bungee/bali/FOOD!/sushi with grape/cycling and blading/jogging/mahjong/cookout/diving (only me and kb went together)/stayover/jiemei/drinking/clubbing/dreaming/gossiping/more eating gang.
Kb recommended this place and we went on the 2nd last day it was about to close and I know why it was about to close.
Food: quite good, we tried the minced pork keluak, anchovy pasta and bolognese pasta, grilled chicken, sotong sambal, sambal prawn (damn spicy), mincemeat and crab soup and valhrona choc cake with icecream.

Does that seem like a lot for 3 girls? The portions were SMALL!!!! but the prices were HUGE!!!!!!! one plate of sotong sambal (one squid which you can buy at NTUC for $3 for 2, stuffed with some sambal with 2 squares of fried brinjal was like $12.50!) grilled chicken was like a flattened chicken breast , only a couple of pieces was like around $12 too. SO EX! and....

Service: I know, its SOUL kitchen, but i think saving my SOUL would take a shorter time than feeding my soul at this place! Yes, its prepared fresh (Guess what!!!? some food establishments also prepare food from scratch and it tastes just as good and they dont take THAT LONG!)

Verdict: Food was good, i like the grilled chicken and pasta, YY liked the brinjal. What did cupcake like? JW, tag board me, I cant recall what u liked. 7/10

ITs gonna close, but for the sake of my blog,
Return: NO!!! not even if i have time to wait! i did like the food but its no point waiting. they din have NETS nor VISA!

Wedouli Confectionary
Excellent old fashioned, soft, not much airbubbles in the bread type. The walnut cake and the chiffon cakes are damn good too. Its in Serangoon ave 2. Once, I went really early in the morning, around, 7-8am, their kaya buns were fresh out of the oven , the bread was hot and the kaya inside was warm and ever so yummy.
Panasonic LZ2
The best compact camera with most of the requirements i listed previously. Sold at Alan Photo for a low low price of $440. cool! Alan photo sells stuff for cheap and there are always customers in his shop. I"M NOT GETTING PAID FOR THIS EITHER!!!

Good Food, Bad Cameras, Great Friends

Hey Ho! So many things to tell!

Lets start from Yoshi at Hotel Royal@Queens. Its in a rather dead area behind SMU and Allson Hotel. Went with my long lost brother. Yeah, lost him to the Scottish accent (he was in Newcastle, UK, go figure!) and now he's back. It was great catching up with ya Des! Thanks for dinner! Well, we'll meet again after I come back ya.



Yoshi
50% alacarte buffet and 50% take it yourself buffet. The service there is really good. Attentive, a little too at times and the waiter is good at recommending.
Price: $34+++
Food: 8/10
in terms of quality, its definitely fresh.
the chicken teriyaki was good (8.5/10),
the ebi tempura was oki, not cooked on the spot (7.4/10),
we loved the pork and beef stirfry (7.8/10)
the alaskan handroll was one of the best things I;ve ever tried, it was crispy and good (9/10)
chawanmushi (10/10) its very soft and delicate and flavourful. The way chawanmushis should be. the standard is comparable to the ones i've tried in Tokyo, or even better.
Sorry sashimi lovers (NO pun intended), I din try any raw stuff.
Return: sure, if someone treats
Final words: For someone who doesnt eat sashimi but is ever willing to pay for good jap food, i must say its a little overpriced. But its really worth the try and i think this place is alright.


We came across this place in the center of citylink mall, near Godiva called FLASCHENGEIST. Its this German based liquer thingy.Free sampling. Pretty cool. for tastes they have strawberry schnapps, lemon-lime, mango, chocolate port, cognac walnut (one of the best!)fig and something, vanilla cream, cowboy etc. and you can choose the type of bottle you like from $28 to $40+. Well, its oki. ss bought me the mango and I bought him the lime and i bought the cognac walnut for kicks.

Chocolates
I cant believe I did not mention this long long ago.The land of chocco, Brugges,in Belgium is THE place to go for lots of good quality chocolates and with the most interesting varieties of all time. There was Leonidas, Godiva and Neuhaus (the best! forget Godiva!!!), chocolate box and this chocolate museum. They have as many choco shops as we have NTUCs! And its all good belgium choc. Pressed to a fine 0.2 micrometers or something. Brugges also has H &M ! I love to shop there! and the food, is absolutely yummi. The choc mousse it the BEST in the WORLD! There was this liquer store as well. They had this whole storeful of liquers in huge glass vats. Qw bought a tiramisu liquer and a 1997 ice wine, said to have been served to the Queen of England when she was on a cruise. Brugge is a love quaint city, great to chill out and pig out on Chocs. Belgium Fries? Yumms!

















Cameras
Whats in a camera? What are the basics? What do you need? I wish i could tailor make a camera instead of relying on the usual brands to make me choose one. For a compact, it would be nice to have a
1) 5 megapix
2) 8x optical zoom
3) image stabiliser
4) optical and CCD viewfinder
5) simple manual
6) good autofocus
7) AA batteries
8) Usb
9) Panorama
10) movie with sound (unlimited)
11) macro up to 1cm
12) colour filters
13) SD card
14) lightweight
15) assist lamp

No, at present, they dont have one. sad. the only thing that comes close is the Panasonic LZ2.

Here's a Pic of my collection

Kaya Toast, Now and Then

When I was in Primary School, I used to head down to Chin Mee Chin after mass just before Cathecism class. I used to love the $0.40 luncheon meat wrapped in flaky, buttery pastry. And the chocolate roll!! my my....!! not to forget their lovely real custard cream puffs (not the creamy kind). I loved their old fashioned style kopitaim even till I was in Uni. Their signature dish (?) is the famous Chin Mee Chin kaya, known by many far and wide. They also serve coffee and soft boiled eggs. The best seller would be the rich kaya smothered over charcoal grilled buns, with a thick slice of butter pasted on top.

My perspective has changed. Today, the 21 of Nov 2005.

After the successful franchising of Yakun (dont have to go all the way to China Square), Ss and I have been rather keen patrons of their toast, coffee and service.
In any of their outlets, their eggs are soft boiled to perfection with the yolk encased in a thick cocoon of white. The yolk is never broken and we dont have to crack the eggs ourselves. And best of all, it comes slightly warm. spill some black sauce and throw in some white pepper, you have the perfect , old fashioned soft boiled eggs. The kaya is lovingly smoothed out on a crispy charcoal grilled brown bread with a rectangular, flat cube of butter. The coffee is so aromatic and the rich flavour articulates joyously in your mind, begging you to return quickly for another sip. Yakun. This is one franchise that can never go wrong (unlike franchises of Rotiboy!). Service is short, curt and efficient.

I hate to do this to you CMC but, really......
Kaya: 9/10
Bread:8/10
Softboiled:3/10 (it was half raw!)
Coffee:4/10
Service: Aunty forgot my order! 4.9/10
Return: ...... Not for a sit down breakfast, mabbie a take away kaya tub.
Final Words: I love the ambience, I love the place, and CMC has plenty of nostalgic supporters, so it will not go out of business, at least not in the near future. But if i want a kaya toast, I'll definitely give this place a miss.

Yakun
Kaya:9.5/10
Bread: 10/10
Softboiled:10/10
Coffee:9.5/10
Service:9/10 (efficient. self service counter)
Return: as often as i can.
Final words: "Aunty, Set A, kopi O! Thank you"

Jacks Place
This restaurant has been around for ever since I can remember. The food quality has not changed much, there's still a good standard for around $22 for a steak on a hotplate. The lunch set menu is a draw factor for many. ITs a damn good deal.

My favourite Dishes in mid class places
1) Soft shell Crab curry from Thai Express.
2) St Louis Ribs from Cafe Cartel
3) Zuppa from Pasta Fresca
4) Tuna Mayo sushi from Sakae Sushi
5) PAsta from Tuscany's (not around anymore but its worth a mention)
6) Pasta at Pete's Place

Cant think of much now.

Star Wars
I have a rough recollection of watching those little furry Ewoks running around the forests when I was really young from my old place. At that time i did not know the plot of the story nor did I really care about Luke's attempt to bring balance back into the force. I was simply attracted to those cute little things fighting against the white robots (stormtroupers).

I never understood the plot behind the 6 episode movie nor did i know they were connected in any way. I was never interested in it even when G blabs about it all the time since Sec school (to my best recollection, G wanted to be or thought he was a Jedi){i finally , after about 10 years realised some of his blabber were actually Jedi Mind tricks}.

Anyway, after uni, I started working at this tiny company at Kandahar street ( the haunted shophouse). Two significant movies came out while I was working there. Lord of the Rings (we were all gaga over Legolas) and Episode I. 99.9% of the company were fans of Starwars.It was J's passion and extreme devotion to the quintology that changed my life ... forever. The force made me buy the special edition trilogy and start surfing www.theforce.net. During teh tarik n goreng pisang breaks we would talk about the characters and the plot. I love the show.

But in all honestly, as much as i love the plot and the novel characters and the out of this galaxy names and technology, most of the episodes were boring and lacked direction. If i was not crazy about the plot, I would give it a rating of 4/10. But George L was brilliant. I love the language and the ways of lives he created, a fresh and vivid perspective of war, his ability to think beyond the current and create. He created an entire universe! The Samurai inspired costumes, the war ammonitions, the houses, the environs, light sabers! Robots!

The real Saviour i must say is R2D2, give him a human body and he'll defeat thedarkside anytime! Move over Anni!

Finland 2004

The Arctic Circle. Go look for it on a map. Its way up high, not as high as the north pole though. Go to Finland. Its Lovely!!!!


Santa Claus's (Post) Office.Really, there's a Santa Working in that building. He's sitting around, smiling and getting paid. Anyone can go take a picture with him (for a fee).


Santa's Very own Express Train, to get to kids who decide to behave themselves the minute before Christmas! Pity they return to their normal selves just a second after! Rovianemi is rather up north of Finland. Cold, even in summer.

Olavinlinna Castle in Savolinna, Finland. We went there just to see a castle. I have never been in a castle before. Its lovely and old fashioned. We went for a tour and they showed us the rooms and dining halls and all. What I remember the most was their primitive toilets(not for use) and the marvellous views. Oh yes, and the Russian Bolshoi Ballet were rehearsing there! What a treat!

Travel Photos

THe glacier as taken from the sea. Thats just what you see above the sea, it actually goes way down below the sea as well. I think about 70 feet (or meters)below. The cruise went up close to it. Its damn cool.



A lovely Alaskan Whale. Took it while we were along one of our daytrips from the cruise in Alaska. I took some videos too. They call it a Terminal Dive.

I have been busy!

I wanna say a BIG thank you to KS for helping me set up the Tag board. YEah , you may think it easy, just cut and paste the HTML code right??? NOOOO........ KS can testify to that. He had to use a bit of brainpower to shift and manipulate codes around. Well, it was easy for him. Thanks for the precious time spent!!!!! 3 cheers!

Congrats VP for finding your calling! May your journey together (with God) be a meaningful and enlightening one.

Hey Bro!!!! Where have you been? Sorry I missed ya call. Will see ya soon k!

I have not been blogging for a while cos was prepping my house for warming. Here's wat we did

1) Ordered a world map from Nat Geog, its huge about 76 by 46 inches. IT came about a week later. By UPS. Sucks. They were supposed to arrive at 5pm. Guess what time they turned up??? 8pm!!!!

2) Went to Modern Gallery to frame it up. It was recomended by FIL. Not bad. They even delivered and hung it up for us. Coole.

3) Went to my third (after my work place) home, IKEA. I wish we had the Sweden one here. The headquarters in Sweden is huge! It was about 3-4 times larger than the one we have here and they have all the new stuff. We have only one catalog and they have like 5 or six all featuring different products! I would have brought the catalogues back but we took Ryan Air with a max weight of 20kg. After all OUR shopping, it was hard to keep the weight down. While we were there, we had to try the meat balls. And I'm proud to tell it tastes exactly the same as the ones here!

Anyway, we bought more wine glasses and Christmassy stuff to decorate. We have no tree neither will we be here for Christmas, but it was decorating my gate. HAHA.

4) Vacuumed the house. To be honest, this is my first time vacumming and mopping the entire house. Hee hee..... It takes 2 to keep the house clean mah. BY the way, if you are looking for a vacuum cleaner, I would recommend the Phillips Performer, 2000 watts. The suction power is super! and it has this arrow head thing which lets you clean corners easily. and the Scott Mop Brite thingy. Its so much better than the normal mop. Its light, it can manouver around corners and edges. You just have to remove the microfibre thingy and wash it instead of wringing the old fashioned mop head. And , add a little chlorine bleach to the floor cleaning formulae, it makes your tiles cleaner. With these new products, it make the job cleaning easier. And thats a free ad for you!

5) There are lots more we (I) did but who bothers?

Housewarming was fun. Its the first time I had it on a huge scale. This was mainly for family people and family friends and my tiny house was already packed! Will have one for my friends soon! Mabbie, CNY. NO ang paos though, unless you are below 10 yrs old. Well, the place was full of three kids, in dire need of entertainment, an alcoholic uncle who demanded his wine glass to never be half empty, a super cute cherubic 6 month old with huge eyes. She was the highlight of all the over half century old ladies (except me, I'm not half a century old but was crazy about her nonetheless). Me running around, reminiscent of my waitressing job, pouring drinks (free flow of beer and wine and soft drinks) and trying to entertain as many as i could.

Menu
Pineapple Rice ( me 7.5/10)
Garlic Lemon Butter Chicken (Failed trial 2/10)
Roasted Duck (Kovan, Its really good)
Satay
Devil's Curry (Dad)
Otak (Indonesian)
Greens Compote (Mil)
Fragrant Steamed Prawns (Mil)
Durian Puff (PuteriMas)
Agar agar(Mil's Friend)
Durian Cake (Bukit Timah)

I outsourced most of it was it was tiring to clean up the house and cook at the same time. It was fun nonetheless.

It was great to catch up with ya J. It was been a long time since we went restaurant hunting. J is the one I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs. We knew since we were three. Went out pretty often. The best part I loved was her old bungalow. It was the old colonial type set in the Katong area. ( Do you have a pic of it J?) There were at least, 6-7 cages of dogs, and I dont mean, small chiwawa types, they were huge, german shepard kinds (actually I have no idea what breed they were but they were huge and fecocious). And we would run around the huge lawn (not when the dogs were lose), cycling (according to her mother) and play masak-masak. (I wonder if kids do that these days). I remember the outings to Japanese Garden and the parks. It was so long ago! One of our latest ( early 2000?) was the Sun Cruise (which sank) for the Miss Singapore thingy hosted by the Flying Dutchman from Class 95. We bumped into him quite a bit on the tiny ship. There werent that many slot machines we could go to , nor many places to eat. (Try: Princess Cruises!!!) We resume restauranting next year ok J?

Restaurant Reviews

Nanxiang Steamed Buns ( Bugis)
The menu there was limited. Not much of a dimsum menu nor a good lunch menu.
Xiaolong bao: 9/10 THe skin was smooth and elastic, the stock was light yet flavourful. Its a rather perfect XLB i must say.
Others: The pork rib noodle (2/10) it reminded me of instant noodles. Infact, i would rather eat instant noodles for that price ($8 or so i think). Soup bun ($7-8) It was small, and not worth it. Considering the one at YuYuan in Shanghai was larger and only $2.
Return: No (Go Pudong Restaurant at Balmoral Plaza!!!!!! For half the price!)
Verdict: Overrated. Pricey. oh yes, and the bowls and plates were dusty!

Tian Wai Tian Steamboat (Teochew)
Food: 6.4/10
Return: NO
Comments: If you wanna have lovely steam boat(non buffet), go to the place below. The stock was not as flavourful or rich but the fish was fresh. Makansutra, you have failed me again. 6 chopsticks?

Nan wah Steamboat
Food: 10/10
The soup stock was excellent. Rich, flavourful and just addictive. The boat comes heated with charcoal and the aroma is delightfully pungent. Fish was fresh and so sweet.
Return: Every time Mil has craving and perhaps once in two months?
Where: Junction of Victoria Street and Jln Sultan. Just after Hong Wen Primary, at the foot of a block of flats. Oh so good!!!!!

The hectic week ahead

Wedding at Marina Mandarin(8/11)
One of the largest weddings I've ever been to. Perhaps the largest. 70 over tables with 12 px at each table. MY had the sexiest dress ever. It was halter neck, bikini styled top (cleavage showing), bare backed. Really really sexy. Good golly! Food was good. I liked the steam fish and tea leave duck thing. Her video presentation was alright. ( the ones in trend now where the couple acts out the pre proposal, proposal scenes) The waiters and waitresses did this dance like thing holding the trays of food on the stage before they served us. Quite funny. Bumped into Tingzhi from the hall. They are expecting! So nice. It turned out that he was the mc.

Kintamani@Furama Riverfront (10/11)
Dept dinner for about 40px. Food was good. Choices rather limited, did not have the real essence of Indonesian stuff like tahu telor, chendol. But it was fun. Went around making fun of people.
Food: Mee bakso, beef rendang ( best), nasi kuning, sotong with sambal, mutton, chicken curry, vegetables, keropok, gado gado, mee soto, some kuih. Nothing much. Shd have the alacarte buffet concept. 7.5/10
Return: Yeah
Misc: they have tonnes of bank promotions. DBS card $15, usual price is $24+++. Senior citizens 55 yrs and above 45% discount for 6 people.

Aloha Loyang Chalet (11/11)
Before we went there, HY, TL and LS went out for chng thg at Bedok camp. Its newly renovated and looked really really nice but it still seems small. Had the ji hu eng chai too. Walked around to Cold storage, discovered Ice cream gallery where they have lovely flavours but we were too full to eat. Picked up IV at Pasir Ris then went to Pasir Ris Park. It was fun! They have new toys for adults. There were these spinning discs and all that. Must go again!

Finally headed for the chalet. It was really nice. There was a huge pool with slides and jacuzzis, arcade, the beach was a stone's throw away, basketball/soccer court. The chalet was not bad too. There was a kitchen with fridge, several rooms, all with aircon, TV, bbq pit. Way better than the Changi one. Will go again someday!

We had catered BBQ food and all. But I was into playing Bridge. I was starved of the pleasure of Bridge for ages. so fun! Couple of babies came, spouses and all. It was good bonding mainly with newbies like SK and IV.

Sent IV home then went out to Bedok 85 for supper of bakchor mee and orluak. OK lah. Had a soulful time talking and chatting with L and KS.

Thye Fong@ Food Republic
Hokkien Mee and Char koay Teow. Queue is one of the longest there. But beach road char quay teow still better and hokkien mee at Lor Mydin, Kembangan still better. Yum Yum.

The Weekend of No Hard Work

It was the weekend of fun and spending money!


Sat 5 Nov
Sil brought back Quanqude Duck from Shanghai! Yums. I'll show you a pic I took when i was there in 2004. Then we headed down to check out the Subaru Challenge at Ngee Ann City. We stopped by the photo exhibition which stretched from just outside Borders all the way to Forum. It was a display of photos taken from the aerial view. Simply marvellous. There were many many photos. Some of which I remembered were the Disused Tanks used for battle in the middle east, the Glaciers, volcanoes, the bales of cotton, the coral reefs, the carpets, and many other wonders of the earth. its so beautiful! No matter how much I try to travel the globe, I will still never see all the wonders it has to offer. Well, at least i get out of my tiny tiny island set in the sea. Or as Jonathan Lim (from his book of ghost stories would say, spooky island set in the sea).

There were many people at the Subaru Challenge, all the hopefuls, all the people there to test their limits. HAHA. We wanted to buy ice cream and slurp it in front of them. No la, we didnt. Actually, well, I dont really admire them in a way, I think I pity them more. Cant they do something more constructive to get a car like, the longest time spent taking care of the elderly or the longest time spent helping a sick child..... Or the best, practical idea to improve on the *E* system. *!!* You know, will the increasing number of people getting reprimanded for what they write in their blogs, I will leave certain things to **__** and you can guess. Nothing exciting, just a bunch of 200 over people with one hand stuck to the car. {from what i last heard, as of today, 7/11, only 6 teams were left}

Sun 6 Nov
Ss made me breakfast! Yums. One of the few we had at home since we started our hols. Then we went to Cross street for lunch at the Hock Lam Beef Noodle place.

Hock Lam Beef Noodle
Food: Well, it was good, just like any other food court beef noodle. The beef was good, the soup was good and i esp love the chilli, it had a really good distinct limey citrus kick to the hot spicy chilli.
Rating:6.8/10 ( I would also give many food court beef noodles the same rating)
Return: Not a definite no, but will definitely go for other things when I'm in the vicinity, such as Yakun
Loves: The chilli.
Misc: The beef noodles at the East Coast Lagoon is still the best by far. It had a really good unique sweetness about it.

Then i found it. The thing I thought i had to fly all the way to Japan for. No need to pay for cheap airtickets and expensive hostel accomodations to get the gems of my life. It was all here, right in the tiny tiny island. Re-ment. My miniatures! Its all there! At China Square! Right next to cheap figurines of Darth and Luke, Leia and Han Solo. One of the shops sold my miniatures! *LALALALALALA* Couldnt resist. To think that I spent months thinking I had to return to the Land of the Rising Sun, in heart of Harrajuku, in the tall 6 storey builing called Kid's World to get my hands on those tiny, useless, expensive, pretty little gems. I bought my complete kitchen ($$$$) set and a display rack ($25).

Headed down to Taka to get check out stuff and guess who we bumped into? Princess Leia herself! Talking crap to a bunch of kids ( and their parents). Then i rubbed shoulders with a couple of stormtroopers and saw Darth being led away by a child. Hey, Palpatine was there too, along with his apprentice (you are fired!), and Boba fett. Pity Jabba couldnt make it. Jaja seemed to have returned to his Gunggan city. It was some kinda of promotion, i think, of THE ART OF STAR WARS, $18 for adults at the Science Centre sometime this month.

Best Denki
Service there is good! ( Mabbie cos we are not picky) The prices were similar to Tangs. But the salespeople here were way better. They let us try out and compare and there was some promotion. In someways our service seems to have improved. And since we are on that note, its true that it starts with the service people. The people at Mobil, where i pump petrol has been really friendly and i always leave the place not feeling angry that i just spent $50 topping up my car.

Well, its gonna be a hectic week ahead. We have dinners, chalets, camps, more dinners, grading, work, reports, budgets, reviews. Sighs. basically work work work

Farewell Again and Tai Tee

We had a farewell dinner again last night for our colleagues who were leaving. It was tearful, it was funny, it was meaningful, some who promised to keep their speeches short did not, some who we wanted to hear more from kept it short, there were gifts of wine and flowers, unseen gifts of love and best wishes, obvious expressions of grief, sadness and loss. Its so sad. Life would go on with or without them, only differently. Very differently. I hope not drastically differently.

I was sitting there watching people. Some greenies who stayed back in the canteen to help with the sound systems, I'm sure they felt the quivers. Some colleagues commenting on the wine (there was wine! n beer!), Pinot Noir from New Zealand. It was good wine. smooth and a raisiny finish.

In our midst were some colleagues who are about to retire (but not this year), some secretly planning to resign, some applying for study leave or doing something which would cause them to leave as well, some stuck in a bond -just started, fresh from the institution, halfway through or almost completing, some who are on contract, some who just got promoted, some who have been with us since the building came into existence and many other categories of people which i cannot elaborate much on the net. (that was just a hype). People come people go, they aimed to leave footprints, which they obviously did. So footprints and memories are we left with, many of them. Memories do we treasure, memories hopefully would never fade.

Then there were some who have been working closely with those who were leaving, how they have touched each others' lives in some minute way or another. Some complimenting on the chocolates (I was raving about it!!!!!!), some complaining about the food, mindless chatter, mischevious laughter, servers clearing up dishes, people making small talk.

The food was not good (D'fine Catering). The only good thing was the chocolates from Mezzanine! I must go there!

*JUST A NOTE* There are two kinds of speeches, meaningful ones and unmeaningful ones. and then there are two kinds of speechmakers, One who proclaim they will keep it short and really do and the other kind who proclaim that it will be kept short but it goes on forever boring the whole world to tears. *JUST A NOTE*

Tai tee! Yay! We drove down to the beach for dessert, tai tee and supper. I havent played taitee by the beach for a long time. Sitting there, at the rather newly renovated Lagoon hawker center brought back memories of how we used to chop 2-3 tables after windsurfing for chng tng and roti john at the old place. I miss those days. Hendra, Jimmy, Yiwen, Ber, Deb, Yen, Jiawei. We would talk about food when we were windurfing and talk about windsurfing over food. It was such fun times. We would go there together after school,pay the entrance fee, change, race to get the best board and sails, say hi to Robert ( the in charge there), rig up, place our sail on the best spot on the beach (not too near the rocks, depending on the wind direction) then go for a briefing (*blah blah blah*). Then we were off! At the mercy of the tide and wind, at the mercy of our maximum strength wer competed amongst each other. Who could lean back all the way without getting dunked in. Hendra and Jimmy were really good! And who can forget the times we tried to do stunts? the fancy gybes and speedy tacks. Goodness me. I missed us. Us when we were young, rather silly and carefree (we still are but in a different sense now).

Right, back to taitee with KS, Pres and VP, and supper of one of the most famous wanton mee in Singapore and Satay. Yummmssss.

Disclaimer: I seldom reread my blog and edit misstakkes, who cares? I'm not submitting this to an external examiner for marking, am I?Just so you know.

Travel Blog at last

Here's pictures from my trip to Yuksom, Sikkim in Northern India. We went there for this YEP project in Nov/Dec 2003.

Somehow I can only add like 2 pictures max to my site. It sux.

Holidays and Food

9 days of holidays, sprinkled with work to do, deadlines and meetings, a 4hr briefing, more deadlines in the email and more work to do, not to mention the backlog of work which i swept under the carpet and consultations. Not to forget the projected work yet to come my way. Ignorance/Avoidance is bliss. Haiya, can ignore everything but how to ignore a desperate sms "Ms __ can i see you on__". So life goes on, work goes on, the pleasure of my job goes on.*Y*

Since I cant leave the country, I have been on a food tour. Armed with Makansutra, SS and I went around to agree/disagree with his chopsticks.

Mon 31 Oct
I made Peng Kuih! For the very first time in my life. Watching the triangular pink kuih fall out from its mould was like wow. Peng kuih is a Teochew kuih filled with glutinous rice (some fill it with other stuff). Mil taught me how to make it. Its fun. For the "pi" or skin, she used a mixture of rice flour (mostly) and some plain flour and hot boiling water. A tiny bit of tapioca flour as well. She made the terrifically yummi filling of glutinous rice with fragrant mushrooms, flavoured with shallot oil. Coole.

Tues 1 Nov Happy Festival of Lights!
We decided to head down to Chinatown again for the Loh Mi Fun. But it was sold out! So we tried other things. As usual, I was on the hunt for the best porridge in Chinatown. Chinatown food complex

Joe's Pork Porridge 02-69
Food: Porridge, was similar to Tian Tian, smooth, not creamy and very "drink this and get well soon patient's kind of porridge" not my idea of the best porridge in town.
Rating: 5.8/10
Return: NO

Jiu Ji 02-157
Food: Very similar to the Tiong Bahru Porridge. Creamy and very very smooth. It has this machine in the shop which kinda grinds it smooth. Its damn good porridge. But somehow i feel Hwah Yuen in Tiong Bahru is more fragrant.
Rating: 8/10
Return: YES! the best porridge so far in Chinatown.

You know, very few of the food recommended in the Makansutra book is from food courts.

Wed 2 Nov
Mil and I went to Lor Ah Soo Market. Its only temp, nothing much. Then we went to Kovan Food Centre for breakfast. They have pretty good stuff. Carrot cake not bad but the Serangoon Ave 2 one is still the BEST!

Lunch: I made the bak chor with pickle, fried pomfret with sugar and lemon and chicken soup with coconut, cereal prawn and vegetables. Mil joined us.

Went out the town. Walked from 330pm to 830pm. We had dinner at Food Republic at Wisma the new food court. Its a really neat concept. It had all the old, traditional stuff in the traditional style. It has all the really good food in one place. Thye Fong is famous for the fried Hokkien Mee on banana leaves. The dim sum from Fortune Restaurant was good but ex. They has this thick bread toast thingy. I think it started from the same boss as Breadtalk. Anyway, I love the food court! 3 thumbs up!

So much for food.

Here's some pics of my kitchen

Homecooked Hokkien Mee

Its a Sunday! Its a holiday! Its the weekend! Its the sleep late and sleep in! Its the lets go out for breakfast day! *Skips around with delight* Gonna cook Hokkien mee today.

Breakfast@Yakun Raffles Hospital
At the carpark, it seemed as though all the Yakun fans and patients are sleeping in and enjoying the weekend too. But i realised it was the beginning of the super long weekend (just take 3 days leave and LEAVE!!!) Its the Deeparaya Holiday. 9 days (if u take 3 days off) Tues and Thu are holidays! One of the years before was the Gong Xi Raya. There were less than 5 cars in level 4 car park. It feels good to have space. At Yakun, the breakfast crowd seemed to have decided to go away for breakfast too. It was rather empty. The bread was especially crunchy and crispy today. Yumms yumms yumms.

Tekka Market
It was crowded, and there was a long jam outside Rochor Canal. At Tekka market, the shopkeepers played the law of econs game. One coconut originally $1.50 during the non festive period was sold at $2.oo!!!! I was robbed! In daylight! By an Uncle! with so many people watching! (Coconut was for Kuih Bingkar,not Hokkien Mee). Anyway, we went around to buy all my ingredients for my Hokkien mee and Lor Bak. So fun. I had 3 ppl (would be appreciaters of my hokkien mee) to help me carry the kilos of prawns, sotong and ribs, and noodles etc.

Then headed down to Sheng Siong. NTUC, I think you will lose a lot of business from me man. THey sell stuff cheaper than the market! And its nicely packed and fresh. It will be my definite haunt from now, Mil eagerly asked me to chio her when i go. I can forget about applying for the NTUC linkcard. We spent like 4 hrs there and parking at Tekka Mall is only like $1.50 per entry for Sunday (and your car does not get hot from the sun)

The food court is good too. We will be back to try the food one day!

Hokkien Mee
Its easy enough to cook. There are several secrets (I read from recipe books). One is to try with lard (no way!), another is to fry the prawn shells till fragrant, pound the prawn head and dump it in the soup stock with ribs. Cook the yellow noodles with stock first for 15-20 mins then add inthe white. Some use fried ikan bilis (like the Kembangan,Lorong mydin, corner shop). {the kembangan stall, Not the Kims' (which has now disappeared) is the best hokkien mee in Singapore. Hey Sitoh, you die die must try it!!!}I love the idea of prawns and pork. Its so cool. Like Mee rebus, Beef and sweet potato gravy. So coole! Anyway, had my parent and MFil over for dinner. Today's Hokkien Mee is 8.5/10. It would have been better if i added more garlic with the stock and used more prawns. But is was good by my standards. [There are times which I have graded myself 4/10 before(for other stuff) , so i'm not biased ok.]

Made Lor Bak too, next time must remember to use the soft skin beancurd. I did mine with Jap seaweed and black fungus and chestnuts.

Made Kuih Bengkar as well. I love it. The tapioca and coconut kuih. it turned out nice.


BDC Noticeboard:
Hey I'll bring some kuih Bengkar for ya all to try tomoro ok!

By the way, we have a new VP. She showed much wit and evilness that impressed both of us. Congratulations S!

QM: Memberhip priviledges does not extend to happily removing my scissors without my knowledge.

KS: We are still looking through your work review. In the meantime, you better concentrate on OTHER things.......

BDC Club Annual Dinner
11 November 2005
Kudos to the person who had the idea of locking D out of the room! I think it was Sa2 or C. See ya all n bring the latest research notes. Pres and I will brief you on our latest globalisation plan.

Beer and Porridge

The start of the holidays! Yipee!! Hooray! Just follow the yellow brick road and enjoy your way home. Yay! Hip Hip Hooray.

28 Oct Fri
I enjoyed giving CMB lesson to a bunch of 20+kids. It was quite fun. Showed my powerpoint slides and showed them the left and right handed helix using rubber bands. Splicing and Adenylation. Some were left in wide-eyed amazement of DNA, some were just worried about knowing all the processes. At least they were interested.

Then later, I met SS and we went to Geylang Bazaar. I love the Hari Raya Festivities. The beautiful kebayas, the baju kurungs, the ethnics stuff, soccer jerseys, knick knacks, snacks, kuihs, shoes, all sorts of things. We went there mainly for the food.

Sedap@Geylang Bazaar
Food:Tonnes of stalls, just pick what you like.
Ramlee Burger- So far no more evolution about it. They had the black pepper version before. This year like nothing fantastic.
Ayam: From the roasted madu(honey) to ayam percik(in a spicy sauce) to the normal grilled and fried kind. We esp loved the madu one. Damn good. $1 each
Dendeng: I must have this when i go there, I seldom see it beyond the Raya months. $3.50 for about2 slices.
Lots more lah, vadai, satay, mee goreng, turkish ice cream (one of the newer additions), goreng pisang, otak etc etc

29 Oct (Sat)
We had breakfast at Chinatown Complex. I heard they are going to rebuild it. So sad, We will lose our heritage food somewhat. I better bring my camera the next time we go. We had

Luo Mi Fan 02-011 at this recommended stall, 6 chopsticks.
Food: Simple, yet somehow very good. it only has fried shallots and peanuts. 9.5/10
Price; $0.70 small, $1.oo large
Return: Definite, with Mil and Fil prob

Tian tian Pork Porridge
6 chopsticks in Makansutra but i would only five it 6/10. Wah yuan, this porridge stall in Tiong Bahru is so much better and it was given a lower rating.
Food: Porridge was simple, reminded me of patients porridge. Nothing fantastic
Rating:6/10
Return: NO!

115 Dessert store
It seemed to be recommended by many of the food shows but i didnt really find it that fantastic.
Black Sesame paste:4/10
Peanut Paste:5.8/10
Return:No

We explored Chinatown a bit. Its a nice touristy place except for the awful colours they used to repaint the buildings. Then headed down to Yuehua, they had this Big Hairy Crab on sale from China. One small crab abound $25!!! and We had 2 much larger ones at Quanqude in Shanghai (along with the Beijing Ya) for less than that amount. There was this HeBei fair and they had all sorts of noodles, corn flavoured, tomato, sweet potato, black sesame and all that. The supermarket is so cool. All the stuff unfound in NTUC. Then we went for a foot and shoulder massage at Chinatown, it wasnt effective but it was a good massage anyway. $20 for 40 min.

Went to this place where they sold a whole chunk of kitchen ware. From bento sets to sukiyaki pots, to blenders and cutlery. Its really cool.

By then, it was time for lunch at

Tian Jin (near the MRT)
Food: Dim sum and chinese food.
Rating: 5.5/10
We had: Xiaolongbao(Pudong Kitchen at Balmoral one is much better), glutinous rice, pork rib in black bean(Crystal Jade one nicer) and other stuff. Not that fantastic.
Return: No!

Headed down to Clarke Quay and met Mil and Fil. Went for a cool beer at the Brewkery? is is? Golden Ale, one pint$6. but if you go there on mon to fri before 3pm its only $3! Shopped at Meidiya, all the lovely Japanese stuff. I'm surprised they did not have a lot of Japanese Mochi, the kind we bought tonnes of at the Narita Airport. Those were lovely. I wanna go back to Japan again!

Then went to Bukit Merah Food Centre to tapao Braised Duck and then to Tiong Bahru to buy pao.

Tiong Bahru Pao
One of the best pao in Singapore. Mil and Fil love it. esp the charsiew pao. I decided to snack on the other stuff they had today.
Char siew soh: Its so so so good!! The pastry was not as oily as the one in Crystal Jade and the filling is so juicy good! (Smeagol and his fish)The same as the filling in its charsiew pao. Yums.
Egg meat thing: hard boiled egg, wrapped with minced meat and fried. so yumms.

PORRIDGE
I'm facinated about porridge. It comes in two main kinds : the Cantonese kind (smooth and creamy) the teochew kind (where the grains of rice are intact and flooded with starchy water. I love to cook the cantonese kind. I cook it twice, once in an electric pot then in a claypot, with pork broth. Hubs cooks the teochew kind, and he cooks it very very well. Yums! Some restaurants use 2 types of rice, some just cooks it for very long. I would give a finger(not literally) to know how Wah Yuen Cooks theirs!

Wah Yuen Porridge
Sitoh and his team underrated this lah. Their porridge was introduced to me by a JC mate of mind back when the shop was still in the old place. they have this fried intestine porridge which is damn good. Their porridge is smooth, and very creamy, unlike most places. Its fragrant and just so delightful
Rating: 9/10

Fish Porridge at Crystal Jade
The best fish porridge ever!
Rating:10/10

Buried in the biology world and driving in the storm

Yesterday was one of the worst storms ever in sunny Singapore. Whats worse was I was driving through it, shuddering as every lightning flashed. It was pouring, the trees were kinda swaying, the leaves were ..... well, its nothing like the storm scenes you watched on the news but it was scary nonethless.

Back@home:
Recipe: I love fusion and whenever i ditch my entire library collection of recipe books, I realise I will mix chinese and western and lately a bit of Jap too. For example,

Fused Claypot Chicken
Kampung chicken (Malay?)
Mirin (Jap sweet wine)
Sesame oil (chinese/jap)
Lea perrins (western marinating sauce)
Dried chillies (Asian)
Oyster sauce (Chinese)
Chinese mushrooms (obviously!)
Sesame seeds (Asian)
Sea salt (mediterrenean)
Ginger(universal)

All cooked in the right amounts in a claypot. Hubs says its yums. ;)

Today, we went to have one of the best crab bee hoon ever. its my fav zhi char place!

Coffeeshop Delight (Blk 326, Serangoon Ave 2, near Braddell Heights CC)
Food: 9/10
Must die die try, die also must try: claypot crab bee hoon & mongolian ribs (its the best thing they ever did to pork)
Price: Affordable
Misc: I often see housewives ditching their aprons for the food here. Its really good and it crowded. But you hardly wait longer than 20 mins.
Drools: Dont worry, just say the password ("Let's go eat crab bee hoon!") And i'll bring ya there!

Back@work
Was lost in my molecular world all of today. I felt as though i was in some cell watching all the processes at work. It was cool to be back in my alma mater, in both senses of the word. In my old school, in my cellular world. I really enjoy looking for animations and diagrams on the web. Its very time consuming, especially when you need the exact perfect diagram, not too simple, yet not too cheem, preferably with an animation/movie with voice over.

5 day work week

Why i choose to write about this I really have no idea. Must be the overdose of caffeine I had in the late after noon with Lena combined with the withdrawal symptoms of my "DO not drive machinery after consuming this medication" drowsy formulae lil yellow pills for my flu.

One of the things LHL did which I liked was declaring of the 5 day work week to spend time with your family. And boy did I spend time with my family. Almost every Sat was with at least one family member.

Here are some pics of the farm tours we went to near Lim Chu Kang. We went to Poison Ivy's For lunch, the famed ex Netball Assoc head. She was great! She had such an overwhelming personality that somehow makes you feel welcomed, very heartening. Her dishes were lovely.

Poison Ivy (In a land far far away)
Food: 7.5/10 All very fresh and nutritious. The organic stuff somehow makes you feel good.
Try: Roasted Chicken n almost anything else she recommends. Fig Tea.
Ambience: its a great, cosy, backpacker kinda europeany kampung feel about it. Just dont open the back door while you are eating, the smell of fertilizers of whatever organic stuff grows on aint as fragrant as the food from the kitchen.

then we headed for the -
frog farm: There were tonnes of frogs and fishes and Mil bought some frogs for cheap. This guy in the frog abbatoir was chopping up live frogs. The one of the things i remember about survival living (back in my JC days) thought was how to kill a frog. By whacking its head on a stone. The stronger you are the luckier the frog is. Anyway, this guy was chopping off the frog's head but somehow the axons were still able to receive impulses from its synapses and the body was twitching and jerking..... it was damn gross. As always, my camera was ready for a snap but Mr Grossed out said it was too gory... this from someone who watches mindless wrestling? Some one who enjoys watching Men who blow other men's guts out for entertainment thinks this is gross? I would have taken a video and shown it at the farewell concert. HAHAHAHAHA.

the wheat grass farm: lovely. They have wheat grass gui lin gao n luo han guo gui lin gao.

Aerogreen: You can get the farmers there (is that what you call them?) to pluck the fresh stuff (vege/herbs/fruit) off the soil n into a plastic bag for you in front of your very eyes.

This happened like 2 weeks ago.


Photos

The best of university education

University
Well, I just went home to collect my university notes. Almost all $20k worth of it. Whats rather priceless is the fun and joy i had reading them, a long time ago, not quite 10 yrs though. As I flipped through the notes, I came across joys and pains, rainbows and hurricanes that I been through. From RNA splicing to the best of plant technology, from cell biology to physiology, from transcription factors to the latest gene that was found to cause cancer, from the apoptosis gene(death gene) to the gene that prevents freezing in some animals, from the wonders of Arabidopsis to the uses of yeast and beer making. Yes, I have travelled somewhat through the world of biology and then, I'm back again. There and back again by evie who loves to travel. I've experienced the pain of honours year and the tribulations and trails of working in a Lab. Yet, in those dark times, I found angels (evil Emperor Palpatine like characters were present too).

Well, the reason I'm digging those notes up are to prepare for , the LIFE SCIENCE inititive, The fourth pillar of our economy. It is very advantageous you know, Genetics and Engineering. Dont ask me if I want to be stuck in a lab doing some cancer research. Just, dont ask okie.

Well, heres a place I tried today

Lau Hokkien (old Hokkien) After all the court cases and hype, I really dont know which is the real one.
Food: Not too bad but not super raving either 5.6/10
Dont try: crab bee hoon (I can cook better)
WE had: Kung po chicken, butter prawns (too much sugar), Claypot beancurd, Hokkien mee (not super fantas), this prawn roll thing (Pow sing one better)
Return factor: no.
Price:reasonable
Service: I think some of the waitresses were from China. Nothing wrong except that my mandarin not that "zhai" to understand her explainations.

Dinner, Lights, Action

Just went out to have dinner and some weekend fun. I thought 18 October was the best day yet to come when I would be free at last, time left to do admin work, time to plan budgets and write notes, plan stuff. But noooo... I was far wrong, had been arrowed to do this and that, many quite useless..... if you know what i mean..... Not that i mind, I gladly help but i was just wondering how did they get by...... When did they start caring about stuff that they did not know? When did they realise it was important for them to know?

Back to my weekend:
Reliant on the little yellow drowsy formulae pill to get my nose to stop flowing, I took some to get me to sleep the night before. Feeling slightly better this morning, I decided to give my male nurse a treat to Yakun at United. He has been eating the regulars on the Patient's Menu since I got sick and not to mention donning on the chef's hat for the best of the Patient's Menu. The Chef's Specials included Mee Suah, Teochew Moi, Fish Porridge and not to forget handy services like warm water with little yellow pills in hand.
So the little crusty bread with a thin sticky layer of Singapore's Own Pandan-Coconut-Egg (kaya) Spread with square cubes of butter(which i remove rather religiously), but it tastes damn good with! Also the best soft boiled egg hands smoothered with delightful black sauce and a sprinkle or more of white pepper. Yums! (KS can eat four of those at 2 goes with me and Pres watching in amusement/horror(?))

Relied on the little yellow pill to sleep in the afternoon and awoke just about time for dinner.

Orchard
Mil wanted to go to orchard so we went down and parked at Isetan Scotts. $2.10 on weekends after a certain time. Cheap. We went to California Pizza Kitchen For dinner

California Pizza Kitchen
Food:Mainly pizza's and pastas and some damn good lookin desserts. 8/10
Best: Peking Duck Pizza, Flour tortila, Tequila Chicken Pasta.
Delivery: Yes! they deliver, but i have not tried their service
Cost: Can be ex but joining the CPK club seems like a good deal.
Service: not bad
Return factor: definite, considering my male nurse raves about the food there.

then we decided to head down to Sultan mosque area for the Ramadan Light up. Well, apparently, there is some small bazaar near Aaliwal street. It was a small bazaar, some 2nd stuff, jewellery and knick knacks. Not that fantastic yet but it may be a major thing in time to come. They just need some stalls selling food and it would definitely draw in the crowd. The light up was not super glam unlike the christmas one at orchard but its a start. What I enjoyed most was the kompang, or malay drums, which so far i have only heard at Malay Weddings. IT was cool! I love the way the boys whacked the kompang and the rest followed to a really groovy beat and catchy rhythem. Like an impromptu band. And the restaurants there, mostly muslim, arabic themed like Samar and all that, with people smoking shisha.

That place brings back memories. I used to work at 48A Kandahar street, between 2 really good eating places, Bumbu and Sabar Menanti. Sabar Menanti (Wait patiently) is a nasi padang stall with lotsa great spicy curries and dishes to go with rice. Bumbu(ingredient) is a thai, indonesian food place with really fantastic food. A bit ex but some stuff is really out of this world. We used to go there n eat really often. And at the back of Kandahar street likes a corner teh tarik stall. I love the nasi goreng sambal and teh. We always ta pao back to the office for tea break. And My office, which withstood the early Jap Days, was haunted. I experienced it! First hand account. Will talk about that another time.

Saw a key figure, Minister LSS with his family. Characteristic White shirt, even when not at work!?!!! He was enjoying the show of kompang and lights and all that i guess.

We decided to go for dessert at Lavender st Food centre. A place i would recomend for food but please, try not to use the loo. As much as toilet upgrading went, they upgraded it, renovated it but did not maintain it. What's the point? It reminded me of the toilets outside Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai. YuYuan Gardens is a popular touristy area, a recommended place to go for the best XiaoLongbao and sights and all that. But outside one of the exits, my goodness, the public toilet was a nicely tiled longkang (drain) with doors to the height of your waist and everyone can look over and see what you were doing. Yeah, so u just squat by the drain and do your business and watch everyone else business go by underneath you. At least, some toilets in india have proper doors. though the sanitary aspect of it aint too spectular either. I think we should abolish squat toilets in singapore. We hve done a great job so far in upgrading our toilets, but still more can be done. There is always more to be done.

Anyway, back to dessert at Lavender. Chengtng sucks. $1.50 for pathetic stuff. nuf said.

Reflections and Growing up

The best failure I have ever seen

A quotable quote. I wonder how it applies.

Feeling Sick
As you grow older, it takes a longer time to heal. Sick used to be 2 days max and less than 3 times a year. The freq is the same but the time I take to recover is much longer. Sick.

Growing up
I miss my growing up days in the 80's with songs by the Carpenters and Abba, not to mention beach boys and even a bit of Cliff Richard. Somehow my life revolves/revolved around those songs.

When I had to go to primary school after the weekend: Rainy Days and Mondays, Carpenters
Time for Pocket money: $0.50 a day- Gimme Gimme,ABBA
When I was reflecting and missing people-Yesterday once more, Carpenters
When I felt really happy-Top of the World, Carpenters
MY ultimate dancing song, even today- Dancing Queen, ABBA
Teenage identification song-One of us, ABBA
Studying motivation song/Friendship- We have only just begun, Carpenters
Grateful/Thanks-Thank you for the music, ABBA

Then in my early teens I was introduced to more bands, other than the ones my dad played everymorning. Life was more than just Engelbert and his cowboy texan songs.

I remembered in our little meeting room in church. It was a really cool meeting room in OLPS, where there was this inner room. Our Youth Group, StJames was formed for Confirmation Kids. The SJI n RGS people were blasting Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and the St Pats people were rocking and jamming to it. Clearly I have never heard it before but even more clearly, I loved it. I loved the newness of it, the way it screams and whispers. The Cresendos and Staccatoes. The new words, the novelty. The poetic rhythem of it all. IT is so COOLE!

"thunder bolts of lightning! very very frightening!

Then it started, the cassette tape buying ( CD's/MP3/MD's were not the trend then, I doubt MP3's even existed which eventually grew to CD ( when the trend was in) then to my recent MP3 player.

I realised I only liked certain songs, though I heard lots of hard rock and strange pop songs before and after our church meetings every Sunday.

All time faves:
Something Stupid by Nicole Kidman (isnt she gorgeous) n Robbie Williams
Anything from the movie Grease
Anything from ABBA n Carpenters
Simply Red: You're So beautiful- The song meant alot to me esp in relationships, not that I thought i was beautiful but "Oh so boring" part.
Freshmen by verve pipe: introduced by Gordon, I listened to it a lot when I was staying inthe hostel in NUS. Its a damn depressing song man. Yet so unique in its own way.
Michael Buble: Intro by Geraldine C: just went to his concert on the 10 of october 2005. Man! He is an entertainer! It was funny, catchy and did me wow me off my feel. I especially love Quando with Nelly. ITs really a good modern version.

Lots more about growing up in the 80s stay tuned.

Obsessions and Celebrations

Well, I wanna talk about my obsessions (latest) and celebrations (of my friends). As time slides by the life clock, I have come to develop obsessions (to name a few):

1) Collecting Miniature stuff
2) Collecting liquers

First Friend
First person that comes to mind is someone I met when we were three, lost contact and then got to know each other again. Its amazing how we were able to keep in touch all these years. HCL or otherwise known as J.

Good friends
From my schools mainly, whom we have shared many a tai tee, bridge and makan sessions, drinking (drunking) too... Shared feelings, silly phases in life like blading in the middle of the night, cycling with blades on (what were we thinking!!) , going up to compass rose with shorts and T shirt (they were so desperate for business that they let us) n playing cards on the one of the highest buildings in singapore, walking around barefooted (in Taka!), staying overnight at Kuta beach, overdrinking at Ladies night pubs.

Not to forget my"brother, sister and Half brother" whom we spent yakking over the phone (as my mother would call it) for long hours (before they implemented the pay as u use system) about teenage romances, crushes, joys, people, life and religion, deaths, problems etc. I remember I had the three way phone line where u could talk to 2 parties at the same time (for $0.50 extra a month), the pager messages (143-I love you, 07734- hello and all the other strange stuff that i have forgotten)

The midnight suppers at Simpang/Jln kayu where friends offered to pick me up and drop me off at 12am in the morning, the late nights at the beaches to watch stars or hang by the airport runway (now prohibited), the driving past Changi Village for "viewing".

The old-new friends, knew them since the dinosaur ages then got to see them again in the new world, still able to pick up our friendship were we left off. So cool.

Friends of whom I was close with, now distant due to many reasons.

Friends overseas. One becoming a doc in Ireland, another a brilliant lawyer or brilliant in anything he does in Paris/London (brilliant at everything but having enough patience at a mahjong game), another Australian happily earning pounds in London, another in Penang with a car sponsored by her dad! My bro who brought back his scottish accent, another in Australia who just proposed to his gf.

Friends. I loved/love everyone of them. I miss them and I celebrate crossing paths with them. Thank you. I will slowly name you and give each of you credit in time to come okie.

Food
Igen dining (Japanese Alacarte Buffet) east coast
Price: $30+++
Variety: Good, love the sukiyaki, and salmon soup, they have soft shell crab (unlike Ikoi), gindara (unlike ikoi), a load of sashimi, grilled stuff (unlike ikoi) you get the idea, good variety of handrolls (unlike ikoi)
Return factor: Yes, if I really want jap food
Downsides: Tempura was soggy after the 3rd order, dessert not included inthe menu, slow service when crowded
Rate: 7.5/10
Seats: normal seats that you dont have to crawl out of after pigging out

Yakun Kaya
Love it! screw the french press! have a soft boiled.

More food news to come in my next episode. stay tuned

The day of mental unproductivity

I dont feel like talking about my day. Cos I was feeling pretty sick all day(after the tempura). Had a sore throat, feel sian and super bored.


Best of Bangkok

Besides the fact that they sell miniature stuff, their original DVDs are rather cheap too. Got the Extended DVD trilogy of LOTR for like 1400 baht (Less than a hundred Sing). ITS REALLY ORIGINAL. Cool!

Lobsters for the price of Crabs! One kg of lobs cost about $30.

There's this little cafe in Isetan, at the World Trade Centre with pretty good food.

Khaosan Road. It never fails to excite me. (though i'm kinda bored of the ethnic/Asian stuff they sell)

Bamboo Bar at the Oriental Hotel. Best Jazz and drinks I've ever had at the same time for a great price. They have an international band and keep changing singers. The last time i went an American lady was singing.

Grand Diamond Hotel. Never will I stay in Bangkok Palace again! The rooms were fantastic, kinda like an apartment, with 2 tvs, larger than normal fridge, stove. It is right smack opposite Pratunam, a stone's throw from Dragon Restaurant (lobster!). Went there with great company! Look in the background!



Yeah my recent trip to Bangkok was really fun. It was a break from work. Bought a really good book, Man and Boy by Tony Parsons, found a choya loving chum and created one. We went for massages, played taitee, ate , drank and shopped. 6 of us went. from a couple who were old enough to be my parents, a boss, an easy going guy. We bought choya and wine from the DFS before leaving and played taitee and guess the number games. Go back? You bet! Check out the durian and mango glutinous rice with coconut.



For my bro

Via mar (Esplanade)
Its supposedly a Spanish Restaurant.
Food: Good 7/10
Ambience: 8/10
Service:6/10 Waitress keeps coming when we dont need her and turns her back when we do! (does that happen at all restaurants?)
Price with wine: $180 for 4 ppl (Wine was $78!!)
Try: paella, fried squid

No signboard seafood(lor 24 Geylang)
Crabs: 10/10 Best, most addictive chilli crabs ever!
Gong gong!
Service: Excellent 9/10 the waitress will somehow get you a table. and they have valet service.

Char Koay Teow
Beach Rd market. Go try. Even the Penang one aint as addictive.

Best Pasta
This little place in Sweden, Globetrotten.

First of my blogs

Hello everyone! Testing testing.

My blog will be full of my travels, places to eat and anything else that I wanna say. You know, I had so many things to write in the blog but now, I'm at a loss for words.

Travels:

Hongkong Dec/Jan 1996-1997
Bali April 1997
Europe April 2000
Australia July 2001
India/Nepal October 2002
Sikkim Nov 2003
Bangkok Jan 2004
Cambodia (Angkor Wat) April 2004
Scandinavia May 2004
Shanghai Dec 2004
Alaska/Canada/Japan May 2005
Penang Sept 2005
Bangkok October 2005

Here's a start.

Well, today is a significant day for me. The last of the eggs have hatched and are ready to leave the nest. I've watched them grow, learn and be real people. Well, real enough at least for the real world. Through the highs and lows, frowns and smiles, scolding and laughing, I have shared with at least 70 people. Somehow, they have not figured that my bark is not as bad as my bite. And definitely they did not realise that I would never bite them. Such darlings. I already miss them. Though I'm glad lessons are over! Sighs. Will tell you more about them in time to come.

Babies! Love to hold them, love to feed them, love to cuddle them but hate to bring them up. Just saw a precious today. Such a sweetheart. Her parents cut off her hair to make a kinda brush? I miss my nephews and niece when they were babies ( less than a year old) After that, they get all bratty and noisy and I can practically hear them screaming in my dreams! But I love them anyway.

Japanese food. Ikoi Japanese Buffet at Miramar Hotel. Verdict.
Food: Tempura was good ( Was because the 3rd order was soggy)
Seat: Criss crossed or normal benchstyle, either way it was hard to get up after the dinner
Price: $30+++
Menu: Not super varietal. Nothing exciting. Nuf Said.
Return factor: No
Comments: Chawanmushi- 3/10, Tempura 8/10 (first order) 3/10 (subsequent orders), Sashimi- very good (from sashimi lovers)

Sashimi lovers. Ha ha.... ha ha..... Sashimi lovers..... hmmm..... did I have dinner with sashimi lovers?...... Ha ha... Only I laugh and u watch okie, cos you wouldnt understand. Ha ha

Well, latest craves: Miniatures.
You know, miniature toys eg cups, pots, pans, tables, benches about the size of a 10cent coin. Its so cute! I started in Tokyo Japan. There is this building in Harajukku called Kid's World. A 6 story building full of toys for men, boys, women, girls, babies, grandmas etc. From disney to pikachu to strawberry shortcake, dreamworks and all the latest toys from the latest movies. And, on one of the floors they display this miniatures which i went gaga over. Like really gaga.... it didnt help that I was kinda encouraged or at least, not discouraged from buying. A box of 10 sets cost about sing $120. When u are gaga, price usually does not matter......much..... I would just fly all the way there to get more toys. Just to get more toys..... The brand is Rement. ( So , if you are going, do drop me a note if u dont mind buying for me) Great stuff. Found some on my recent trip to Bangkok at World Trade Centre, rather near Isetan. Quality not as good but it was miniature and I went gaga anyway. There's a shop in United Square, Singapore too. And one dealing with porcelain miniatures in Penang, near Komtar.

Star Wars. Love it do you? I have not met anyone as fanatic and devoted as a friend of mine. He has arranged star war figurines in like complete scenes from some episodes. I havent seen all of it yet...... soon i hope. I have met fans of the quintology? is it? All loving the plot and the character and the out of the world names. I like how Tony Parson's wrote about it in his book, Man and Boy. Its funny. I like how my friend does his Jedi Silence hand motion thingy in an audience of 300 unknowingly. To me, this friend of mine, I call him Darth. He kinda walks like one.

BDC. As president and co founder, I must make special mention of it. There. Its mentioned. Nuf said. (for now)