Random

Been lazy to blog recently so i shall just post pictures to let them do the talking instead of me rambling on all the time... some random pictures for you then








[Sakana breaded fish $2.90, Shisamo $2 (5), Mixed Tempura w/ Soba $5.90, Breaded Scallop $1.90, Cold Tofu $1.90]

Some pictures from Sumo house Japanese eatery along Clementi ave 3 next to KFC. Touting as the cheapest Japanese eatery in town, i had the Katsudon $2.90 which is very decent (last pic) Free flow of green tea on tea house with anything you eat but it's self service though. The Shisamo is also another value for money item both in taste and quantity. Crispy but not overly oily it beats some of its more expensive counterparts which also happen to taste soggy and tasteless. The Mixed tempura bento was somewhat disappointing, the soba being grainy? The tempura being average overall not really memorable. Breaded scallop is really run of the mill!!!!!! In fact it's so average it deserves a special mention. It's AVERAGE!!!! As for the cold Tofu, it's cold tofu, a dish somewhat hard to screw up. So, no discernible difference from those i've had from other places.




A VERY expensive pack of tortillas w/ its own peppered mayo dip $5!




Some indian rojak cracker dish @ some lunch w/ mum which i found memorable. No other meaning whatsoever.







Lunch w/ mum at Botak Jones @ Clementi Ave 5 block 325. Waiting time 20 min. I had the Botak Double burger and mum had Cajun chicken. I'm sure one can tell which is which from the pictures, i've also put in a cross section of the burger to show the pretty shade within. The burger is good, medium rare as i requested but the cheese really made me feel queasy after the first patty. Not a good thing since i'm usually a cheesy person, no pun intended.
That said, a decent eat still. The chili fries didn't really taste of any chili, just salty actually. The Cajun chicken on the other hand was exactly as they described. Tender Chicken breast w/ all the seasonings absorbed by the meat. For lack of descriptives i will suffice in saying the seasoning and the meat went really well together and is deserving as their 2nd most popular dish. I shall try the most popular Pacific Dory fish n chips the next time i go. Damage total $20.50 with the Chix costing $7.5 and my burger being $13.50 ($2 for cheese)





A random pic from dinner at Carousel @ Royal plaza on Scotts road showing prawns w/ mango sauce n bits and slipper lobster. Didn't take more pictures as the food was really good and deserved my full attention. Not cheap though, $90+ on a weekday after 15% discount.
Go figure.
The good thing is that they have all the timings and pricing on their site.



Lastly, a picture from Bugis arcade where this cute little thing played the Drummania game better than alot of those double her age. A future drum maestro.

Crystal jade Hong Kong cafe (Bugis) / Uno Beef

Stopped for food while doing some shopping and chanced upon this little niche of a hong kong cafe near Bugis Junction. A few pictures of what we had there...


The signature soup stock with 'ding' noodles (maggi) with luncheon meat and fried pork slices.
Normal. O remarked the soup tasted odd while i thought it just tasted... eggy. About $8.



One half of their Pig's Trotters with garlic and chili powder. Very nice, one of the leaner pig's trotters i've tried, crispy yet tender on the inside. The garlic / chili powder also added another dimension to it's taste. Pricey though at about $6-7 for two.



Home made soya bean curd with strawberry. We mused that it would be bean curd with half a strawberry sliced into eight pieces and hold and behold, came the exact thing we imagined. That said the bean curd was smooth with the right amount of sweetness and the strawberry actually complimented the overall taste very well. $2.50

Overall the meal (included a hongkong iced milk tea and another egg white/milk dessert) came up to $25. Not exactly value for the quality but ok for a quite respite from the oppressing heat outside.

After shopping we wanted to head to Victor's kitchen for dim sum at sunshine plaza but we arrived at almost 8 and they close at 8 daily (closed on mons) so we left in disappointment. Ended up at Uno Beef at 19a Dover crescent near Singapore polytechnic. Supposedly this place serves good steak at a coffeeshop environment with reasonable prices.

Some pictures to illustrate...



The free bread. Tasted like really nice garlic bread... if served a day ago. Felt like yesterday's really nice garlic bread. Passable but could be better.



Mushroom soup. Probably of canned variety but hot and well stirred so at $2 / bowl we're not complaining. Another piece of bread! Surprisingly this one tasted much better.



O had a ribeye steak medium rare which came sizzling on a hot plate. Comes with beans half a tomato and an interesting potato ball which was nice and soft with a buttery taste to it. I quite liked the steak though O thought it was slightly overly well done (probably due to the sizzling). There were fats in the rib eye which O did not appreciate but the overall verdict is a above average steak - not a bad steak for very reasonable prices. Coffeeshop = no ambience but it's only $11...



The star of the evening!!!
A really thick juicy slab of sirloin (w/ back pepper) which came sizzling as well. This is also supposed to be medium rare and come exactly in that state despite the sizzling. I reckon this to be due to the thickness of the steak. At $10 it's an absolute steal~
My mouth waters just thinking about it. If i had to compare it, i've probably paid 20-30+ at places like philly's steak house or jack's place for something like this. Like i said, a steal.
Tough on the outside and reddish pink on the inside, i would say it was as good as i thought (and the reviews give on this place)

Will be back again! Though i will take a bus instead of walking from dover MRT.

eating dancing drinking

Ahhh my days at e club have evolved much.
In e past it used to be drink very little dance alot. Then it became half drinking and dancing.. Then alot of drinking not so much dancing.. Finally at this point it boils down to little drinkin not so much dancing but alot of chilling and pool playing. I think i like e dancing self more.

Anyway for pool it was a good night. Spent little drank little (less than a jug!) N did enough dancing to work off e food i stuffed in fer dinner. Omg this entry is again all about my yawn inducing daily rituals! I need to engage in more meaningful thoughts n put them here!

Vapid musings

The people in my business law class is pretty into it! They so actively follow e lecturer.. even echoing his words on demand.. Wow. Haven't heard that since secondary school
But that said his class is DRY. Literally think dried up creeks deserts etc etc.. He tries but its probably e topic.
Some people start leavin throughout e class.. Some have given up n are boogeying with e sandman.. Sitting in alone helps me in many ways.. No one to talk to preventing distraction, no one to fall back on for notes..
Risky but necessary.

On my way back home this woman stood in front of me in e train. There was nothing special except within my hand's reach thru a wide gap in her open bag was a blackberry phone and a high end SE phone. A gap not in her line of sight. People like these bring about crime. Not speakin of deterrence, it's like a double dose of temptation.. Wth.

Maybe i should have taken a pic to illustrate.. It was That close.


Instead a shot of e blood stained tissue from my sudden nose bleed right after seeing Ms pickpocket friendly.





Also a couple of random pictures of nice Minced meat noodles from a eatery where i always have lunch on school days in cuppage plaza.



Lastly on my way home a pic of my friendly neighbourhood cat who is pregnant but promptly fed by some kind soul. Ain't she pretty.

ponder wonder

Adjustment to life seems harder than i expected. Listenin in class is fine n following well.. Well i think so anyway. Problem is assignments or homework if you will. For someone who hasn't done much of that since say sec2, which is.. 9years ago, i really need to light a flame of motivation each time to get myself going..
Pushin myself to try, try and try some more.. Not 2 be distracted, thinkin logically accordin to e stuff i've digested is like levelin a little mountain each time.. My biggest concern now is can i keep this up? Will i run out of wood for my fire..?
Part of me thinks screw it. Get a job work for 30years end up nowhere. End of life.
Part of me wants 2 climb to heights that i KNOW i can achieve. Think case of major self confidence And lack of it at e same time. Lethal stuff. For now i'll continue e one step at a time, a day at a time, a minute at a time.

There is no one but myself. Others have carried me thus far.

It is now up to me.

Food at 126 dimsum place in geylang!

Supper last night at Wan Tho Shek (Cantonese but sounds like 126)

Tried this place once before with friends, remembered it to be pretty good so tried since was around the area and driving.

Talk of food brings fantasies, pictures complete them.


Fried tofu with prawn. One of the highlights of the meal. Well fried tofu. Prawn 50% fried 50% original 100% delightful.


Somewhat disappointing. Am a fan of Guo Tie (fried dumplings) and this wasn't up to standard. Served warm but could tell it had been lying somewhere for a while. The skin wasn't crispy but soft and slightly soggy.


Har Kao (Prawn dumplings) A good rendition. One of those staple dim sums you have to try. Not a let down as the prawns used in the dishes were firm and juicy.


Siew Mai w/ prawn. Same as the Har Kao, except this is a much better rendition than your average siew mai. Firm exterior, soft interior and then you bite into the whole prawn in the centre. O and i both agreed this to be a highlight also.


Chicken Feet. I order this everytime i have dim sum. I must have had some really good one once but subsequently everything paled in comparison. This one was really soft and flavourful in its own way but lacking an Oommph. Looked really good though.


Xiao Long Bao. Very odd. Tasted like the Guo tie with XLB outer skin. Pleasant but would have preferred something closer to the norm. The XLB at arena country club is very good.


The no. 1 highlight! Chee Chong Fan with Char siew w/ char siew sauce. Heavenly. The dish was soft but firm and the char siew had a lot of flavour unlike some places which serve char siew bits in theirs. The sauce then brought the entire dish together and leaves a lingering meaty aftertaste in your mouth.


Whew. Alot of food. Finally, the bill. $27.50 for two is ok considering the overall quality of the food (Pretty good). Even found a parking space 2 cars away from the store. How lucky is that?

Authentic sushi lunch buffet!

Well i don't think this will ever be a food blog or near anything near some of the really good ones i've been reading but i do want to rant about stuff i think is worth mentioning!

Sushi Kikuzawa at International building next to Shaw Centre
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Lunch buffet came up to $71 for two which is ... ... ...
But the food was really good! The place is small but cozy with maybe capacity for 10-12 in front of the sushi bar and a small round fitting 6 maybe? The jap chef also lended presence to the joint i must say.

The chef prepares everything in front of you and i must say it is the first time i've ever had sushi which the rice and ingredients feel as one instead of separate as with most places. A must try at least once heh... let the pictures do the talking


Sashimi! A mix of tuna salmon squid and some fish i can't place. The salmon was very good, fresh and had the sufficient fat to make it feel like melting in your mouth. One of the better ones i've tried. Squid was springy? Chewy and flavorful for something i normally don't quite like. The unknown fish was... fishy. Didn't quite like it. The tuna was fresh but had a powdery texture to it but wasn't unpleasant.


Don't quite like this normally but not a bad rendition here.


Winter melon soup with ginko nut, chicken and tau pok. Odd dish to serve but the soup was very comforting and very flavorful but not overly salty. Also glad the portion was small ^^


Two highly recommended choices. The caramelized unagi and seared fatty salmon. Blowtorched to perfection. The former melts (quite literally) in your mouth and the latter has a nice slightly charred taste.


Ubi sushi and mackerel. The ebi was too thin and couldn't really taste it but i must say due to the great rice, everything tasted at least above average. The mackerel was bursting with flavour without the fishy taste i expected.


Tuna sushi with sweet sauce and sesame seeds. The sauce blended the texture of the tuna and the sesame seeds together very nicely. Overall also a must try.


The salmon sushi was... well nice but failed to impress somehow. The seared squid was interesting. Chewy on one side and slight charred taste on the top, making it refreshingly different from the other sushi.


Unagi sushi, tai and sea bream. The tai wasn't bad, very fresh but not quite my thing. The sea bream had a interesting texture i can't quite put a finger on... but i liked it.


Dessert! They have papaya, apple, peach, pineapple, strawberry, green apple, mango and lychee puddings to choose from. Above is green apple (right amount of sweetness), peach or papaya can't tell which but tastes like peach + ice cream soda (nice~), pineapple (normal) and strawberry (bit watery but pleasant)

Chef made good choices for us and was a great meal overall!

A fresh start!

Having not blogged for a while due to excessive partying and pure bumming around, i'm (somewhat but perhaps not altogether) glad to say purpose has found its way back into my life~

School and eating right.

Few words but both require a tremendous (think size of Russia) amount of willpower to gain anything from.

Sure, anyone can say keep away from the fat the sugar the fried stuff. Yeah right. Take a quick look, it's all around us that it's virtually next to impossible to avoid them (if you're on a budget). But that for another time.

Today's main point has to be school! After much waiting (n partying) I've finally taken the first (really small) step towards a brighter and hopefully, well earning future. I can only say going to class brought back many memories, none good. The only difference this time is i'm going in with a whole different attitude which kept me awake... mostly. My first module is by this indian lecturer Saminathan who is supposed to be one of the more popular tutors. Very straight to the point yet humorous, able to keep people awake (important). However, he really goes at a breakneck pace! As for my audit class, it's this brit woman who actually went thru a lot less with the same amount of time... she was pretty ok too to be fair, i was just tired and hungry.

Style wise, it's a lot different from my poly days which is all too apparent from the things the tutors emphasis on like exam techniques straight from the get go. I foresee a lot of stress coming up but also the relish of a challenge! Like i told O, having a purpose or something to do will really put a different perspective on your free time and as such, make me appreciate the things i'm sure i've come to take fer granted in recent times :)

To a new year (old) and endless fortunes (timeless) !