Ben not Beng

Home Cooking!

2009-09-08T05:14:00.005+08:00

Was in the mood for some culinary d-i-y and after a wonderful meal prepared by O recently consisting of
-Heart Shaped pancakes
-Scrambled eggs with cheese and ham
-Cheese Sausages
-Crispy Bacon
-Golden Hash Browns
-Pan Fried Mushrooms

Whew, what a list! Every bit delicious i kid you not.
Not to be outdone, i decided i too my hand at making a decent meal in return :D

Aite, so mine consisted of leftover KFC chicken, coleslaw and chilled beans (yums), we rated my scrambled eggs a huge success!

The eggs turned out great and done up with milk, some sea salt and black pepper, heavenly on it's own!

Al-Ameen, again!

2009-09-08T04:36:00.004+08:00

Ever since the first intro by O to Tulang Merah, its been another Foie Gras experience all over!
Ok, not quite.

Still, when cravings attack, you respond.

Traveling turned out to be much more of a breeze now that we've moved and the bus goes all the way in front of the bone steak haven! Nice.

A good occasion needs a theme. Then you need good accompaniments.
We chose

- 1 Masala Thosai ($1.50)
- 1 Mixed Raitha ($4.00)
- 1 Plain Bryani Rice ($3.00)

Since we knew the Tulang Merah was hefty on the palate, the yogurt vegetables did quite nicely to balance the scales along with the comfort of basic pancakes, potatoes and curry. The bryani rice, as usual, did not disappoint and is a good companion to any meal.

Without further ado, the Star!

For $8 (8 pieces), this is really value for money if you fully appreciate how to savour this.
Think loud, think messy but the rewards speak for themselves. Drools.

Start.

Struggle.

Messy.

The end!

One warning would be that having such a delicacy that involves all the senses is bound to leave its mark on you... you have been warned.

Lunch Buffet @ Greenhouse, Ritz Carlton

2009-07-20T17:42:00.012+08:00

O pointed this out to me, that Greenhouse was having a dinner offer as stated below
Countdown to Lunch at Greenhouse (Starts 11 May 2009 & Ends 31 August 2009)
Multiple-tier dining offer and maximum discount offered is 50% with no restriction to number of guests
5 days advanced booking before event date – 50% off the Buffet Luncheon
4 days advanced booking before event date – 40% off the Buffet Luncheon
3 days advanced booking before event date – 30% off the Buffet Luncheon
2 days advanced booking before event date – 20% off the Buffet Luncheon
1 day advance d booking before event date – 10% off the Buffet Luncheon

All-day á la carte: 6:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Buffet breakfast: 6:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Buffet lunch: Noon - 2:30 p.m.
Buffet dinner: 6:30 - 10.30 p.m.
Saturday lunch buffet: Noon - 2.30 p.m.
Sunday vintage champagne brunch: 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m., offering an unlimited flow of Moët & Chandon, wines and selected cocktails accompanied by freshly shucked oysters, seafood, roasts, 50 French farmhouse cheeses and freshly baked soufflés
Advanced reservations recommended

So obviously we booked in advance for at least 5 days... earliest slot was about 3 weeks later. Anyway, i'm glad i called a day before to confirm my booking cause apparently it got LOST.
Apparently they are supposed to send me a confirmation E-mail about my reservation BUT how could they do that without asking for my e-mail addy in the first place!?

Anyway O took over and demonstrated Fury-under-restraint-politeness-lvl99
(it was impressive to behold) and we got our table!

We got a nice table for 2 by the glass panel with this view. Nice.

So other shots of the surrounding area.

Without further ado, (some of) the food!

Char Siew: Pleasantly forgettable.
Soft Shell Crab: Pretty good but the vegetable ones are better.
Sushi: Supermarket.
Salmon Sashimi: Shrugs.
Prawn: Sweet! Pretty fresh and firm.
Crab: Didn't try, there seemed so little reward for so much work...

Mushroom Cream Soup: Passable. Looks better than it tastes.
Tomato Soup: Ditto.
Cheese Hotdog: Reminds me of the cinema kind. The 3 kinds available were all decent.
Lamb?: I don't remember if it was lamb or something else. Says alot.
Smoked salmon: Very good, perhaps the only thing we got 3-4 servings of.
Scallops: These were competently done and went well with the salad cream but the rock melon balls tasted like they were dipped in vinegar. URrghh.

I loved the pickled beetroot and party onions. More than anything above. Sad.
Needless to say, we won't be back, not for the lunch buffet at least.

Next!

Baah.. humbug(er)

2009-07-08T00:17:00.001+08:00

If i weren't so tired, i would blog about the kickassingly disappointing meal @ Masala Hut in Little India.

Think Pizza Hut gone wrong.

*Snooze*

Botak Jones, D Genki and iL Piccolo

2009-07-03T03:07:00.008+08:00

A 3 pronged review! A first!
Out with O and mum for dinner and i suggested Botak Jones near Clementi MRT. On hindsight, what a great decision that turned out to be!

We arrived to a nearly filled coffeeshop which kinda sucked cause i knew most of the people there was there for BJ.
To my surprise, i saw a new Italian place (iL Piccolo) and Japanese place (D Genki).
Could i not try?

We tried...

[D Genki]

Pork Katsu Curry - $6.90

After Japan, i've been thinking of C&C Curry day and night. Tried Bishamon Express but even though piping hot and the pork katsu fried on the spot, the curry lacked the depth and richness leaving one unsatisfied. I'm no food connoisseur but even i have standards, albeit rather low ones.
Am happy to announce this was good enough to bring back memories of Japan. The curry is rich, somewhat thick and a little on the sweet side. O thinks it's too sweet for her and i agree that there is this sweet tangy trace which i suspect to be ketchup ( i do hope not ). Sweetness aside, it is probably the closest budget substitute i'll find in Singapore.

Grilled Chicken Curry - $6.90

The grilled chicken was great! The chicken was abnormally tender to the extent of being suspect but was well worth the order of a second curry set. Now if only we didn't order...
...
......

Teppan Salmon - $7.90

I rarely, if ever, bitch about food. I don't bitch, normally, period. If i HAD to, i would about this. Dry tasteless salmon that cost more than my curry set! Ok i'm biased but aren't we all?
This came with miso soup and a bowl of rice. The grilled vegetables on the side weren't bad though.

[Botak Jones]

Rosemary Lamb Chops - $19.00 (300 grams)

We took the upsized for this as we were sharing. They also have a 200g version @ $14. The order was for medium rare but parts of it was rare and the other parts medium. Honestly have no idea how they did it...
The herbs taste present wasn't really my thing though O said it was hers but Baaahhhhhh the whole rare/medium but not medium rare thing already put me off.
For the sides, the corn was nice and comforting but the asparagus came cold... rather unappetizing.
Noted that they were rather busy with the dinner crowd and all but still...

Spicy Fries (regular) - $3.80

I felt this was overpriced. At almost 4 bucks a pop and for the smallest size to boot, it wasn't really value for money in any way. Noteworthy though is that in the past they used really large crinkle fries but now they've changed to smaller ones. A good call in my opinion as there is to me more surface area for seasoning and i really tasted the difference.
Mum prefers old school though.

[iL Piccolo]

We did note this place coming in but was only half interested to try at first. We then saw quite a few people trying the clam vongole which had a HUGE amount of clams which got O all starry eyed. Unfortunately we were a little too late as they ran out. I thought it looked kinda bland anyway so instead i ordered the...

Puttanesca Pasta - $6

Topped with rather generous servings of anchovies, black olives, capers mushroom, chilli in tomato sauce & cream sauce, it was waaaaaayyy better than we thought it would be. I inherited my taste for tomato cream pasta from O and i'm proud to call this my new favourite pasta! Much better than Pasta Mania (though i'm ok with PM) and even rivaling that of Pasta Fresca (saw previous post), this was a absolute STEAL at its price. I read reviews on HungryGoWhere on their Toa Payoh branch and realize there's also a Botak Jones there near iL Piccolo. Sister Co or major competitor? Hmmm.

Panna Cotta - $2.50 ($2 back in '08)

The uncle there worked there was new and gave me a Tiramisu ($3) instead but i didn't even know it.
Shows how much i know my desserts huh?

Back to the dessert, O gave it a try and said i would like it... and i did! Smooth, milky and not overly sweet, i was impressed with the panna cotta (in particular how much it cost) for its quality. I'm sure in many other places they would charge twice as much or more for something similar. Maybe this just suited my palate more.

There you have it.
Once a coffeeshop with only Botak Jones reelin in the crowds, now a much larger selection of interesting stuff spoiling diners for choice. There's even an interesting self proclaimed Hong Kong tze char store tucked in one corner.

We're already planning the next trip back. Yumz.

325 Clementi Avenue 5
#01- 129

Pasta Fresca Da Salvatore @ Boat Quay

2009-06-30T23:36:00.010+08:00

Singaaappoorree!!!!

It's been more than a month since i came back from Japan but since i seem to have left my heart there despite my mind and body being back here. My 'loyal fleet' of reader's' have been complaining about the lack of updates on my blog so one is definitely in order after two months.
There's a ton of photos from Japan so maybe J-posts will come later =P

Here's a look back at Pasta Fresca Da Salvatore from back in late March.

They did serve some complimentary bread at the beginning which was warm and comforting especially taken with olive oil and vinegar but it was EXACTLY the same as the pizza base that we had later so... not good.

Capricciosa - Having an abundance of ingredients always helps with food like pizza.
As i mentioned earlier they seemed to serve the pizza base as the complimentary bread so it kinda took 1/2 the fun of eating this away. I typically don't remember food that doesn't wow me very clearly but this i recall was somewhat decent. Olives, ham, spicy pork salami with mushrooms and anchovies work for me.
Delicious artichokes! We almost fought over them.

Al Prosciutto - I loved this! Much more sauce would be in order if this ever came up before me again. It dries up after a while so make haste! I do tend to choose rather safe options so Parma ham, mushrooms, tomatoes and olives in a tomato cream based sauce shouldn't go too wrong.
Interestingly enough, the ham is served in chunks instead of thin slices. Maybe it's my imagination but it seems to taste better this way????

Tiramisu - O was definitely insistent that we have this and i was game for anything. One of the better Tiramisu renditions i've tried but an unfair comparison as most of the (few) Tiramisu desserts i've tried were cheap-shiite versions.

I'll be posting about a Bang-fer-Buck pizza/pasta place that is WOW... stay tuned to future posts!

30 Boat Quay
Singapore 049819
Tel: 6532 6283
Fax: 6532 3709

Opening hour:

Mon - Thu

11.00am - 3.00pm
5.30pm - 11.30pm

Fri & Sat

11.00am - 3.00pm
5.30pm - 11.30am

Sun & Public Holiday

11.00am - 3.00pm
5.30pm - 11.30pm

Cloudy Weather

2009-04-25T05:37:00.003+08:00

I am worried.

It's the end of april and exams start 1-10 june...
I've started on my revision but i'm afraid i'll not finish in time to be properly prepared. Anyone who has gone thru exams know that feeling sucks balls.

I am worried going to Japan will clean me out and leave me dry after i come back. As much as i look forward to a long trip with O and going to Japan, a place i've always wanted to visit, i worry.

I worry.

I am worried.

This is so depressing but others around me always seem to have more pressing issues so i always feel mine seem minuscule in comparison. I need to let this out, somewhere.

It was a very nice day, hanging out with a buddy from poly... my Bro!!!! Dinner, chilling, gaming, drinking and reminiscing in general. We should do it more often.

Aburiya at Robertson Quay

2009-03-24T12:56:00.023+08:00

Good food is always worth mentioning.
That means sharing, even if it evokes feelings of hatred reading about it late at night when one only has crackers (or worse) for company.

A special occasion where on O's recommendations, we embarked to Aburiya which i've heard about but never had the pleasure of visiting, till now.

O placed the orders and we did the eating. Can't really find words outside 'WAH', 'SHOIK', 'MMM' to describe my memory... as they say, NPNT !

Photos were taken by yours truly but the collages were made by O. Beautifully done to show most of the food we had in alot fewer pictures. Also, the before/after comparison is more pleasing to the eye.
I'll run through the items according to their placing on the collage above.

A combined collage of various items such as the grill, parts of the menu, even a picture of the normally camera shy O! Stay tuned for more frontal action in future posts~

(Set E)

Onigiri - Pleasantly grilled taste to it but O felt she didn't do it very well.

Tontoro Negi
(Pork cheek marinated with minced leek, salt & sesame oil)
- this actually came late in the meal and most of us were pretty filled at this point but the aroma from this and the season sets it apart from most of the other meats which we ordered (shio)

Shiitake (Mushroom) - Didn't look like much but really juicy & full of 'mushroomy' goodness for lack of a better descriptive. Maintained another kind of high other than just from all the meats.

Kurobuta (Pork Belly) - My mum loved this. Takes a long time to grill but patience brings a wonderfully crisp exterior with that smoky drool-when-you-remember-it-quality. Sure, i do exaggerate sometimes. Not this time though. The last picture in the collage is the finished product.

Yasai Salad - Ahh what is meat without the greens to balance the equation? All the greens here seem fresh and crunchy, a real plus.

The Elusive O - A rare picture! More to come in upcoming weeks! Wobble.

Tamago Soup - Usually one of my less favourite soups for being bland but this rendition is just savoury enough to qualify as 'subtly MmMmm..' Maybe it's cause everything else was kinda heavy that this went down so well?

Beef & Potato stew - It's hard to go wrong with this, my 2 favourite ingredients in a stew and they didn't. For most people i suspect it would be a bit on the savoury side but for me it really rang my umami bells! Combined with soft carrots, onions and a beefy stock it makes me wish more places would do this. Sigh.

(Beef n Potato Stew)

Tori (Chicken, shio) - Not really that bad but when eaten alongside everything else seems to pale. Perhaps i'm just biased again chicken for being bland. Still, more than decent but just slightly.

Kimchi Nori - The starter in the set and a real great way to open the meal. Crunchy vegetables with a subtle but noticeable hint of kimchi seasoning.

On to the rest of the food!

Horenzo Salad - Came as part of the set that O ordered. Crunchy veggies with a helluva addictive dressing. I swear all these great sides are just part of the buildup for the enjoyment of the meats.

(Horenzo Salad)

Ebi (Tiger prawns, butter) - Just wow. I mean most of us eat prawns here and there but my favourite kind have always been that which the flesh is so firm it's ass smacking bouncy! Fresh, juicy and floating to buttery prawn heaven, everything (but the shell) was annihilated. Even the melted butter was slathered onto our rice. A definite MUST.

(Before and after)

(A Star's closeup)

Tontori (Pork Cheek, Hot miso) - Hmmm i actually don't quite remember that much on this. Since there was NO bad food that night, i safely conclude it was just overshadowed by the other more memorable meats coming off the grill around the same period. But the sight of the smoke coming off charred meat does wonders whetting one's appetite.

Which brings us to.... more MEAT!

Hire (Beef tenderloin, shio) - The meats came in a good order which allowed us to enjoy each thoroughly before moving on to something better. This is very important. I was expecting to be impressed and this being the first BBQ beef item, expectations ran pretty high. No disappointments with the lovely flavour, surprising level of tenderness and my amount of drool afterwards.

Jo Karubi (Prime short rib, shio) - I like my beef beefy. Which is to say it must be bursting with all the goodness a slab of cow should possess, cooked. Glad to say that this just went beyond expectations (and i was already impressed from the Hire above). Very even marbling which made for good bites and equally good pictures, the juices sent us scrambling for more! Unfortunately the 2nd order was so different from the 1st in a bad way that we were wondering if they brought us something else.

(Before n After)

(A larger look)

Saving the best for last.

Foie-gras - Similar to the prawn's box&butter preparation method, heavenly! O introduced me to Foie-gras, i blame her (in the long run). This was nothing like my first encounter which was with pâté. Noteworthy mention is that Sakae Teppanyaki also serves a mean foie-gras. We might have overdone it a little else it would have gone 2 levels higher. But something so good is not without its flaws.
1. There is never enough
2. By the time we realised, this was all that was left...

(Left: Menu pic Right: Post-coma pic)
This is a sure sign of an amateur foodie who puts EATING above PHOTOTAKING.
What can i say.

Wagyu Cubes - How good? 超好吃到 it's got me speaking in another language. As i mentioned earlier, the order the meats were served added to the pleasure of the meal. The tenderloin cubes took the cake at first but this brought it back, with extras! As usual, how good i deem something to be is inversely proportionate to how much i moan (about how little there is) which eating it.
I moooooaaaaannned.

(Look at the marbling!)

(It tastes better than it looks i assure you)

Overall if i had a wish, the people of the world would be surrounded by affordable amazing food. To quote O, complete with typo, "for the price (one arm, no leg yet) and convenice, its still one of my favourite eats.Very satisfying".

Aburiya (Robertson Quay)

Add: 60 Robertson Quay
#01-03 The Quayside
Tel: 6735 4862

Recession Package

2009-03-23T21:01:00.005+08:00

5 months since the last post!

Selling PSPs has somewhat become an almost full time obsession for the last half year, taking up almost all the free time i've had (apart from O and clubbing) so a little breakaway might be in order.

While not EVERYONE is directly hit by the Global Recession (GR), it does have a mindset altering influence which iS a good thing. That 20cents just looked a little bigger. A little bit.

Anyway last night after a dinner unaffected by the GR, we roamed the neighbourhood pasar malam in search of nothing in particular when we came across a budget drinks/snack stall and here's the loot~

4 x 1litre Polar Tree Cranberry (U.p $2.50-$3.20) $1 each here
6 x 100 plus (U.p $0.80-1.20 i think) $3.40 for 6 here = 57cents each
1 x Ketchup (U.p ? ) $1 each here
1 x Ligo Cheeseballs (U.P $1+ - $2) $1 each here
1 x Strawberry Swiss roll (U.P ?) $1.50 each here
2 x Snapple Diet Peach (U.P ?) $0.50 each here!

The ice cream cones, chips n other stuff came from a separate trip from shop n save~

The bold items are what i know to be bargains... but of course, i'm not spending on anything i don't normally drink or eat yes?

Ride the GR, don't let it ride you! Food to come next.

Revisit: Al-Ameen again!

2008-11-05T00:56:00.005+08:00

Casual weekend lunch with mum and O. Bryani craving strikes back!

Menu:
Mutton soup

Comforting with generous serving of mutton pieces and even bone for tulang lovers, its just slightly greasy. Comfort > Greasy. The tulang part tasted kinda bland... O guessed it was due to all the goodness already gone into the soup~

Menu:
Curry chicken

Food took a really long time to arrive like 30minutes so mum got a couple of pratas and this. The gravy is slurpy addictive, not too spicy either but for $5 isn't something I would order. The prata came home and crispy and is definitely a contender for ordering when i go back (not normally a prata person).

Menu:
Vegetable mekani

Personally, i love indian vegetable dishes. IT'S ALL IN THE SAUCE!
This dish proved to be a winner with O. Non spicy with broccoli, green pepper, carrots and more cooked in an 'indian' sauce i know nuts about, a good companion with some bryani! $7.

Menu:

Spinach Mutton

A combi of O's love (spinach) and mine (mutton), this was sooorrt of disappointing. I mean it wasn't bad but kinda normal. The mutton dishes served at this place tend to be slightly on the tough side and didn't really absorb the flavour of the spinach sauce. Butter chicken is a better choice. $7.

Menu:
Poodina Pratha

Bread bread bread! A little something on the side. Indian bread done with mint leaves. Helluva lot better the first time, this time it came abit burnt and tasted that way as well. $2

Not a bad meal but hits and misses and loOong waiting time. Could have been better.

Casual dinner: Ivins!

2008-11-03T11:24:00.006+08:00

Located at 19/21 Binjai Park Bukit Timah, this place proved that IT'S ALL IN THE SAUCE!

For lack of a better place for dinner one night, we headed over to Ivins, a Peranakan place we had been to a few times in the past. Business is brisk here with tables moving in and out fairly quickly. Reservations are definitely recommended before coming. (64683060). Portions here are fairly small per order in the range of 4-6.90 each (generally). Water is served and rice is 80cents/bowl and $1/bowl for coconut rice.

Menu:
Meatball Soup

A really good starter to the meal, the soup has a meaty flavour to it making it really comforting. Ignorant me only knows this as Rou wan tang (meatball soup). I assume it's pork or chicken.

Menu:
Fish & Chips

Besides peranakan fare, they also serve up a couple of western dishes on their menu. This is one of them. At $5.90 this was roughly the price of one dish so i decided to try. I would stave off their Fish&Chips from now on. The fries were soggy and the breaded skin came right off the fish which was a bummer. Fairly greasy too. The fish itself had a consistency of chicken and O was amazed that it was actually fish. No go.

Menu:
Stewed Pork in Peanut Sauce

I really enjoyed this. While the pork wasn't all that tender, the savory sauce with a hint of peanuts really did it for me. IT'S ALL IN THE SAUCE!

Menu:
Sotong with squid ink sauce.

The first two time we had this on earlier visits it was really good, done just right and the sweet and slightly spicy sauce making the sotong a real treat. IT'S ALL IN THE SAUCE!
On this visit the entire dish had a somewhat limp feel to it with no kick. Some inconsistency here.

Menu:
Beef Rendang

It may not look like much but pleasant surprises are always a good thing aren't they? While it isn't the most tender stewed beef i've ever had (yes it sadly applies to most of the meats i've tried here), all i can say is ... IT'S ALL IN THE SAUCE! The rendangs here are all must try. I would say their 'signboard' dish, even if they themselves do not.

Menu:
Curry Vegetables

Came hot but hard and seemingly undercooked. Sent it back for further work done (which i hope did not include spitting into it... joking). Failed to wow, more comfort than anything and not really a good job at that. Mom also moaned the lack of ingredients in this. Still not soft enough even after it came back a 2nd time but better than the 1st.

Menu:
Chicken Rendang

If you come here for only one dish, make this it. Finally a dish here THAT'S NOT ALL ABOUT THE SAUCE. Tender chicken soaked in the wonderful chicken rendang gravy that's good enough to eat on its on, everyone around the table had nothing but praise for this. Must try.

Menu:
Bubor Hitam, Chendol and Ice Jelly with lime and palm seeds

A sweet ending to the meal. These go for $1.20 per bowl and for the bubor hitam, there was even loads of soft yummy beans. I highly recommend that. The ice jelly was comforting but average. The chendol i did not try. Not a c-man. The first two visits were a lot better and I hope they get their inconsistency issues sorted out.

Bukit timah brinjal park

Pigout Food: Suki Sushi @ Cineleisure

2008-10-31T14:44:00.006+08:00

Sashimi craving! After a few days of insane cravings for uncooked fish, i decided Suki sushi would be my choice venue to gorge myself silly. Previous 3-4 occasions at the cineleisure outlet and their CCK outlet (when it was still around) were full of hits and misses.
Their website was updated finally recently but still didn't reflect the pricing accurately. They stated $17.90 for student buffet but it turned out to be 18.90 +$1 for weekend. It's just $2 but do get it updated as these are minor annoyances that people remember the next time they think about returning. They took away my favourite HAMACHI sashimi! T_T

Menu:
Skewered asparagus bacon roll

Having printed a spanking new menu and some items taken off as well as some added, this was one of the more interesting additions. The asparagus was not very well done and the dish could have used a dash of sea salt on the surface. Comforting at most.

Menu:
Unagi sushi

This is probably the only sushi where the topping outweighs the rice. As you can see it's such a huge piece of unagi that you almost can't see the rice below. But it is horrible. The rice is falling apart and the unagi is bland and the texture somewhat tough. Bummer.

Menu:
Salmon belly sushi

Surprised to see this here. Also had the salmon sushi (no pics, busy eating) but this was SLIGHTLY better. Sigh, it's really a case of you get what you pay for. While fatty, it was somewhat tough requiring quite a chew... in fact this might have been even tougher than the regular salmon sushi... hmmm.

Menu:
Salmon roe with lobster salad

One of the few dishes i really enjoyed. With a good ratio of rice:salmon:lobster salad, a real pleasure to enjoy. They used to serve this in larger portions with quite a blob of mayo on top. Frankly it's better without the mayo... maybe they got feedback. The lobster feels a little mayo like with something i suspect are prawn bits in them. Maybe crayfish/slipper lobsters?

Menu:
Mussels with ?

I can't remember what the topping is supposed to be but clearly i remember it being NAUSEATING. After scrapping off the topping however, the mussels are quite bearable.

Menu:
Skewered squid

The bomb of the meal. One bite of this from me and O and we wouldn't touch the rest. It was that bad. It was so badly overcooked the little 'legs' felt like Bone. For a moment i wondered if this was one of those dried preserved snacks in disguise. Think rubbery leather.

Menu:
Squid Tempura

Another pleasant surprise amongst the sea of bad-average food there. Served warm and crispy, each is a delight to bite into. Served with mayo. Advice is to finish it while it's hot before it turns cold and greasy.

All in all more misses than hits. Not unexpected but i had hoped for more i guess. A point to note is that they serve really large portions and the sushi all have alot of rice so it tends to fill you up quite quickly. Meal comes with freeflow blackcurrent or peach drink (no green tea), fruits, puddings, mochi and ice-cream as dessert.

Will be a while before i the urge to gorge on here again.

Birthday Food: Russian @ Shashliks!

2008-10-30T15:15:00.007+08:00

O's Bday passed recently. Yes, welcome to being 24, love.

Since we love to pig out and try places we’ve heard so much about but never had the fortune to try, this occasion presented us the perfect opportunity to do so at Shashliks, located on the 6th Storey of Far East Shopping centre along Orchard Road.

Prior to visiting, I’ve read reviews of the 70s décor, the rude and impassive service and their must order a main each policy so I was well prepped against any snags that might present themselves.

Upon arrival.
1. 70s décor - Check. A very cosy ambience, albeit lighter that was slightly too dim.
2. Rude/impassive service
– Has grounds, see it a bit here and there but generally was ok. The only annoying thing was one of the uncles came over and asked “finished?”, proceeding to clear one of our courses which still had a quarter left. We managed to save the poor escargots before he ran off with them. Saw one of the aunties got an order wrong and after preparing a flaming dessert and having to deliver it to another table, chided the original couple for not telling her. DUH, don’t blame others for your cock up. Rest is generally okay.
3. A main each
- No issue since it was our first time here we wanted to try quite a lot of things.

Apologise for the poor pictures but the lighting was really bad and flash from the camera probably wouldn’t have been very well received by the other diners.

Menu:
Dozen Escargots -$22

First time having these. It’s so the YUuummzzz lo… you use your clasping tool and stab the flesh out. Done up just right with lots of garlic, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Escargots taste like a cross between mussels and hum to me, 2 things I also like eating so yes I liked this.

Menu:
Mushroom soup and THE Borsch soup

No pics of the mushroom as I just couldn’t get an appetizing shot. The borsch, rated as a must try by all who reviewed the place, is h-e-a-v-e-n-l-y. Or, as heavenly as a $7 bowl of soup goes. Rich without being greasy, the vegetables & a small chunk of beef gives u that wonderfully (almost) melt in your mouth feel. Sour cream is optional but also a must (contradicting), takes the soup up by two levels ~ Must must try!
The mushroom tasted canned. Period.

Menu:
Shashliks – Beef $26

Served with 'Russian styled salad' consisting of half boiled egg, lettuce, onions and spring onion and chopped vegetables (think coleslaw done funny and without the sauce), this baby came on a sizzling hot plate done medium. Competently done, it was good but no WOW. Like a steak done kebab style. Nevertheless decent and while not exactly juicy it wasn't dry either.

Menu:
Steak with foie gras ( pâté)

As the name implies. Served with fries, a tomato, onions and some peas, corn and cube carrots, i woulda thought this a normal western stall steak except for the pâté. The fries were nice and crispy for the large cut ones but the steak overcooked and the pate somewhat tasteless. Not worth the $24-26 paid for this.

Menu:
Baked Alaska

The visually impressive end to our meal or so i thought. Flaming rum doused over cream covering an ice cream cake, ours kinda fizzled out really quickly and the cream wasn't 'baked' in any sense of the word. BUT, it is D-licious! The rum adds life to what otherwise would have been boring cream and the outter surface of the cake firm and the ice cream unaffected by the hot rum, comes together for a really special treat! The only drawback was that there was too much of this! The standard portion easily serves 3 i reckon. Also once you finish the parts with the rum it starts to get jerlak when you get to the parts without. Still, a must try. $16 well spent.

Long post, lots of pictures! Though there were hits and misses, at $120 for our dinner i certainly won't be scrambling back anytime soon except maybe for their Borsch soup and Baked Alaska. But alas, the no ordering soup n dessert only policy...

Home food post: Rite pizza and 'Subway'

2008-10-28T15:18:00.007+08:00

Home on a rainy day? Lazy to eat out?
Well fret not, home deliveries to the rescue. O and i were craving pizza and decided to give Pizza Hut some biz after seeing them having a 1 for 1 pizza deal at $19.90.
That's where the good part ended. The following call then took place.
*Some of the language on our side has been edited for effect though minimal*

Us: Hello, we wan pizZa. Order + Address
PizzaH: We are sorry but the nearest outlet at Yuan Ching road is currently down and unable to take orders.
Us: Okaaayy... THEN? Can't u get JurongPoint Pizzahut to delivery or smth?
PizzaH: I'm sorry we can't do that as it will disrupt the operations at that branch.
Us: Okaaayy... THEN? So no pizze for us?
PizzaH: If you would like, you could place an order with us and pick it up personally at the Yuan Ching road outlet.
Us: So there is no-way-in-hell you guys are going to deliver me a pizza now.
PizzaH: That is correct.
Us: ThxXx eUu (for nothing) -HanGs up-

Peeved (me) and upset (O), we turned to trusty Google for alternatives. I mean it's no longer home delivery if i have to pick it up myself right? And it being a rainy day was precisely why we decided to order delivery and not eat out. I was thinking Canadian Pizza but i'm glad i decided to snoOpz around a lil more. Saw this Rite pizza (halal) that also had a 1for1 offers on their pizza. Their homesite can be found HERE in case you want a breakdown of prices and offers. Ordered two of their regular (smallest) pizzas for $23 and a mash potato ($1.80). Quite reasonable for a 1for1 deal. Choice of thin/regular crust and lettuce/cinnamon topping is given. I took a combination since we had 2 pizzas... the food is coming up!

Menu:
(Top): Winter Special with cinnamon topping/thin crust
(Bottom): Autumn Classic with lettuce topping/normal crust

They were Funtastic! Especially the thin crust Winter Special with cinnamon. The servings of the turkey bacon, sausage and ham were generous and together with the mayo and cinnamon topping, was so good i was taken aback. The crust so thin and crispy (thinness shown in picture),
was almost wafer like. The Autumn Classic was also good with an abundance of ingredients but perhaps the thin crust and cinnamon topping really moved me with the first bite to give this a fair review but nevertheless much better in terms of taste and amount of ingredients over Canadian Pizza anyday. The mashed potato was a little bland but with some butter tastes wonderful as a comforting side. On the upside, it tastes alot more homemade than any other mash i've ever had.

I now believe that 1 for 1 deals can net one great pizza. Pizza Hut better watch out. If Rite pizza with their nearest outlets at Jurong East and CCK can deliver in the rain, such great pizza, surely you can do the same with 2 NEARER outlets? 'Nuff said.

Enjoy Subway? Do it yourself for a fraction of the cost from NTUC
Ham (20slices, house brand) $3.50
Cheese (20 slices) $6
Lettuce (per packet) $2.75
Tomatoes (7) $1.25
Bread (House brand, 20 slices?) $2+
[Right now theres even a further 5% reduction on house brand items!]
For roughly $18.50 you have all you need for roughly ten sandwiches of your own with ingredients to spare!

It's so the yumz. That's 2 sandwiches, not one, of course. 10 mid range sandwiches at Subway would cost you $37 - $59 i estimate. Economy is bad!!!! Save!!!!!!

Random Lunch : Wok Express

2008-10-22T11:48:00.006+08:00

me: Oi , lunch?
Sr: Ok, where
me: No queueing today please.
Sr: Ok, know a tze char place nice and no queues.
me: Sweet.

Located opposite the Fuji Xerox building and near Amara hotel, it's one of those places i'd never have found on my own. Eat first pay later style, they offer a decent range of rice/noodle dishes as well as individual dishes. Wish i had the foresight to take a shot of the menu. Never was very cOLouRfuL at describing stuff.

Menu:
Tom Yum Fried Rice

Sr said the dish this time was pretty bad compared to the last few times she had it. Apparently she only eats this and something else (Try more stuff la woman). This dish is really something different (for me). Bye x2 salted fish fried rice. The tom yum spices are nicely infused into the rice, mildly spicy but comfortably so i would say, for most people. A couple of prawns and a fishball are tossed in for the seafood factor tho it doesn't state Seafood anywhere and being in the CBD and all, the portion, taste and novelty factor (if any, for you) makes it a good choice for $5.00 if you're around the area.

Menu:
Beef Char Siew Rice + Soup

I was sorely tempted to order the fried rice too but this really caught my eye. Beef char siew? Another first. The mention of soup is interesting as it tasted like a cross between your normal fishball soup and Maggi mee chicken soup. Kinky.
On to the dish. Beef slices done char siew style on buttered rice. Nice. The rice, slightly buttery, was fragrant without being oily. The beef char siew, interesting as it may be, tasted 80% like well, char siew. On the whole, an above average char siew rice but i felt they should tweak this more to bring out the beef's flavour and less emphasis on the char siew. At $3.60 though, can't really complain about a good eat.

Wok Express is located along 72, Anson Road. Thankz Sr for the interesting find.

Nothing is safe, nothing.

2008-10-21T14:31:00.005+08:00

Even BODY Spreads from China have been found to be contaminated with melamine...

Totally WTF lo... fortunately when it comes to chocolate and strawberry, i prefer natural flavour.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,441144,00.html

Astons Express @ Jurong Cafe

2008-10-21T10:36:00.006+08:00

Growing in Singapore, probably everyone who's been to a coffeeshop or foodcourt woulda tried the Western food stall, at least once. But, doesn't it always seem to be more or less the same everywhere you try? To my memory, there have been a few shifts in trends on the western food front over the years... namely,
1. The growing popularity of western + rice sets
2. Bigger plate phenomenon ( same amount of food )
3. Spagetti then cream pastas being added by certain stalls

However, no one really wants to eat steak or pasta at a western stall today if there was a better alternative cheaper than say, Jack's place which i think was the steak place etched into many Singaporean's minds as the place to go for steak back when i was younger.

Enter Astons Express. A place blogged on many a food blog, most notably brought to my attention on ieatishootipost.sg. I'm not sure if they have a tagline so i'm just gonna go into the food.

Menu:
Ribeye steak - Medium ($12.90)

Having eaten this 5-6 times (yes i usually order the same thing), i can judge the consistency here. There are 2 versions, Ribeye (180g) n Ribeye X-cut(250g) which is priced at $15.90. Tried Medium-rare and Medium, the former is preferred but tends to be sometimes overly rare and thus requiring a good chew. As for medium, tried it on 2 occasions, first time was great. This time it was slightly overly done. Comes with 2 sides of your choice. O chose potato salad and corn cob. Juicy steak with good sides at good value, a must try! Look at the size of that thing ~

I'm not an expert on steak but this definitely leaves your $6-7 western steak and edges alot closer to steakhouses at only a fraction of the price. Standard steaks go for around $10-$15.90 with their prime tenderloin going for $27-$28. Someday i'll try the WAGYU i saw them advertising... no i didn't ask how much it cost.

Menu:
Double-Up Chicken [Chargrill/Black Pepper] $9.90

They also serve surprisingly good chicken. Juicy and flavourful, this restored my faith in grilled chicken which were ALWAYS dry and bland (the ones i've tried). Basically this is a 2x of their single chicken of various sauces ($5.90) so at $9.90, is good value if you're really hungry. However, stay off the black pepper, watery and not a good match with the chicken. Astons has very good BBQ sauce and that is highly recommended. Or Chargrill that uses mushroom sauce.

Menu:
Popiah ($1.20/roll)

Another surprise find. For some reason i've not been able to find decent popiah for the longest time... till now. Generous with the ingredients, the popiah skin is not affected by the moisture of the contents within and retains it's firm texture. A slight dash of chilli and the right amount sweet/savoury in the popiah really made it hit the spot. Great!

This place actually has a roast duck store with very nice duck but that for another day. Also an indonesian set meal store which looks interesting...

For the etc, seems Coach is getting v popular with the ladies. I see this as much as i see that LV bag everywhere.

Random food: Dome Cafe

2008-10-20T11:14:00.005+08:00

Another foodie post~
This time of a set dinner for two at Dome cafe. (Isetan / Shaw along Scotts)

O and I were comtemplating between this place and a 'famous' tonkatsu place on the same level which was the 3rd? It's the level where all the restaurants are anyway. Saw the menu outside which showed a set and at the waitress' recommendation decided to take it.

Menu:
Set of the Day

Set dinner consisted of the above 3-in-1 and a soup of the day (beef onion or some cream alternative). I chose the onion which i didn't regret. The beef and onion flavours came together nicely and though not overpowering in any way, was strong enough to not come across as bland. The main consisted of (from left) 1. Grilled vegetables with prawn on skewer, 2. Pumpkin mash potato with ball of fish meat and 3. Teriyaki chicken with butter rice.

1. Vegetables are nice, grilled, end of story. Prawns were done forgettable. The vegetables were actually more enjoyable and i'm a seafood/meat person.

2. First time i've had this (yes i don't get around alot) and i must say it tastes exactly as it sounds! Like pumpkin with mashed potato texture. Wouldabeen better if it tasted like mashed potato with an infusion of pumpkin. Hmmm. On a side note, the fish meat in shape of ball was daaammn dry and bland. Interesting only to look at.

3. I like teriyaki but O hates it so slightly biased for me. That said, the rice was probably more outstanding though eventually everything tastes like teriyaki sauce. Not bad but just average.

Menu:
Seafood squid ink pasta

This was both good and value for money, something i don't find alot of nowadays. Competently done, it came with an abundance of prawns and squid on top of the pasta with the addictive cream sauce. At $13.80, i'd eat this again if i was ever in the nearby area. I liked this very much and the best way i can describe it is that all the ingredients harmonised in a good way which made it highly enjoyable. But nothing is perfect.
Even with extra sauce, the pasta drys up rather quickly so this is one dish best polished off quickly.

Total bill came up to $33 give or take and was reasonable give the set and pasta i felt. They serve water with lemons which is a nice touch. Really alot of lemon slices in their pitcher not the usual 1-2 slices so you do get that lemony feel. Nice.

On an etc note, something from kuishin bo buffet. It's an ice-cream they give during one of their 1/2 hour specials. This is water melon and when unopened even has that striped pattern. Cute!
Oh makes a good container for stuff too! :D

Random food: NUH Staff Canteen

2008-10-19T02:11:00.007+08:00

Had lunch recently at NUH Food Enclave (aka staff canteen).
Being lunch hour and all it was really crowded but the crowd moves really quickly,
they all eat so fast!
Staff canteen = cheaper food than normal right? Well it is the case here!

Menu:
Fried Dumpling noodle ($2.50)

O remarked the noodles tasted rather alkali... i tried some, they were not very enjoyable. Not springy but more like ... stiff? This is such a value eat cause they give you FOUR of these fried dumplings roughly 5-6cm by 3cm in size that have minced meat and a prawn in them each.
Nice and flavour filled, perhaps it was the unexpected prawn-in-each that sold it to me.

Roast Duck + Roast Meat rice ($3.50)
No pictures. Roast meat wasn't crispy, bland and a little hard to chew through. Duck was normal as well except for a couple of pieces with the skin which were much better. So much difference, rather unsatisfying and not that cheap as compared to the other items too.

Guo Tie (6 pieces @ $2.50!)

WoW. Never seen guo tie going for $2.50 with 6 pieces. That said, you do get what you pay for. Frozen dumplings that are not home made. Looks big but the ingredients sadly isn't that plentiful and though juicy (oily more like it), the skin just wasn't crispy enough, coming across as soft. Still, the mantra remains. $2.50 $2.50 $2.50 $2.50 $2.50!

For dessert, Mango Puree with Aloe Vera in Ice @ $1.50. Very comforting.

All in all, an average but value filled eat. Will pop back there if i'm at NUH again.

For the etc, they were giving these out near my workplace after lunch one day and i tried this (always wanted to). I got Cacao Orange which reminded me of the cakes they gave you as gifts @ weddings in the past. I liked those cakes and i like this. Yum.

Random food update: Al Ameen @ Upper Bukit Timah Road

2008-10-15T13:57:00.004+08:00

A post on one of my favourite eating places... Al-ameen along Upper Bukit Timah road opposite Bukit Timah Shopping Centre.

Like alot of people, i too once in a while get cravings for certain foods. Or rather, like everyone else. Bryani and indian food is one of them. I'm not the greatest expert (or any kind of expert) on food origins and terms so let the pictures do the talking. Unfortunately i only took the side dishes not the bryani ahahhaha....

Al-ameen serves up a helluva lot of stuff... from western, naan, pratas, roasted meats, seafood... you name it. That's on top of the bryani, indian tze char, drinks and desserts (a menu within itself) and more... a place blogged to death so to speak.

Would like to just share my menu.. ahem. For under $20, we had this

Green gooey looking stuff (I'm a bad photographer) which is actually spinach with indian cheese. It is heavenly. The sauce which is mostly blended spinach is fragrant and is 1/2 sauce 1/2 vegetable. There are still parts where the spinach isn't completely blended up, giving the dish more texture. Indian cheese, the other completing element of this dish was great! Not one of those overpowering cheeses, it had a slightly chewy texture and went really well with the spinach. If i felt this dish could be improved, it would be to not overly blend the spinach and have less cheese. There was ALOT of cheese. No complaints about measly portions here.

Looking alot like it's cousin up there comes the butter chicken. I can't honestly say i've eaten alot to compare this with some other place but hey, the sauce is well, buttery and comforting, not too heavy to take on it's own (or w/ a lil bryani) and the chicken Relatively tender and plentiful, not much to complain and i deem value for money. Always order this when i go there.

They have an assortment of bryanis as well, chicken, plain and mutton i forget what else if any. The mutton ($5) if i recall correctly serves a HUGE chunk of mutton hidden in the bowl of bryani. The bryani itself is... ...honestly flavourful enough but not the best i've had. Still it ranked good enough to be comforting. None of that look-like-bryani-but-taste-like-fried-rice stuff. The only thing is the mutton though plentiful doesn't really make the cut. Relatively dry and bland, it's better stick to the plain bryani ($3) and ordering side dishes.

Oh the bryanis are relatively large in portion and can be shared between one large male (me) and one small appetite lady (O).

Totalling $17, that leaves $3 for drinks. They have all the milo dinosaurs godzillas and what not drinks as well as teh tarik ($0.90) which i enjoy theirs very much and even sugar cane ($2.50) which is somewhat a ripoff i feel.

To sign things off, a stall from Amoy food centre. Decent queues but Piao Ji!?!?!
It means literally in chinese : To visit prostitutes.

Lol.

milestone

2008-10-13T11:03:00.002+08:00

BnB is 16 PSPs away from selling 100 sets since March 2008!

Hoorah~

Random foodie updates! Akira Japanese Buffet Restaurant

2008-10-10T11:02:00.018+08:00

Located @ the ground level of Link hotel a bus stop away from Tiong Bahru MRT and just opposite the new Tiong Bahru market, Akira had been one of the places i've known for a long time but never tried.
Why? All the negative reviews about bad service i've read online in the various food sites.
Nevertheless, one should venture 0ut and try new things, especially with a 30++ for a weekend dinner buffet. Other than Sakura i doubt u can get a better deal than that for Jap.
On to the food.... i think to repeat orders so bear with me on the variety :P

Goma tofu – The first of it’s kind I’ve had.
I must say its interesting and relatively good. The sauce is lip smacking addictive, like sesame n peanut grounded together. Goes well with rice if u mash it up a little.

Chilled tomato – quite literally.
Came with mayo and seasoned with a savory yet sweet sauce. Didn’t quite take to it.

Teapot soup – A must try.
Is very refreshing in a savory way but light so it acts as a good palate cleanser in between the heavier items. I’m glad I took the recommendations from other reviewers on this.
Tip: Squeeze lime and dump it inside for extra sour power!

Shitake tempura – pure disappointment!
This is normally one of my favourite tempuras… sadly it was cold, oily and not really enjoyable… must have been quite bad for me to so clearly remember not enjoying it, pea brain and all.

Beef curry rice – Who says you shouldn’t play around with your food?
Curry is of the instant mix kind but comforting. More for flavour than for the beef, the portion isn’t too big (which is good) and goes well with other dishes (Such as goma tofu). I did a beef/unagi/goma tofu bowl which I must say is an interesting mix of flavours… :p

Grilled prawns (on skewer) – Bummer :(

The first order, wow nicely grilled and covered with a light layer of salt. Very nice. I can't recall how fresh the prawns were, only the grilling n salt. Second order had minimal or no salt detected and was not as well grilled, leading to me being unable to eat the entire prawn with the shell.

A few of the dishes do suffer in quality upon repeated orders but the grilled prawn was the most notable.

I don’t believe I forgot to take pictures of the sashimi!!!!
Suffice to say they had quite a selection about 6 kinds consisting of Salmon (Sake), Tuna (Maguro), Swordfish (?), Yellow tail (Hamachi), Octopus (?) and seasoned Mackerel
Must tries: Seasoned Mackerel, Swordfish. The hamachi is so-so.

Whole Scallops with garlic - Scallopy!
Another must try. I likez. May not be a knock-your-socks-off dish but something I don’t see so often in a buffet. Still, an above average eat :D
As O would say, Scallopy!

Fried prawn (ebi fry) – I’m not a big fan of this but O is. She didn’t like the prawns they used but it was okay to me. Normal.

Tempura prawn – Have had better. The batter is not light enough here and just a few orders of their fried stuff can really make one queasy which says something. Or maybe it’s just me.

Unagi – I’m a sucker for unagi and especially ones done like this. Categories are pretty good and best I’ve had. This falls under pretty good. In fact the only horrible unagi I’ve had is Sakura’s unagi on a skewer. Disgusting, that one.

Teppanyaki vegetables – Itz de Saltyz!

But I likez. Probably a catalyst to my early demise but the smoky flavour paired with the excessive salt levels really hits the spot for me.

Garlic fried rice – This was the other must try recommended by at least 2 other reviewers… more like a need not try. Relatively bland and oily, it is, I quote, “…wasting your calories on yucky (or below average-average) food!”

All in all a real steal for 30++ for a weekend dinner. I hope they don’t 'revise' the price anytime soon.

Chope!

2008-10-09T14:33:00.004+08:00

Today's lunch is worth a mention. Not the food (which was pretty decent), not the exhorbitant prices ($6.50 for an indian rice set, which was pretty decent) but to a surprising twist to an everyday (lunchtime) sight.

We all know about using tissue packets to 'chope' aka reserve seats @ food centres. I've seen newpapers, water bottles and even namecards though the last sometimes proves to be relatively useless.

But have you ever seen someone use an IPhone to 'chope' their table??? How i wished i snapped a pic.

Later while walking around, i saw that the iphone belonged to a caucasian. Figures. The thing that comes to mind is Monkey see monkey do.

Blogging to oneself.

2008-08-26T15:35:00.002+08:00

Staring out the window right now at work. Thankfully the view is a GREAT one otherwise it'd be kind of a bummer sitting around doing nothing (much)

I know there isn't much work. I know it's an easy job to pass time. Everyone keeps telling me how lucky i am, how busy they are and yada yada yada...
It's gotten to the point of being annoying. Must be due to my complaining of boredom all the time. Guessing it would be a good idea to stop. Sleepy. Yes this blog is one of those where the author bitches about work (or the lack of it), life and everything else in between. Random thoughts: Nathan petrelli, invisibility, DL...

Respectively: Thinking of flying, being invisible and walking thru walls.
Watching too much heroes i think.
All the serials i like i've watched... when are they coming out with the next season of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and Heroes season 3 ???
Baah.

1 hour 49min to go. Time to hit the washroom and play with the hand dryer. Lolz. Have a nice day Ben.

I'm back. The food will be soon too.

2008-08-18T11:50:00.001+08:00

Wow haven't posted an entry in the longest time... the blog has probably
grown electronic cobwebs so to speak. Frankly after changing to the SE g900,
my enthusiasm for food pics have just waned as the pictures just don't turn
out as well as before... and the other half of the time i probably eat @ the same places i've eaten before or was too hungry and started to tuck in
before any picture taking come to mind...

Well lots of things have happened since my last post to now... Since may 18.

June - My birthday! Nothing much else
happened... alot of limbo waiting for
my job to start on Aug1... alot of
selling and buying of Psps in the
meanwhile... business picks up!

July - Still in limbo for job, cousin
have gathering for baby Aidanz! cute
bugger, bit of a sleepyhead though

August - The long awaited job finally
begins!

Well with national day, the olympics and winning a silver medal in table
tennis, it's been quite a month! And now with the EPL started again, the
flow seems evergoing... 2 weeks passed since i started and i still don't have
a direct superior... or much to do everyday. My grand plan is to get the
msn of as many colleagues in the company as possible so i can mass
request them for jobs and make it easier for them to get in touch with me
when they have stuff they need help with.

Yeah i do realize that when someone
suddenly comes up to u and asks if you
need help with anything the first
response is to faint smile and politely say No.

I think it's kinda odd in a way. I mean, yeah i did come in at a time
different from their normal internship window but shouldn't there be a
training program or something they follow regarding people like me? It
kinda seems like i'm given the stationery, lappie and basically left
to my own devices... which i inteprete as if i don't wanna do anything i can
basically spend 3-4mths literally doing nothing but surfing the net, listening
to music and blogging everyday. Not a bad way to make money but seems
redundant in the learning sense.

East Coast Lagoon Food centre

2008-05-19T04:03:00.005+08:00

Had lunch with mum recently and she brought me to East Coast Lagoon FC as we were in the area.
Apparently she comes here quite a bit with her friends as she has full knowledge of what's hot and what's not.

Though, that can be seen just as easily by the queues in front of specific stalls. Namely Beef kuey tiao, satay bee hoon being the order of the day. We had satay too but i didn't really think they were that good, just normal.

There's only one pic of this meal. The satay bee hoon. Why? Cause it's the Mooost famous stall there, at least thru observation (queueing) I was like 6-7 people back in the queue and had to wait about half an hour juusssst to reach the front. The brothers at work do one order at a time despite the queue and the few in front of me ordered to dine in AS WELL as takeover of about 10 packets (rough gauge).

After i was done i looked again and the queue was about 20 people long. Talk about a love of 'famous' food!

The $5 masterpiece.

Now to give it credit, this rendition of a local favourite does have many merits. Firstly, they're not stingy on ingredients, which is good. From the prawns to the veggies, lean meat, cuttlefish and hum, everything was done just about right, with texture and flavour both locked into the ingredients.

However, the main difference is the sauce. Finely grounded, it's more like satay syrup instead of the chunkier versions commonly found. Smooth and goes along better with the bee hoon than the usual chunkier version but personally i prefer a little more bite in my meal.

Still, worth a visit and an order whenever in the area.

4/5.
It would be higher if it wasn't for the queueing. I hate queues.

Psp and Santouka Ramen @ Central

2008-05-16T01:30:00.014+08:00

Busy selling busy buying! You see all kinds of interesting people when you deal in such things. By interesting it's usually in a bad way.
Ah well.

Went for ramen recently at Santouka @ Central. Tucked in a corner on the 2nd level, you woulda missed it if it wasn't for the sign. In fact the sign points nowhere till you walk all the way in.

Heard good things about this place so tried we did. For starters, they don't have an option to add butter or corn which was a letdown (for O). O took the shoyu ramen which was pretty good but she remarked the stock could be 'porkier'? Ingredients were quite standard but well, GOOD!
Pork slices - Not quite melt in your mouth but minimal chewing required. Quite e fatty pieces of meat though

Bamboo shoot - i like... otherwise its just bamboo shoots

Hers came with seaweed which still had a oomph to it despite being soaked in the stock. Go figure huh?

We both took the set which came with a egg and salmon roe rice bowl

Nice but i like my yolk more runny.

This was REALLY yummy! The roe and cooked salmon went really well with the ramen but note that after the meal we were really really REALLY thirsty. The upside is a pitcher of ice water is placed on every table. Guess they had feedback.

My spicy soy bean paste ramen. I must say i prefer this to O's Shoyu ramen. More kick to it and spicy in a non lingering way so you can keep going for more. It looked really oil with a layer of it on the surface when it came but happy to say it didn't taste that way. Surprising really.

Another closer look at the pork slices *thumbs up*

It's one thing to say you enjoyed the meal but pictures are louder.
mine.

Hers.

O doesn't take alot of noodles or rice but noted all the ingredients are gone and so is the soup!
But it does say that well the noodles are nothing to really shout about. The stock and ingredients are worth the trip though.

Bill came up about 44 after etc etc... mine was 19.50 hers 18.50 with rest to tax. Quite reasonable considering the quality of ramen. Just don't let the fluent jap speaking stern face lady turn you off from the food ^^

Long time it's been!

2008-04-14T00:11:00.010+08:00

Busy selling my PSPs lately making spare cash so haven't been blogging much...

Food, life! Classes and running around dealing...

Well.

Some pictures to reminisce the time past.

Seafood platter @ Fish n Co Jurong point. 30+. The calamari is damn nice. But, that's about it. The mussels were normal, the rice i didn't quite like though it had nice chunks of salmon and raisins in it. The prawns were sooo disappointing. Looked really yummy but turned out to be kinda mushy... better with a dash of pepper and salt but disappointing nevertheless.

This is the Special Miso Ramen at some ramen place at the basement of Raffles City. About $14. It was Ooookkk.... wasn't too bad. Highlight was the egg, love my egg firm on the outside but runny on the inside!

After the ramen, walked around Marketplace supermarket and tried something i've always wanted to...

Non alcoholic beer! Priced like a soft drink but tastes like beer without the kick. Think beer flavoured carbonated drink. Urgh.

Being a student is ... fun ? Good ? Better than working i guess... but the food sucks.

Self explanatory.

Seems like a while since i've really had good food... which is usually pricey and bad for my diet... e.g jap buffets. So this trip to Suki Sushi at cine was basically NOT it.
The hamachi sashimi is the only pic cause it's SASHIMI. The rest was basically forgettable.
This was ALSO forgettable... well at least once you've had himawari's sashimi. Hehe. Droolz.

And finally a little preview of the current inventory

Ahh my pride and joys. Great-to!

Brazil Churrascaria, Sixth Ave, Singapore

2008-02-29T04:19:00.014+08:00

Yet another expensive meal for two. O was in the mood for meat and insisted on buying this round. Thanks deary!
Most of the meats aren't really 'chnged' to look picture perfect as i was too busy eating. Basically they have a salad counter and then servers holding skewers of meat and slicing off pieces as they pass your table.

First off complimentary serving of cheese dough balls which were crisp on the outside with a nice cheesy doughy texture within. Nice touch.

Below are some of their condiments. They have alot of lamb but you'll have to ask for the mint sauce if you want it. From left: Unknown but onions included ? Some sweet sauce and salsa on the right. Most of the meats are good on their own and are recommended to be consumed that way.

Honestly i don't quite remember which was which but i think this was lamb. I do remember a few different versions of lamb and all of them wonderful so i'll only highlight the really good ones and the ones you should avoid.

Goreng pisang! Available from their salad bar. Really good! It's slightly soft and not the crispy way most people like it but nevertheless really smooth and worth that corner in ye tummy!

I distinctly remember this as beef. Thinly sliced, charred on one side with a salted taste and pink on the other, the contrast brings a mingling of flavours to your taste buds. I also remember this well as the server kept proclaiming this to be the BEST MEAT IN THE WORLD every time he walked pass.

Garlic beef. The only meat i hunted down for a 2nd time. I like my beef rare to medium rare and this was done that way. Topped with garlic seasoning i couldn't really ask for much more! The 2nd time i had it the meat was so rare on one side it was too chewy but i do like my meat RARE!

The 2nd round. See that RED!

Ham. So used to eating sliced ham that this was really unusual for me. I'm a commoner i know. Nice with a 'hammy' feel (duh). Nice but forgettably ham.

Can't remember if this was beef or lamb but something like this was definitely the good ones. HAha.

Argghh just thinking of this place makes me hungry. However it's not cheap coming to $98 for two... but the quality of the food is definitely worth it.

Himawari @ SAFRA Mount Faber

2008-02-29T03:47:00.014+08:00

Came to this place after much research of reviews online... generally positive so decided to try it one friday evening (about 2 weeks back). Parking is surprisingly full for a safra club but on to the food.

Himawari isn't a large joint, hosting maybe 50 people in a squeeze. Located across the gym, you can see the runners on their treadmills so maybe it might be a plus or minus. For the 2nd time, on to the food!

The tempura prawns weren't bad, the batter not overly thick but the prawns themselves lacked a fat juicy feel.

One would come here JUST for the sashimi! It's really the first time i've had "melt in your mouth" variety here. The Hamachi and swordfish deserve special mention. Below is a picture of our first plate of mixed sashimi for TWO people. Generous to say the least.

O was in the mood for oysters so an ala carte order of half dozen for her. Very fresh and they even gave an extra one!

This beef fillet was disappointing... they had overcooked about half the beef with the other half medium rare. Some inconsistency here. But worth a try.

The shisyamo was bursting with eggs but not grilled to a crisp the way i like it. Subjective.

The pork katsu toji wasn't bad to be fair. But neither was it outstanding. One of the dishes i would keep away from unless you're a big fan of this. Even then, think twice. It's a real filler.

Creamy Corn Croquette. O ordered this and actually ate 1.5/2! That alone says how much she likes it ;) I thought it was interesting too. It was well... creamy and corny haha but you didn't get that overly fried taste so it wasn't bad in between the savoury dishes.

Got the salmon sushi as i felt like a little rice and what a gem this turned out to be. The salmon actually tasted better with the rice and ginger than by itself here... Most places i've had salmon sushi felt more like a slap-it-on affair but the proportion of the salmon to the rice and well, the rice duh made it memorable. Pity i was too full to get another order of this.

By this time i was actually raising my flag of surrender half way already but O decided she wanted the ShabuShabu. Comes with everything you see here aka the stock model. Lol.

You get Original Ponzu or Sesame sauce with this and can throw in ala carte salmon belly for $8 per serving. Being a cheapo and overloaded with salmon sashimi i didn't.

So where's the meat? Ta dahhh the finally surprise for the day. Well actually not a surprise but surprisingly good beef so thinly sliced all i had to do was run it in the soup for 2 secs and eat!

Overall the bill came up to 107 after +17% gst n service charge. About $20 went to the oysters so at around $87 for 2 on a friday (36.80++) it's REALLY REALLY good value for money. From monday to thurs it's 32.80++. How i lament not going a day earlier.

Special mention also goes to GREAT SERVICE making it the first place i want to go back to the next day after eating there. Staff were all really friendly attentive and would come over to inquire about your order once you hold up your menu. Even when i was just looking. In fact, the chef behind the counter clapped his hands for a server to serve me right away even though i was just browsing through it! Wow.

Definitely counting the days before i hit this place again... (on a mon-thurs)

La Pizzaiola @ holland V

2008-02-28T18:08:00.003+08:00

Went there recently about 2 weeks ago.

On first impression, the place looks cosy being on its own away from the bustle of the coffeeshop nearby with its couple of tables outdoor and candlelit atmosphere.

Ordered a beef lasagna, a slice of beef pizza covered with cheese, a pastry with ham filling and an apple pie.

I was somewhat disappointed with the overall experience. The pastry (can't remember which one it was) was terrible, the crust thick dry and hard.

The pizza slice was pretty okay, not too dry and definitely value for money.

The lasagna was also value for money and decent but tasted way too similar to the pizza and was quite oily. But at least it was hot, unlike all the other items.

Finally had an apple pie to finish off the dinner. Note: Their pastries all come in a standard shape and size and thus the apple pie was also too hard, dry and crust so thick i could probably count the few dry cubes of apple filling. Okay, exaggeration. But only a little.

43 Holland Drive #01-63
67795502 10am to 10pm
Closed every Tuesday
www.lapizzaiola.com.sg
Covered and tried upon reading blog by ieatishootipost

korean BBQ place @ Excelsior hotel / NYDC @ Holland V

2008-02-16T00:20:00.008+08:00

Lost 290+ during the new year festive gambling sessions... baah...

But one's hunt for good and great food continueS!

Firstly a pic from a korean BBQ place @ Excelsior hotel... great food, simple but value for money. Well, if you have Amex anyway, 30% d/c on the dinner buffet which is cooked on this, grill + soup pot. Beef Chicken Pork Prawns and vegetables mushrooms and other goodies all for 19.80 (aft 30% d/c). The overall quality of the buffet is great, even more so @ the price after d/c. However the prawns, being kept in a metal container in the open, was notably not as fresh halfway thru the dinner.

Moving on to another day, dinner @ NYDC (holland V) with mum n O!

My choice of 'When pigs fly'
which is spaghetti al dente with German sausages and grilled vegetables. It is SURPRISINGLY good. As in, i don't normally expect more than a certain standard but the sausages w/ the tangy homemade spaghetti sauce was really great and the grilled veggies really added a favorable contrast to the meat. Excellent.

O's choice of baked pasta aka 'The 3 Amigos' w/ extra pineapple. (normally not added)
The choice of adding the pineapples was a GREAT one. Now that's not just smoke cause w/o it, it would have been like a masterful portrait less an arm or leg when it shouldn't. Highlight of the dish would have to be the meatballs embedded into the pasta coupled with cheese ham and another unknown meat. Ok not unknown, just unremembered.

I still think my choice of a main was better though haha.

And finally down to my V-Day dessert.

In case you are wondering what that is, it is... an edible flower. Wahaha.
Made of :
- Mandarin orange slices
- Vanilla Swirl ice-cream
- Fresh apple pulp
- Lots of love.
= Sweetness beyond description. Awww.

In the next post i'll come down to the 107 dollar V-Day dinner which isn't at all overpriced ;)

An eventful day

2008-02-03T00:35:00.001+08:00

Lunch at onshu
$11 set lunch w/ soup (not shown as wasn't given lol)
Gyoza 3 the signature fish here other than e fried rice, it certainly is a highlight being crispy on one side n soft one e other, giving it an interesting texture.. Soft side hr somewhat sticky though but overall a real treat.. Fillings could be more substantial.
Fried rice chinese bowl portion. Competently done, e non dry variety as described by reviewers. It wasn't bad but maybe i didn't fancy e nature of the dish.. Goes well w their condiments though
Stir fried udon tasty springy quality paired with chopped cabbage and lean meat it's a mini meal in itself.. I enjoyed this alot than e fried rice. It's about 3/4 normal size w cabbage n bit of lean meat
Croquette potato not really special but again competently done.. Flavorful but not overly oily
Cabbage think coleslaw w/o the sauce...
When you add some condiments it goes well with e croquette and fried rice
A pretty good meal w/ so many elements in a single dish

See the great gyoza with different sides?

Anyway after lunch...

A trip to Cine 4th storey arcade yielded a game token n 3 full priced movie tickets.. Gee e things people lose... $10.50/tix comes to 31.50 total. Fortunately for them i hung around looking for them n they eventually got them back.. E token i used.. Hehe

Some random pictures.
An official notice regarding the purpose of the room next to my classroom. I'm sure all puns were intended for this one.

Won $ at MJ! First time in quite a long time i've won this much at one sitting~~~ :p

Random

2008-01-29T21:45:00.001+08:00

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

2008-01-20T19:36:00.001+08:00

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

2008-01-19T23:12:00.003+08:00

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

2008-01-15T20:06:00.000+08:00

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

2008-01-14T02:05:00.001+08:00

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!

2008-01-11T15:30:00.001+08:00

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!

2008-01-10T21:00:00.001+08:00

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
--------------------------------------------------------------

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!

2008-01-07T18:59:00.001+08:00

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) !

The festive feast continues..

2007-12-26T14:57:00.001+08:00

Another big hearty festive meal!

This time at Arena country club's restaurant for dim sum~!

Dumb me neglected to take pictures of the food so the huge BILL will have to do hehe.

Seriously.

2007-12-25T23:44:00.001+08:00

The junk one eats at festive seasons will KILL ya!

Just today alone...

- SzeChuan Veg Soup w/ pork ribs
- Pig stomach Soup w/ pork ribs
- Roast duck / Char Siew / Roast meat w/ rice
- Cheese Sausages w/ mashed potatoes
- 2 Little cakes
- Chocolate donut w/ butter custard filling
- Roast chicken
- Mint chocolate ice-cream on bread
- Sangria (wine w/ fruity flavors)

Get a grip ben!!!! *screams*

All this food and lack of exercise has made me now look like this

And for the food lovers ....

Above: Shark's fin soup with no shark's fin but free flow of fresh crab meat!!!!!!

Tadah! The end mouth watering product...

where did it all go ?

2007-12-21T06:34:00.001+08:00

Being on long break is numbing my mind (not that it isn't when i'm not on break)

For the longest time i think my mind is too unoccupied and is just idly rotting away. Already i feel most of the knowledge i've picked up from school over the years withering away.

Honestly, i think it's happened to alot of people and it's just sad! For example most people can't even write in their 2nd language or speak it well!

Anyway.

Issues at hand. I think i'm drinking too much. Club less, no. Drink less, yes. I've been losing days for a couple of weeks now... meaning like today i don't quite remember what happened two days ago. It takes some pondering to recover those memories... something i attribute to drinking and sleeping at odd hours. Gaming thru the night and surfing the net is the culprit for this. Lookie here, i'm still blogging at 641am ... says something doesn't it.

Well Hari Raya just passed. Partied on the eve at double O, great party! Huge crowd, like i've not seen fer a long time at double O. Me and JJ headed down but the beer binging dude got his arse handed to him and kicked into a cab at one! ONE! Gosh but still it was a great night....

My friend is quitting her job at O this sat being her last day... Booo!!!! No more impromptu free entries for me then >.< but i think she should move on from working as a smiling photographer at a club. You go girl~ I feel like there's so much on my mind... so much of my life i need getting together...

The word is : PROCRASTINATION.

Yeeeeaaaahhhh. It's the ol' why do it today when you can do it tomorrow? I promise myself that imma work on ma studies to make sure i do well... i might even do that thesis and get ma-self that extra degree! Like O said, "Wad?!? A degree for ONE thesis ???"

Yup.

But hey, 5 years related work experience for the title CPA is no joke and definitely no walk in the park is it? Currently i'm living it up retirement style. Meaning lots of partying bumming eating and no obligations no(t much) worries and just having a fine time.

Got to go catch some zZz now, long day (of shopping clubbing n reduced drinking) ahead.

Monday

2007-12-17T18:00:00.001+08:00

It's another monday!

Anyway.

Haven't been blogging much recently, maybe it's the whole gaming, sleeping, waking up, eating and clubbing and drinking cycle? Haha life is one big hangover and recovery from hangovers..

My 2008 resolution (and probably most of 2009) is to do well in my studies. Nothing (much) else matters.

Roarrrrr! To a great upcoming year! To good results and winning more at my chosen vices!

Nothing much else interesting happening recently... cept serious drinkin! Gotta keep it down. :\

Well i will touch on a little incident from way back i remember...
Normally on my msn only a few people will talk to me, namely my closer friends but once i remembered when i put my nick as

"Wow xXx product really makes my skin smoother and fairer"

after using some facial product, i had my com on fer most of the day and when i returned i had more than a dozen windows (from girls) asking if it was true.... lol....

Hmmm.

2007-12-12T18:53:00.000+08:00

A friend got married today.

Hmmm. What is marriage to me? Naah not going into that now.

Bought my first Christmas buy so far. A watch! It's also a very ironic buy for the following reason.

I was at a sale on Sat, a branded watch and accessories sale. Brands ranging from Fossil, Diesel, CK DKNY and so on were on but there wasn't anything eye catching... in fact anything above average was also that in price. Dejected, me and O went for dinner at Carls Jr. which perked things right up. Try the sour dough option when you order burgers there, it's worth your time (exercising it off).

*Sour dough = Bread pan fried in butter*

Anyway after dinner we were walking around and chanced upon this push cart selling watches so we had a look. Boom this watch just grabbed my attention like one of those things. It's like 1/10 of the price of a decent watch from the sale and i like it even better! I even got the strap changed fer free so in my mind it's a great deal. Would post a pic but the reflective surface didn't quite agree with my k800i camera. Oh well.

If you see me i'll be sure to flaunt my great buy to ya. wOo~

Waaahhhh.. going nuts

2007-12-08T16:01:00.000+08:00

Don't know why that is the case but i really feel so!!!

Tomorrow is the photo shoot that i'm doing with O and we're currently at the boutique doing our sizing and it's been more than an hour just doing her fitting. Argh. We also came an hour late

PS PS Vicky!~

Anyway went thru everything and boarded ferry to Bintan fer shoot. The boat ride was kinda rocky but i got so nauseous i don't even know why! Normally i'm not like that.

Anyway we went to quite a few locations, got pretty dirty due to rain and all. Basically everything i wore got stained. Mud sand grit rain water salt water you name it i've got it. So much fantastic scenary at the kelongs and the resort! Winds were darn whippy today, it felt so good, like a breath of fresh air...

Today i am (well me and O are) the freak show. Maybe not freak show but the eye catching. Imagine a bride and groom walking around rural areas of Bintan. The kids love us. The chickens and chicks running around are so cute. We had lunch at this "Kopitiam" where the menu is in Malay but has an English translation under each line. Interesting.

The food was fuggin cheap! It's like 6000 rp to 1 SGD. All of us had like a fried rice/beehoon /noodle and a drink and it came up to like S$2.50 / pax! The main i had is like 1.16 SGD. Chinese style mee goreng. Lol.

After a long day out we returned to the resort for more shooting. Everyone was kinda exhausted cept Georgie the photographer, going strong. Took shots by the beach and got splashed by an expected wave. NOT FUNNY. I did get to lie on a huge hammock like those you see in the ads and it was so cool, the weather was like blasting winds, swaying coconut trees blue skies... unbelievably like something out of a post card~

Anyway.

When that was all said and done, we finally got to go back to SG! (duh) The computer hugging land lubbing (me) is glad to be back. Even though the boat road was rockier than the one to the island, EVERYONE slept thru it. That's how tired we were.

Now i'm just home waiting for Macdonalds to arrive. Good ol' SG deliveries.

O... Ohh.... My head....

2007-12-06T17:30:00.000+08:00

Feel sick.

Drank too much last night. But it was such a fun night.

Can't really remember all the drinks i had so i'll try to recall the kinds
Beer
Tequila
Vodka pineapple
Lychee Martini
Apple Martini
Baileys
Something (shooter)
Red wine
Gin Tonic
Barcadi 151
Moet (champagne)

OMG the list is longer than i remembered.

Note to self: Rainy roads are to be respected.

They just don't get it.

2007-12-05T22:24:00.001+08:00

Just finished playing Dota.

For those of you who don't know what it is, i won't bother explaining. Well, just suffice to say it's like football of 5v5, and you get to choose what kind of player you want to be example a striker defender midfielder and so on.

You can play this by getting your buddies to form a team or going into a random game and waiting for people to join up.

Here's where it gets annoying. Everyone wants to be a star or have their own team. Result? You get one side with 5 well rehearsed players with TEAM WORK (because it is after all a team game)
and the other side with maybe say 4 Cristiano Ronaldos and one Van da Sar.
Meaning a team of soloists who can't work with one another getting their arse kicked. It's happened so much i really wonder if people have the brains to THINK! Sure it's a game but we all like games that reflect reality. Think a project where everyone wants to do the presenting and look good but no one wants to do the research behind it, no one wants to do the slide preparations yada yada yada...

When i step (further) into society i'm going to make anyplace that i settle into a better one. Efficiency and part of a team.

To those who prefer otherwise, BANG.

why.

2007-12-04T21:31:00.002+08:00

I don't ask for any returns, just to be appreciated. Being shot down is not my idea of that.

However i've been thru worse and i refuse to let something like this get me down. It will come into consideration when i determine the kind of person i ultimately end up as.

Nice guys finish last.

Once i was a firm believer of that. Then i thought, "maybe it's not true?"

Now i wonder.

Baaah. Why do we bother denying our instincts? Even the comic strip on my wall is a personalised version of online cartooning.

I should tear down the October exercise chart, makes no sense leaving it up there. Tomorrow then. The bass makes the music come out somewhat distorted. Fix equaliser settings. Blew more than a day's wages on dinner WTF.

That's probably why i'm peeved. Partially.

BAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Calming down now. It's so ironic. Now I'm so angry peeved pissed off i can feel like this stream of molten rock flowing thru my veins taking the place of blood. It wants to burn and melt everything in its way but there is nothing to burn. Well not nothing but i choose to divert its course. Like i said earlier today, i'm a thrifty person. I cut down on the amount of grief that others can give me and the amount of grief i dish out.

Sigh.
Tired of being a pillar. Tired of being the apologizing party. TIRED TIRED.
For the heck of it i've posted a recent pic of how fat i've become and one in which i wasn't so pissed but decided to take it off. Itz da Uglys.

2007-12-04T21:28:00.000+08:00

Cant be bothered to tinker too much so here goes.

Feeling unappreciated.

Know of self change but only i know it.

Honesty is like taking vitamins, there's only so much one can take.

The myth of communicating by telling each other how their day was is a load of crap.

Happiness is like drawing a straight on a piece of paper with a old school lead pencil. It only takes a little to send the paper into the trash.

No i didn't fucking get these from anywhere but my head.

Lazy sunday

2007-12-02T23:46:00.001+08:00

Was supposed to go for MJ today but due to certain circumstances couldn't make it. Sorry Matt!

Hmmm.

Why do the birds hate me? Every time i drive to the open air carpark opp Cineleisure, birds bombard my vehicle w/ droppings. Poop. SHIT! Very distressing mind you. To make things more annoying i look at the 8-10 cars in front and they ALL seem to be shit FREE. ARghHHhh...

Just got back from Jurong pt. I swear that it's a horrible idea to go for dinner and a light walk at a heartland mall (like JP) during the festive season. People mountain people sea!!~!!
This festive season i have resolved myself to get

2 pairs of decent pants (never enough of those)
1 vest.

Got myself a couple of emo tees yesterday, yeah emo tees! It's so the in thing for people (young punks) to have the emo look right now. Dinner and people watching at Cine last night proved my point...... a 'parade' of guys walking one behind another sporting similar builts, hair-styles and dress sense. Need i say more.

Anywaaaaay. Bought a couple of tees from this booth outside (packed w/ peeps) and i said to O suddenly...
Me: "Hey, what do u call these shady people selling the Emo tees?"
(profiting off the trend of the moment)
O: "Dunno."
Me: "Emoticons." (Emo-tee-cons)

That is the favourite joke of the moment. Hah.

For 23 years and many months, i have finally found the secret to proper cleaning of canvas shoes! Apparently i've just been using the wrong kinda cleaning apparatus. Bah!

For you clubbers out there, the SAFRA FUSE card is a MUST GET. Why? I signed up thru the safra webbie for a 1.5yr application and for $10 ($15 -5 for being a safra member) i have already received from them

2 free entry tickets to MOS w/ 4 drink coupons worth $40.
1 Zoukout ticket worth $48

That's $88 already! All this and i've not even gotten my bloody card yet. Imma call them tomorrow to bitch about it. Though it's kinda dumb to give one Zoukout tix, i do appreciate the value of the things they're giving. Anyway i got the ticket sat night thru the mail and i sold it for $30 on sunday via Yahoo auctions. Wootz.

Not a bad deal all in all i'd say.

End of days

2007-11-30T18:07:00.000+08:00

It's the last day!
WooO~ ~~

No special feelings *yawnz* just another day. Hah, i didn't really expect to feel anything actually. well, elation, if anything.

Regardless, it's a friday and a good day to start looking forward to the weekend and the long break. Recently i think my clubbing partners are decreasing steadily... Buncha guys having exams cut them down to half and the other half seem more interested to save $... Poor me. Lol.

"If you want more anytime after 4 just meet me round the back door"

It's only the line to a song, nothing more. Lol. RRRroooooooaaaarr.
I'm feeling lazy but yet i also really feel like heading out tonight... O has something on i think and if so imma make plans to head out too... now if only the FUSE card has arrived! Then i could head out to O without having to worry about entry. Sigh. Money spent should be done so well and being spent on entry is definitely one of the ways NOT to spend it.

55min to go before the end of work!~!! WoooooOO... Smsed an army buddy about clubbing tonight but no reply Zzzz. Serene just smsed me about headin to butterfactory tonight to join her and her friends (no girls she said haha) ...hmmm if it is FREE i will go i think. Been averse to paying entry recently, seeing how i've been getting more and more free entries... Hmmm. Wonder if O will be unhappy... if so i might have to change my plans... hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm. Hmmm.

On a lighter note, i've STILL not been to butterfactory after so long that i think i MUST outta try that place sometime before it closes (oops) down. DAMN THAT CONFOUNDED FUSE CARD! HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO MAIL A MEMBERSHIP CARD TO ME!?!?!? Sigh. I'm REALLY looking forward to that card. There's like free entry to different clubs on different days and all that but the only 2 worth a mention is free entry to MOS on wed and Double O on fri/sat before 10! And if i miss the 10pm timing, i've got priority queue privileges. All that for the price of less than ONE entry. Now THAT'S value. The only thing left is for it to ARRIVE.

15 min to go! I still haven't gotten back my timesheet which i submitted this morning.. hmmm. I think she's still pissed about me not turning up for work fer 2 days and not personally calling her about it. Hmm hmm. Well!

Slug slug on a wednasday night. Yes Wesnasday!~!

2007-11-28T19:03:00.000+08:00

Wow exactly as it sounds... nothing but slug around all day.. gaming watching anime eating and sleeping!

It's like an unearthly preview of post work life... i have to find something to occupy my time! Productive something, preferably.

2 more days to go~!
Should i be excited about it? Maybe. Maybe not. More likely, it's the human thing about looking forward to the next stage of life out of its many stages! Hmmm. My wiring isn't really crossed properly now, trying to grasp the strands of thought wandering in my head but can't seem to.

Mom's sweepstake tickets didn't win cr(e/a)p(e). Yes cr(e/a)p(e) is a choice between crap and crepe. Pick one.
Hmmm what would she do with 2.2M if she won? Or even 500k??? i think she would just pack up and leave. I might. Hmmm.

Another thought for another day.

Tata.

Days go by

2007-11-27T22:47:00.001+08:00

It's another slow rainy day. One of those year end cool wet days well suited for sleeping.

Recently eating has been a rather grand affair... especially by my standards...
Penang Buffet on Sat
Japanese Food on Mon
Japanese Ala Carte Buffet on Tues

Arrggghh the food is so good but i feel that i should refrain from all these rich foods... they're not cheap either. Sigh.

Feelin somewhat edgy now, eyes darting around... hmm...
Finally got my registration stuff done for school yesterday and what a relief it is... the process was quite hasslefree i must say but also quite expensive! almost 2k splashed out just yesterday for 1 term... damn i have to make the most of this!!!~!!!

My timetable... tried to squeeze my schedule together by picking classes on same days so i have full days on Mon/Tues and free of the rest... most of the time anyway, since the classes do eat into other days at certain periods... i have also quite a few weekend classes which sux regardless whether they're morning afternoon or a full day!~!! Oh well.

Baah. Looking ahead, i see December! Holidays! For me as well in case you're wondering. The R E S T period between the end of my contract and school! A whole month of exercise, partying and generally doing nothing productive (cept getting in shape that is)
I don't know about holidays, seems Mum n O both want to head out (not necessarily together i think) but i'm non-committal, go w/ the flow ride the waves yeah?

A fact about clubbers like me is we feel like dancing at just about any given moment. O always sez i have an internal MP3 player on 24/7 which i found funny but oddly rather true. Now, if clubbing wasn't so expensive and they had good dancing venues more days of the week it would be great... but yeah i know one can dance anywhere... feeling the vibes is just so liberating!!! But you know, so many considerations when one wants to hit the club..

- Transport to and fro ( well fro more importantly )
- Energy Levels ( u can't dance if u're limp can u )
- Cows on the pasture ( Moolah. nuff said )
- Hitachi ( E company... what else? )

Never thought a night out be that much trouble huh haha... For me probably money and e company matters more. Personally, i'm fine with clubbing in a real small group or just 2 people but the company is important according to the mood. Drinkers dancers and a mixture of both... u have to recognise each individual as they are less you end up with the wrong kind at the club. Needless to say i'm a dancer more than a drinker (though sometimes its about equal)

Time for me to do my astral projection and zip back to my bed... *shuts down*

-20min later-
*boots up*

I take a nap after eating during lunch... sometimes i get really good rest sometimes i get really REALLY odd dreams... like those super vivid dreams that's totally unrelated to real life... hmmm.

Have you ever encountered dreams of this nature and when brought back to the land of reality felt it of a sorrier nature than that of dreamscape? I have though why i am unable to account for.

But enough of doom and gloom! 55 min from the end of the day, yes 55min again, i seem to have an affinity for blogging around this time. Lookin forward to R&R, seeing O n dinner! This week i shall endeavour to reduce my spending from last week... if i am able to keep spendings to $700 n below, it would be a good thing for me :)

2007-11-27T18:25:00.001+08:00

27/11/07 Days go by
-------------------

It's another slow rainy day. One of those year end cool wet days well suited for sleeping.

Recently eating has been a rather grand affair... especially by my standards...
Penang Buffet on Sat
Japanese Food on Mon
Japanese Ala Carte Buffet on Tues

Arrggghh the food is so good but i feel that i should refrain from all these rich foods... they're not cheap either. Sigh.

Feelin somewhat edgy now, eyes darting around... hmm...
Finally got my registration stuff done for school yesterday and what a relief it is... the process was quite hasslefree i must say but also quite expensive! almost 2k splashed out just yesterday for 1 term... damn i have to make the most of this!!!~!!!

My timetable... tried to squeeze my schedule together by picking classes on same days so i have full days on Mon/Tues and free of the rest... most of the time anyway, since the classes do eat into other days at certain periods... i have also quite a few weekend classes which sux regardless whether they're morning afternoon or a full day!~!! Oh well.

Baah. Looking ahead, i see December! Holidays! For me as well in case you're wondering. The R E S T period between the end of my contract and school! A whole month of exercise, partying and generally doing nothing productive (cept getting in shape that is)
I don't know about holidays, seems Mum n O both want to head out (not necessarily together i think) but i'm non-committal, go w/ the flow ride the waves yeah?

A fact about clubbers like me is we feel like dancing at just about any given moment. O always sez i have an internal MP3 player on 24/7 which i found funny but oddly rather true. Now, if clubbing wasn't so expensive and they had good dancing venues more days of the week it would be great... but yeah i know one can dance anywhere... feeling the vibes is just so liberating!!! But you know, so many considerations when one wants to hit the club..

- Transport to and fro ( well fro more importantly )
- Energy Levels ( u can't dance if u're limp can u )
- Cows on the pasture ( Moolah. nuff said )
- Hitachi ( E company... what else? )

Never thought a night out be that much trouble huh haha... For me probably money and e company matters more. Personally, i'm fine with clubbing in a real small group or just 2 people but the company is important according to the mood. Drinkers dancers and a mixture of both... u have to recognise each individual as they are less you end up with the wrong kind at the club. Needless to say i'm a dancer more than a drinker (though sometimes its about equal)

Time for me to do my astral projection and zip back to my bed... *shuts down*

-20min later-
*boots up*

I take a nap after eating during lunch... sometimes i get really good rest sometimes i get really REALLY odd dreams... like those super vivid dreams that's totally unrelated to real life... hmmm.

Have you ever encountered dreams of this nature and when brought back to the land of reality felt it of a sorrier nature than that of dreamscape? I have though why i am unable to account for.

But enough of doom and gloom! 55 min from the end of the day, yes 55min again, i seem to have an affinity for blogging around this time. Lookin forward to R&R, seeing O n dinner! This week i shall endeavour to reduce my spending from last week... if i am able to keep spendings to $700 n below, it would be a good thing for me :)

The ending of 5.

2007-11-26T18:45:00.000+08:00

Boo yah!! It's monday again... no i'm not really feeling like the way i'm writing now but in my mind, the countdown of the last 5 days of work is kinda... uplifting.

I mean, think about it~
- No waking at 7am
- No having to be glued to my com chair (the workplace one)
- No having to look like i'm actually doing work
- Able to live like a bum~~~~~

*snooze*
*wakes*

Enjoyable weekend... new haircut (which i do like but its kinda short) and rest on friday, a nice penang buffet on saT at the Copthorne King near MS, the selection i found rather limited but the quality of the food, good!

Highlights i found were
-------------------------
. Fruit Rojak
. Soft shell crab
. Kueh paiti
. Prawns in Spicy Sauce
. Teh Tarik done up on the spot

(i don't know the price... i was there for a birthday or more accurately, the food... hehe)
-------------------------

After that caught a cab down to MS for entry, so embarassing cause me n * both had no cash n had to pay for the cab ($3.70) with Nets wahaha... we then went to watch Beowulf which i found to be surprisingly entertaining.. no, the 1/2 animated naked bod of Angelina Jolie was a let down. Naturally it was overly hyped... it's just another scene in the move for gawd sake!Headed down to Obar round 2, still happening.. and the music.. lets just say we like it like that. ( minus the reggae fer *)
Great dancing n drinking (say bailey's mint chocolate with milk)... think we left round 3.30... took one of those old cabs n rocked the way home. Literally rocked, the ride was kinda bumpy...

Anyway.

About 20m (metres not kM) from the destination, * leaned forward n let fly Niagara Falls in all her glory (who woulda thought the old girl had so much [blood/muck/vomit pick one] in her?). Needless to say, the drunk or nauseous holds no fault and i'm the apologetic one facing the cabbie... not fun.

Gave the cabbie a extra 10 but he wasn't happy anyway, i can understand why but i'm not going further, sorry.

Lesson learnt. Prep plastic bad regardless of how much drunk. Preventive measures to note to self. *scribble*

one thing i did note though was that i've become more compromising, able to hold my temper (and tongue) back from the quick firing pistols they were before. Also, i do take into consideration MORE about the plight of others first now. Yeah it's a big deal for ME.

Guess people do grow up huh? Well in some aspects anyway.

Happy to announce that with lunch, a 30min+25min nap later, i am officially alive again (minus a numb left leg). It's sometimes interesting the things people do when they have Nothing To Do... like... listening to the radio (normal), fiddling with one's phone (normal), reading or viewing 'smuggled' material (normal somewhat) but i don't get sitting there messing with paper or documents to LOOK like you're doing something... sure i imagine alot of people do that but it is DUMB! At least be doing something behind the facade like surfing the net or something...
Well, to each his own eh?

55min remaining! Somehow time passed rather pleasantly today, better than almost any other day in the preceeding 2 mths...
Indeed it must be said that though an idle mind is the devil's workshop, one that is up may stand the test of time!

Haha. That wasn't really it. More like... humans possess a precious gift. A gift, of changing our entire world based on perspective alone... ultimate happiness, jubilation, despair or agony all dependant on ourselves. Like the filthy rich who can find no solace
to the wretched etched in poverty but a king in his own mind.

So, at this moment in time, I, recognise that we are all masters of our own destiny and that with enough willpower and willpower alone, tremendous things be achieved, be they evil or good.

I state these observations whilst the mood remains in me. Like a chameleon, i absorb life from my surroundings, whether it be a tree, words of long gone authors or even the tiniest details but it also means moods and revealations come and go. One thing i am very grateful for is that i'm born healthy with sound body and mind. From a time long ago, i have constantly reminded myself to be thankful, even the makeup of my body reminds me that it is what i want it to be, weight muscle health all directly proportionate to my vices and exertions. Of sound mind i derive the pleasures of life... ignorance may bring about bliss but only with knowledge and understanding comes true appreciation of life and all of its beauty.

Flawed as our world may be, at many a time depressing, filled with cruelty by or by not the hand of man... but infinitely capable of limitless beauty.

It is a gift to be alive. Treasure it.

dEadeD. / Ponder Wonder

2007-11-23T10:00:00.000+08:00

Wow it really sucks to feel nauseous tired AND hungry all at the same time... it's like hunger without appetite, fatigue without relieve... ARgghh.

Why is this? Cause i went clubbiiiinnnggg. Again. Disregarding proper sleep hours, fatigue even before clubbin and what nots. Well i rounded up Matt (n his gf serene), JJ came too which was a surprise albeit a pleasant one (thanks JJ!)
My pool was smoking hot and i made good shot after good shot.. i think i stayed for like 6 turns or so... wee! Ahem.
*today's special is not humble pie*

Back to clubbing, Matt n gf had to leave jus before 1, he got a callup to work! at 1! that muuuuusst suck. So JJ n me drank the nite away... i think the count stood at...
2 gin tonics
1 flaming lambo
i reckon 18-19 ice cold carlsbergs between the 2 of us...

Yeah i introduced it to him and he REALLY took to it. Beer guy, definitely.

Crowd was ok, the dance floor getting filled, getting emptied periodically but we were kinda stoned to care tho ^^

Ahh but with great power (drinking) comes great responsibility... now i'm paying for the fun last night but i think other than when i first came to work, i've weathered it considerably well.. alot of little naps, a half one at lunch and a Great lunch rejuved me.
A wonder what food can do for ya eh.

TGIF!~!
Four powerful letters. ;)

Seems to be a rather nice day, nice weather, relatively well spirited n it's hair cut day finalllllyyyy...

Anyway.

Went for my preview talk yesterday which was interesting but i have to say this regarding the whole registration process...
COMPLICATED!
HASSLESOME!
First off, why is the preview talk only 1 week before the submission dateline??? People need time to prepare, source documentation if required and go down in person...

Secondly, to go through the institute in UK, you have to go thru the tuition centre here and ICPAS first... so that's 3 places in total... Meaning,
3 different places to pay
3 different set of dates to keep in mind regarding datelines
3 different modes of payment

It's like, annoying!

I'm not even starting on the registration fees you have to pay to them AND the annual subscriptions...

Sure, the whole process screams SOLEMN! SERIOUS! The speaker yesterday, one Roy.G was fortunately humorous hur hur... at least i wasn't sleepy despite a lack of it. Though... he did remind me of a salesman tho he repeatedless stressed he wasn't. The setting of the talk also felt remarkedly similar to that of a network marketing talk... *shrugs*

Justin was also at the talk! Felt good to see a familiar face... got to know him when we were back bowling in SP Bowlers... great guy but can't handle his drinks though hehe.. thankful though that i met him, since he already registered he told me stuff that i should watch out for and things to prepare which i'm sure that if he didn't i would have to make a few more trips down...

-Thanks J!- (one line just fer u, feel the honour haha)

The weekend is here... i've a mind to get all my study stuff together first tonight before i can think of relaxing... this stuff matters! Hmmp. Still, that said, i do ponder what to do this weekend hehe...

Suddenly i'm having one of those "wish i would find $50 in my pocket i forgot from the past" feelings. Weird.

On the topic of $, slowing down spending has been excruciating but fufillin too in its own way. At least it means i will have SOME savings at the end of this work journey. hmmp not much though.

Party night~

2007-11-21T17:51:00.001+08:00

Clubbing!

Tis a wed again!
Ahem.
Party.
Ahem.
Tired.
Sleepy.

Once again i slept later than i woulda liked... well, i had ample reasons to... *wink*

Bummer thing is, if i work tomorrow, with the things i've planned, i'm only gonna get at best slightly less 4.5hrs sleep for 29.5hrs. Bad. Very very bad. To squirm or not to squirm from work on thurs... decisions decisions...

ARGHhhhhhhhhhh ROOOOooooaaarrrr!!!! I hate people who fly planes! I will personally mount an AA gun and blast all of them from the sky!
GDMFS!!!

aH well. Many hours later now, dulled or spirited (choose one) by food rest (more! more!) and work to busy myself with, i no longer feel so riled. Like fishermen, i have cast my net and shall now wait patiently... i guess this will not be a crazed night of drinking then, another time perhaps...

ArrrGGGh i'm bongled recently by my weight gain... outwardly i don't appear to be gaining weight or feel THAT different but the weight speaks volumes, literally. Sigh.

Finale! Finally! 18min to knockoff.. yes i'm counting.

Sleep n Rest

2007-11-20T18:26:00.003+08:00

Early tuesday morning. Work.

RRRrooooooooooar.

Sleeping at 7ish pm and waking at 7ish am is great. Sure, some stiffness here, numbness there... but great. 12 hours straight, didn't even get up in the middle of the night... stranglely enough i woke at exactly 710am (my alarm time) tho my alarm wasn't on.

Right now, i feel like a new person... no really. Well, like i wuz saying, everything has an upside n downside... most things anyway. In a sense, it feels like i went to work on monday, went home, had dinner then slept and woke up fer work again. Can anyone say no life? Haha ~

$#(%&#$^ but thats not the issue floatin in my mind this morning...

TOday is about sleeping n rest! For some reason (or another) i've never been able to get as much rest as i like on a night2night basis... lets see... gaming, reading, watching anime, list goes on.. not a problem w/o school or work but on a work period like now, wrecks hell with my daytime spirits (<.<) (-.-) (>.>) When i do get enough sleep its like 10-12 hours... so it's like overkill... i've actually heard from somewhere a sleep pattern like this isn't gud fer u. Hmmm.

On a more serious note, blogging my guts out yesterday enabled me to go back with little resentment and with some peacekeeping (not lovemaking mind u) everything was somewhat fine... drained i was but not in anger n rage. So it's all good.

Side tracking, there's this discussion about weird men selling home theatre systems out of a van!? apparently alot of people have been accosted by these men in vans...hmmm. Weird thing is, they normally try to sell the systems (speakers w/ or w/o amps) at $500 but it goes down to even $80 depending. Hmm. If someone tried to sell me these at $80 i would a probably buy it. Probably. Haha...

Well questions were raised. Where was the scam in this, (there had to be one somehow) how did they make their profit? Where did the systems come from? The most light shedding answer probably is that retailers who are supposed to GIVE these systems as gifts for items purchased are NOT doing so but instead are SELLING them for whatever they can get for them...

One word describes these people...

E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P.

Yeeeeeeeaah.

"In a survey done in UK, 1/3 women would leave their partners for 2m dollars. Only 26% of men said the same. In fact, the women said they would leave their partners for less money, 103k in fact."

Well.

If YOU had to put a price on leaving your partner, what would it be?

Wandering Ramblings
-------------------

Time is such a relative thing. How long would it have taken the next guy to come up with relativity if Einstein didn't?

It's hard to pass time when all u have is self amusement. This with no internet, you constantly 'chained' 2 your workstation... hmm. So, most of the time, your mind wonders, if only for short spells... wouldn't it be great if you just dreamily passed maybe say 3 hours!!?! Perhaps it's due to the fact that there are only
10 more days to the end of my contract... then i don't have to worry about time wasting anymore! Most of my wanderings are about dancing to the tunes i heard on the radio... so they last fer about 3mins... if that long. Sad.

"A man's genius is commensurate with his ability of absorbing from life
the elements essential to his artistic completion."
- George Sylvester Viereck

Haha maybe my dance will improve if i take enough inspiration from the stuff i listen to. Unlikely though it matters little, i dance for self gratification anyway. Like O once said (not referring to my dancing), it's like masturbation, only for your own pleasure and no one elses'.

GawwwdD!! From time to time when i'm doing nothing n fine i will suddenly feel chilly all over and break out in cold sweat! My arms also start trembling... WTF!? Fortunately it's not TOO often this happens tho it just did...

Finally the hours past. Tho few remain the worst is behind me... all i need now is my next endeavour to pass em! I am one of those people who needs to be constantly occupied, the feeling of boredom is like agony akin to the ripping of my soul.

"Passion may grip us by the
throat momentarily; upon our backs we may feel the lashes of desire and
bathe our souls in flames of many hues; but the joy of activity is the ultimate passion."

Random: Of what a simple number? A name, a replying entity, nothing more. If one takes no further action that's all it shall be. Of ease you'll be.

Resentment

2007-11-19T18:26:00.001+08:00

It is a constant wonder to me how people's moods can swing 180 degrees in a single instant. One moment you are having the best time of your life the next filled with venomous indifference or some other negative chest constricting emotion.

Sadly, i consider myself one of those people with an intense dislike of restriction. Perhaps my family's constant badgering and at times senseless questioning had much to do with it but regardless, the fact is as it stands.

I loathe restrictions.

Ok so i hate alot of things. Call me a whiner, call me an ass. I just call it venting of frustrations. Right now, i'm jus thinking... perhaps an askewed view im sure if O were to read this she would certainly jib me, have some positively stone set answer to refute my 'case'. Granted i could probably not outtalk her, she being logical at these times and i at others but it doesn't change how i feel about it.

ARGHHHHhhhhhhhhh i hate saying this too but none of my EXs ever restrict me from knowing whomever i want to. Uncalled for i know but that's the first thing to pop to mind. If a blog isn't honest i really don't know WTF i'm writing all this for. Naturally in the end i'm writing for my own benefit and i much doubt anyone would read this ever if i don't make these entries private.

Sigh. I always accord whatever i can to my better half. Get that, my BETTER half. I don't place restrictions and all that... even if sometimes it makes me extremely uncomfortable. I realize of course it's jus wishful thinking on my part to expect the 'treat others how u wish them to treat u' saying to be anything more than hogwash.
I don't restrict them from knowing new friends, male or female.
I NEVER, EVER, nose around their belongings, invading their space.
not even secretly.
I make it a point to make sure they are happy when i'm around, smiling laughing... i look on the bright side as much as i can and i think it's growing steadily.

Still, like i explained to O, there are times when i just can't do so. Somehow i feel now like i did when i went to my dad and told him 'Dad i got the highest in school for Eng in Olevels!'
and the reply being 'its only English. What about math n science?'. It hurts when u put so much feeling into something and it turns out 180 to what u thought it would.

Perhaps thats why i usually hope for the best and expect the worse. If i were a machine that state of things would endure 100% of the time but i'm not, unfortunately. Love is a wonderful thing. So it happiness... but i can't help but wonder if being numbed permanantly is a better thing.
I am not a nice person. At the core, there is much hate, violence, impatience and menace whilst not the extreme extent but close enough. Of course, counterbalancing it is a side with goodness? probably not but close enough. A side with chivalry morals and thoughtfulness. Truly the irony of being a gemini, i liken myself to Dr jackall / Mr Hyde... two so different trapped in one. Which would i turn out to be upon the end of my existance... i wonder.

So much said, so much honesty laid out... that being the case, i shall attempt to return home and do, in true gemini style, appeasing O and at the same time, making my plans to head out with the guys known to her...

The union of two intelligent (albeit one less than the other) prideful creatures is such an train wreck waiting to happen but i crave it anyway... for one my equal (or more) who is an embodiment of all i hold dear.

Feeling drained. Is it the lack of rest or issit the accumulated burden of everything weighing down on me... Issues that bothered me still bother me and that could be the cause... like how my mum refuses fervantly to let me drive THE car even though i drive all the time... for goodness sake i want to drive cause of the convenience not cause of the car! If aH koo wasn't using her car i wouldn't even bother asking u!

Truly, controlling one's temper has its downsides. You preserve external peace but not internal balance. Still, more peace on the surface is better than open fighting n hostility. So.

I plow on.

I shall really end this entry here at this time, i really ranted loads. Hope it does me good.

2007-11-19T18:20:00.000+08:00

It seems that its quite a hassle thinkin up a decent entry =,=" as most of my thoughts tend to come in incoherent rambles (ARGH)
Ahh! since i'm currently working part time in an office environment now for the 1st time since my internment yeeeeeaarrssssss ago, i will comment on what it is i do and how it differs from then. *snicker*

Then: No computer! well for most parts anyway. (no internet)

Now: Computer (but still no internet) :(

Then: 10% work, 90% self occupation

- SELF OCCUPATION: sippin drinks (hours at times), analysing football odds, SMSing, exploring the computer and watching smuggled VCDs (when i have the chance)

- Work: basic accounting, entering of purchase orders, editing figures on excel spreadsheets (boring duh)

Now: 25% work 75% self occupation

Self occupation
: Radio/mp3s (yeh!), com explorin, e-book reading ( Harry potter's last book is nice), exercising on the chair n such

Work's pretty much the same as during my internment... sure it gets busier at times but basically unproductive!!!! aHem.
I must at this point state that it's not i'm unwilling to work but no one seems to have anything to give me :\
Fortunately people here are nice (is it my boyish persona hmm)

Something i've always believed in continues to be proven to me here. Most people are STUPID. STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID. Ahem.
Well mayb MANY is a better word but sometimes it seems like most.
Mayb i'll highlight some examples when they irritate me next but right now i just cant be bothered.

*mumble* how to lose 10kg... *mumble*

To end things off the topic of work, i guess it isn't all that different from my internmentship but at least the pay is better than when i was in the service. Yeah its called a PAYCHECK now not an ALLOWANCE. Still, its not much.

Ok, a load of orders just landed. Why do they accumulate these before passing them on to me... *grumble*

Wuz feeling bored round lunch so called 987fm for this lunchtime hookup thing they have, supposedly ya jus call n tell them what u want to sell or people u wanna find like clubbing kakis or band members etc...

ANYWAY. it works! i'm more elated by the fact that it works rather than the fact i got to know a couple more clubbing kakis... i didnt think anyone would respond. Hmm.

The only downside was the DJ called me during my nap which essentially meant i utilised the rest of my nap trying to fall back into sleep. ARGggggggghh.

*Well thats the end of that. Happy to relate what happened to O, it was like meeting a wall of indifference, only it seemed like silent hostility. In the end i opted to deleted both of the contacts and hopefully hear the end of it. Maybe its cause i'm tired but i seem to sometimes feel resentful particularly when my spirits are lower. Anger and a streak of viciousness well up inside but im tryin to keep it under wraps.*

Was wondering if i should accept Marcel's invite to hang out with the guys at Arena tonight... guess i don't have to wonder anymore.

Grand opening!

2007-11-19T00:16:00.003+08:00

Finally!
Dragged my ass for so long to get this blog off the ground...

DAMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmiiiiiit.

Every time i think of something interesting i don't have e means to blog it but now that i'm in front of my computer on the blog site i can't think of diddalli squat to blog! ARRRrgghhh. Agony.

I suppose i should do an introduction on myself in the first blog but that's so passe. Imma leave it till ... the end of foreva before i get to it ... well maybe not that long.. but, somewhere long that line

i think this will do it for now.

I love my spring roll~!

-ben