Sunday, August 13, 2006

Cemeteries Expedition

Cemeteries Expedition

The Chinese Cemetery Visited During the Tour.I Visited Again Today... in the DAYTIME!!

cheduled during the inauspicious chinese lunar 7th month @ midnight, i was abit apprenhensive when i received the email from SPI (Singapore Paranormal Investigation) about the tour and well...., wat the heck!! I have always been intrigued by the unexplained and what will be a better time beside this month, when the hell gates were apparently opened and all the wandering spirits will roam the earth again for a month!

Vitagen being offered for Offerings
Im TEMPTED to Drink.

4 of us starhubbers (me ex-hubber) decided to join and hopefully enjoyed ourselves! Arriving at 10.30pm sharp, the tour started at around 11pm with the founder of SPI, Kenny telling us about the unexplained, the bulk being ghosts.

4 cemeteries were visited, namely the Malay cemetary at Sungei Kadut, the Chinese cemetary at Woodlands Road, the ever popular Lim Chu Kang cemetery and the Catholic cemetery at Church of Saint Joseph.

Unique Tomb @ Lim Chu Kang Cemetery

Which was the most popular or decidedly the most interesting for us?? Well, i preferred the Chinese cemetery where i managed to capture a few pictures full of orbs! Apparently, ORBS are the image of spirits/ghosts though they have been debated as a result of low quality camera lens, the light exposure, the camera flash etc etc. But i ascertained that i have never capture that many orbs before since i started using digital cameras 5 years ago. The other 3 of the starhubbers were divided on the question above but all of us agreed that the last one was distinctly the least popular since we were rushed in going through the cemetery.

Incense Papers Strewn all over the Lim Chu Kang Cemetery

Expectedly, we did not manage to see any ghosts even though i managed to capture the orbs. However, we succeeded in seeing those temple mediums in trance (though abit dramatic). In addition, we managed to understand why the chinese tombs are in such a shape, why malay tombs have the two stones, why the words in chinese tombs are in such color etc etc.

Overall, i personally though it was a trip well spent and the SPI team was rather professional, preferring to use advanced equipments and science to explain the unexplained issues.

Orbs at Chinese Cemetery.
Notice the Tomb's Name, which means Old Tomb.


Another Picture with Orbs at the Same Chinese Cemetery
A note though, as the story goes,
ghosts normally dun reside in their tombs if they died a long time ago.


Therefore, those corpses that were just been buried, while awaiting for the tomb encastment, were supposedly the place where you will have better chance to catch a ghost, though they will be more violent than the others.
How to know which one was recent? Next time when you visit the cemetery, spot the one with a white lantern over it....

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Aston's Specialties

I seriously think i should not have worked.

Becoz once i start to work, with money coming into my account, the first thing i will think of is to pamper myself with a good meal outside. And wats better than to have a small birthday gathering with a few friends of mine. Lol.

To start with, i was pondering the places that were available for a good meal and i saw this place called Aston's Specialties in the internet. Since the price was said to be reasonable, i really cannot resist the temptations.


Due to my small sedan, 5 of us went and we ordered 8 dishes! Not those that chinese share one hor~ Its those western cuisine!!

The place was a bit warm though but service felt personal with the staff being attentive and accomodating to our requests to put the cake in their fridge and presents at their counter. Lol. I will remember the two ladies in charge, one called Lily (who answered my reservation enquiries and will always remember me for my feminine voice), another one Liling.

Anyway, over at Aston's, the main is normally served together with 2 side dishes that you can choose. The varieties include baked beans, rice, seasonal vegetables, whipped potato, baked potato, french fries and onion rings. The drinks were inexpensive with the common soft drinks retailing at $1.20.

1) Root Beer
Dun ask me the brand, to me, it looked like a "chiong" root beer However, the taste was great with the usual distinctive root beer flavour without the standard over-loaded carbon gas that are forever making us bloated and a high tendency to impolitely burp infront of strangers, of whcih i can do FAIRLY well.


2) Prime Tenderloin Steak
I dunno if its because i have not tried steak for a long time and the extensive unattended desire for the slab of beef made me watered (in my mouth) when my knife cut through the semi cooked steak. As i slowly chewed through the bloody middle portion, i can almost hear myself finally relieving the desire.


3) Lamb Tenderloin Chops
This dish was really too marvellous! It brought back memories of the best lamb chops i ever had at KL, but at a much lower price of $5.50 then. Lol.

However, to find a really good lamb chop in Singapore was really very hard! The one i can say is good was from Tao's Modern Cuisine and the other one is @ Aston. The meat was tender, and not thin!! How much enjoyment can u derive from a thin piece of meat?????

One thing i realised was that as with Tao's, the lamb chop in Astons came together with a green gel that tasted like parsley and mint, and which further enhanced the flavour of this dish.


4) Honey Bourbon Ribs
Though smaller than the ever famous Saint Louis Pork Ribs in Cafe Cartel, this dish did provide a more distinct taste in terms of the overall flavour, with a strong honey and bbq taste, Though a bit burnt, it however provided inevitably the most palatable tange in your taste buds. But will not advise this dish for a hungry horse.

 

5) Grilled Fish with Herbs
A fish is just a fish with a fishy smell. But, put abit of herbs and it totally changed the entire zen of the taste. A lot of chefs tend to just cooked the fish (in whatever style) and poured a layer of gravy (in whatever flavour) over it. Whatever the taste , it was due to the gravy on the fish. This dish from Aston, however, had the taste exuding from the inside.

 

6) The Others
The Prime Sirloin tasted like the Prime Tenderloin but was more chewable and obviously more tempting because of the fats you can find at the slightly charred side. The Teriyaki Chicken tasted just like what it should taste like. The Pork Chop was a bit disappointing (give me Buckaroo) and so was the CharGrilled Chicken (which was supposedly highly commended by customers)

 
CharGrilled Chicken 
  Prime Sirloin
 Pork Chop

Teriyaki Chicken Chop

 
Though some of the dishes were disappointing, we will still go back because of:
  1. good service,
  2. multiple choices of mains,
  3. the food may not lookrf good but most tasted really not bad for the price
  4. economical pricing
  5. we really manage to stuff ourselves like crazy! 

(we spent a total of $84 for 8 main dishes and 5 root beers)