Pat's Schoolhouse Graduation Musical 2013 - Jerald Has Graduated from Preschool!

Jerald has finally graduated from preschool and shall be advancing to his next level of education in 2014! As his beloved uncle, i am thankful to be given the opportunity to attend his graduation musical yesterday. 

Location was at the 126 years old grand dame of Singapore: 

Raffles Hotel's Jubilee Hall!

In addition to the musical "Land of Oz", there was also individual class skit (known collectively as "Magic of Love") performed by the six graduating classes from both Mount Emily and Serangoon branch. 

I was late!!! Luckily my seat was at the back and my arrival created no disturbance. Actually, back seats were the best as they were elevated; making it much easier for me to take pictures. 

Jerald's class skit was the fourth and talked about a terrorizing monster snake that had created much havoc in a small village. 

As expected, many parents in the audience were taking videos and photographs to record these precious moments. Everyone was reminded to be considerate towards the people sitting at the back and that there should not be any flash. 

Coming back to the story, a Taoist priest was eventually engaged to chase away the snake (i initially thought the priest was Jerald) after much discussion among the simple villagers! 

Jerald starred as one of the many adorable villagers! 

With blinded encouragement from the priest, all the villagers were persuaded to join in the crusade to expel the snake from their village.

They failed because of the incompetent priest! Nevertheless, the little priest has had to save his "face" and suggested to the villagers that a human sacrifice would be necessary to stop the snake from creating more harm. 

Pink girl volunteered despite the objections from her parents but instead of resigning to her fate, she battled the nefarious creature and won victory over the great evil!

End of drama.

For a production involving kids no more than seven years old, i was taken aback by the quality of these skits! Bloody, i don't even remember having all my classmates performing such stuff when i was in kindergarten! 

Granted the dialogue was dubbed in Mandarin, the preschoolers displayed utmost confidence in presenting themselves to a big audience, even if they were masquerading roles way beyond their tender age.

Of all six dramas, i particularly enjoyed the one on Hua Mulan; a legendary lady warrior in ancient China who decided to take her father's place when he was called up by the imperial court to be conscripted in the army.

The battle scene was impressive! 

And came prepared with violence that was unusually endorsed by the many parents seated in the audience who yelled "fight" and clapped with laughter when the kids finally did. Tsk tsk. 

Of course, our dear Hua Mulan returned to her hometown after twelve years in the battlefield and was betrothed to a general by the emperor. 

After all six skits, the actors and actresses came together to perform a dance item for the audience; if i recollect correctly, it was something about love, harmony and stuff.

Conclusion of the first segment for the night.

Reception for all guests while the kids prepared for the next heavyweight item of the night; Land of Oz!! 

Cute Jovyn grabbing a bite of the delicious cake! She couldn't stand the darkness in the hall and was super pleased to be out. Plus, she totally love cakes! Oh, and sweets! Sighs...

Now a bit about the charming Jubilee Hall (i could not resist not talking about this as many of you are aware i really like old, heritage stuff) - it was designed in the Victorian style and was built as an extension of Raffles Hotel in the 60s or 70s. 

While everyone is using energy saving lighting, the bulbs in Jubilee Hall were still the filament type! I don't know what the eco activists would say but i thought the filament bulbs are more appropriate to create that classy Victorian ambiance.

The foyer outside the Hall, where the reception was held. I cannot imagine how much the rental would cost although we must keep in mind that Raffles Hotel is Singapore's oldest (and likely most expensive) hotel! 

Back to the show; Land of the Oz. 

Jerald again! 

The staged drama was divided into different acts with each class performing each act. That means we would see a few Dorothy, a few heartless tin men, a few cowardly lions and a few brainless scarecrows! 

Love this little actress for her evil portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West! She was so full of vile; i was prepared to step onto the stage to banish her to the underworld! 

Banking on the strong love the group of four had cultivated during the journey, the sixth Dorothy finally managed to destroy the wicked witch! 

The Tin Man, Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion had their wish to come true. 

Wizard of Oz didn't have any power to speak of (i bet he must have gotten his degree from a magic university not endorsed by the Singapore government) to help Dorothy to get home although his cuteness still managed to shine! 

He offered a hot-air balloon but as we are all aware of the storyline, it took off without Dorothy on board. Anyway, she got home via the magical shoes she had been wearing all along. 

Grand finale where all the performers congregated!

The last picture included all the dedicated teachers who were involved in the extravaganza! It's never easy to teach young children and to be able to get all of them to work together for such spectacular performances; i am incredibly impressed!

Woah, the school really treats their charge like stars! We were all requested to leave a passage for the performers to parade from the theatre! Kaoz, star-like treatment that only lacked a red carpet! 

Photographs of our big boy who has grown (not just in waist size). It was barely a few years ago when i held him in my arms and to think he is already going to primary school next year. Damn, i do feel old. 

Okay lah, a few photographs of the brat who is still living in my house. 

For our dear Jerald, i am wishing you all the best in your next journey and to enjoy your childhood like every child deserves to! 

"Education is not about competing with your peers on who is ranked top and comparing who is better than the other. 

It is about learning who you want to be and to enjoy that complicated yet simple process without the pressure piled on by many parents" 

Ramen Champion Great World City - The Third Outlet [A Media Invitation]

A media invite in my mailbox? 

In normal circumstances, i would have nicely replied to say that i am uninterested and wish the establishment all the best in their new venture / offerings. 

However, a friend got wind of this Ramen Champion invitation and persuaded me to bring her along! I wasn't very willing but eventually relented. p.s. to that person, you owe me big big! 

Anyway, the purpose was for a food-tasting session attended by invited bloggers at Ramen Champion's newest outlet at Great World City, where four competitors would also enter the arena to trash it out in order to win the coveted championship in 2013! 

Without further ado, I would start with the food now:

Bishamon Zero

Sapporo Miso Special Ramen

An existing competitor in this heated contest, Bishamon Zero offered Sapporo style ramen that had a broth cooked for a minimum of seven hours daily.

I didn't find anything exceptional about the broth (a tad too much spring onions though) although i must admit i am a great fan of thin noodles! The one thing i particularly enjoyed was its chashu; texture was incredibly soft with a sinful juiciness that any cardiologist would frown upon! 

Tonkotsu Itto 

Special Tonkotsu Ramen

Featuring Hakata style ramen (not that the style matters to me as i am not really one to go for authenticity), it was started by a Chef Sakamoto who has helmed a ramen stall that was ranked number one in the Japanese capital after merely three years. 

The noodles were even better this time round even though you might wish to note that Hakata ramen is known for their rich and savoury pork broth! I, for one, didn't like the strong porky taste. Chashu, in this case, was tougher and didn't quite manage the flavour expectation well. 

Miyamoto 

Pork and Vegetable Ramen 

A new entrant to the competition, the media write up i received only mentioned it originated from Tokyo and had received awards like 2012 Gurutto Chiba Most Impressive Ramen!

Similar to the thick ban mian noodles locals are accustomed to, this did not sit well with me. For a person who is forever trying to lose weight, the entire bowl looked too carbohydrate-heavy and i disliked to find the chashu shredded into bits, instantly reducing the satisfaction of eating it whole! 

Having said that, the broth was the healthiest-tasting and i actually quite liked the inter-mingling textures of soft noodles and the generous serving of crunchy beansprouts! 

Butaou 

Another new competitor; Butaou differentiates itself by introducing a sukiyaki ramen! Sukiyaki lovers should try this and decide for themselves if this is better than the traditionally savoury broth in authentic ramen. 

Spicy Chicken

To be honest, there were other sides placed on our tables but i didn't take any pictures! My bad. Anyway, with regards to these spicy chicken wings, the texture was not as crispy as you would expect it to be from the pictures. I would go with 4fingers anytime although my friend absolutely adored its spicy yet flavourful juiciness!

Special Sukiyaki Ramen 

Among the four ramen i tried that day, this was the best of the lot. Yes, it wasn't your orthodox kind of ramen and boasted a soup that was obviously more sukiyaki (sweet) rather than pork-bone (savoury) flavoured. 

Nonetheless, the mee was damn nice due to its immersion in the broth's sweetness! There's one other item that caught me by surprise; the addition of fattening, thinly sliced pork that was comparatively better than the usual Chashu as far as taste was concerned! 

On second thought, wouldn't it be more worth my money to order a typical sukiyaki set from Japanese restaurants? 

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Location

1, Kim Seng Promenade, 

#01-22, Great World City

Map

As above 

Opening Hours

11.30am to 10.30pm [Daily]

Pricing

Sapporo Miso Special Ramen - S$14.80

Special Tonkotsu Ramen - S$16.50

Pork and Vegetable Ramen - S$16.00

Spicy Chicken - S$5 (3 pieces)

Special Sukiyaki Ramen - S$16.00

[Subject to GST, i think]

Additional Information

Despite my resistance to attending media invited events, there are definitely some benefits in addition to the complimentary food tasting; for example, i got the above card-sized thumbdrive! 

And i didn't have to feel embarrassed for holding other people up as everyone would be taking pictures for their own blog! But ask me to attend another media event and the chance is i would still turn down the invitation. 

I honestly feel that i am socially awkward when it comes to such stuff! 

Kafe Roost - The Eco Friendly Concept @ Johor Bahru [Malaysia]

I am apprehensive when it comes to driving to Malaysia and has only ever driven once to our closest neighbour! Therefore, the food i had had were always limited to places at or near the tourist areas! 

Thanks to my new NUS colleague, i was brought to this cool cafe known as Kafe Roost in Johor Bahru. It may not look much in the above picture but all you need is to step in and walk up the stairs for a better look. 

In addition to the open area where smokers congregate, there was an air-conditioned section filled with so many unconventional furniture; it should rightfully be a unique feature for the cafe.

Almost everything appeared to be made of recyclable materials! 

Sofa made of cardboards; they were actually very sturdy! 

Key attraction was mainly on the appearance and not so much on comfortability for the users; this chair was a literal pain in the ass! 

Items as simple as a cutlery holder were made from reused materials you and i can easily identified with. It's a pity that nowadays, we are offered much cheaper alternatives and this has unfortunately stifled the creativity we used to have. 

Bloody; even the hanging lights had that cool, ingenious vibe to them!! 

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Location

Not sure where exactly although it was supposed to be an heritage area quite close to the old Malaysian checkpoint. 

According to my checks, the google map coordinates should be 1.45730,103.76411

Seoul Garden Hotpot (SGHotpot) - Premium Seafood Hotpot @ IMM Mall [Jurong East]

Seoul Garden was actually the pioneer to introduce Korean barbecue to Singaporean and mind you, that was way before the unstoppable K-wave starting from year 2000! 

Sadly, there was a period of time that the quality of food suffered in the face of intense competition from businesses keen to tag onto the K-wave; even i stopped patronising (my last visit should be more than eight years ago). 

A glimmer of hope came in the form of Seoul Garden Hotpot! For those hoping to find unlimited servings at a fixed price, be disappointed as the menu was purely À la carte! 

Please find above on what to expect from the menu which centered on mainly bibimbap and hotpot plus a limited selection of barbecue. You may top up S$5 during dinner for sides, pickle of the day and white fungus sweet soup; an option i regretted not making! 

At S$15.90, i thought my order of the chef-recommended premium seafood was quite pricey for supposedly quality ingredients like scallops, clams and mock abalone! 

My skepticism was thrown out when i drank a scoopful of the soup; the kimchi based broth sure had a hearty flavourfulness to it and its spiciness can be summed up using two words: super shiok!!

All the ingredients were devoured by me without any hesitation and i must say i love everything from the fresh clams to the crunchy kimchi! It has been ages since i last had such a nice bowl of Korean soup!

Satisfied!

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Location

2 Jurong East Street 21 

#01-112 (IMM Mall)

Price

Premium Seafood Hotpot - S$15.90

[Subject to GST and Service Charge]