Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Pasar Malam (Singapore's Night Market)

Pasar Malam - a term unfamiliar with many who don't live in Asean countries. In Singapore, it's really more of a social gathering for families and friends.

Basically, these Malay words stands for Night Market and it's filled up wif many stalls selling stuff like food, clothes, cars, basic nessities, accessories etc etc.

In short, it's like a small carnival though some have evolved to be big carnivals with exciting theme-park rides of a smaller scale!

I love Pasar Malam and i always think that it will be best if tourists can just come and take a look at our night markets. I have been to quite a few night markets overseas like Hongkong and Malaysia but i still love the one in Singapore!

Not as in the amount of finger food you can get here, it's also the weird things you can get every now and now. For example, I happened to catch sight of some sex toys in the Pasar Malam in Yishun at the moment. Wahahahaha. Shy to buy it though.

Without any surprises, my main lookout in Pasar Malam has always been food; from the sweet and nice taiwan sausages in the past to the Ramly burger that has been so popular in Pasar Malam recently. Besides that, there are thai salad, thai shark fins, sesame balls, salted fried chicken, mee goreng, fried chicken, bbq chicken, fried chempedak, fried bananas etc etc.

At times, you may even find steam crabs, bbq crabs though they are fucking expensive!! You can also find the fake bird nest drinks i used to adore when i am very young. It was missing for around 5-10 yrs before it suddenly reappeared in night market scene.

Pasar Malam always bring back happy memories for me. When i was young, i will be out with my whole family; savouring the finger foods, pestering my parents to buy toys etc etc. Well, my family still does that and we will jalan jalan (walk walk) in the night market. It was relaxing in a perculiar way because night-time is the most crowded period so you are jostling with others until your shirt is soaked with sweat!

Like many other things, Pasar Malam has evolved a lot. From one-street carnival last time to basically taking up a whole big field now! It also sells cars now, sometimes even houses and almost all came with a few Ramly burgers stalls and at least one auction house that sells Chinese artefacts! It's actually the same product every time but if you look closely, you can find some realy useful and nice items for yourself!

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Lao Beijing (老北京) @ Plaza Singapura

Today is Singapore's National Day!!

The day Singapore is officially borned due to a much difficult separation from Malaysia back in 1965. Anyway, it's quite a big thing in recent years, with the so called lack of patriotism that is being noticed more and more in recent years. Nah, i am not one of those.

I love Singapore for what she is and i am really glad to be here! Borned a Singaporean and definitely die as one too. It's like your blood line; you can never reject it as easily as your stomach rejecting those unhealthy food (by farting, shitting, diarrhea etc etc).

E'nuff of this disgusting talk, especially when i am going to dwell onto my favourite topic!! Food as usual!! Lol. Anyway, today left only myself, Weeyuan and Alex for lunch so where should we go?! With so little people, the choice was made swiftly and we made our way to Lao Beijing in Plaza Singapura. If no buffet is available, we shall proceed to Gelare for waffle (not a definitive lunch but filling enough).

Lucky for us, Lao Beijing's buffet is still in operation and we happily stepped in and ordered whatever dishes they have; provided the titles did not sound too disgusting or weird.

Xiao Long Bao
Big, fat and juicy wif a sizeable piece of pork meat within that was steamed to an ultimate softness! But eat it fast because the skin will start to harden rapidly. The soup was not too bad although i still prefer crystal jade's version.

A nice rating of 8/10.

Guo Tie
Literally panfried dumplings. I have eaten guo tie from quite a number of places and i seriously think that all of them were just either okay-tasting or horrible-tasting. This one from Lao Beijing, however, took my breath away! The taste was great and it's unimaginable that it can be so different from the others i had.

Rating 10/10.

Fried Shredded Pork with Salted Bean, Chilli and Leek Sprout
Don't ask what it's called in Chinese - i barely remembered 4 Chinese characters. Anyway, this dish was sort of a … hm… a weird tasting. It's tasty but maybe because i never really like pork, i found it a bit disgusting. I guess i can empathise how the ang mohs feel when they eat durians.

Rating 7/10.

Fried Noodles
This tasted a bit like hongkong fried noodles albeit a really taste one. Maybe it was because of my hunger!

Rating 8/10

Lentil Jelly
Ok, this is one dish i don't have the acquired taste for and i wonder why people can even like it. It's mushy with a very beany taste (obviously made of beans). Just too weird for my taste i guess. It's under the dessert section and i normally expect dessert to be quite sweet but this wasn’t.

Rating 4/10

Almond wif Fungus
Warm, not cold as most of us thought it to be. It came in a bowl filled wif creamy almond (imagine almond jelly in a liquid form) plus a piece of fungus. Yes, you heard me right! One piece like a lone lotusin the pond. It's not sweet and doesn't suit my sweet tongue. Lol.

Rating 6.5/10

Custard Cream Bun
This is the most over rated dish!! When i read the words in Chinese, i figured it as a nice little bun with creamy, thick custard cream. The nice little bun part looked right but the insides were some pathetic, dried custard paste. Not creamy!! Not thick!! Just dried and crusty!!! Downright horrifiying. Luckily, this came last!!

Rating 2/10 (2 was given because at the very least, it was still edible)

Others
Tried a few other dishes of noodles for which you can actually ask for just one portion. They were not great though as compared to Crystal Jade.

Our only regret is not getting 4 pax to eat together!! A confirmed 4-pax will get us a self made popiah set for free!!! Sianz. But overall, this is a place worth going.

Price was $12.80 per person - not inclusive of drinks and subject to 10% Service Charge, 5% GST and towels charges. It was calculated to be around S$16.50 a person.

Overall Rating; a 7.5/10.

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Crystal Jade Macau

This is a day overdue but i guess their food don't change over one day right? Haha. Anyway, i finally have a chance to eat at Crystal Jade's newest restaurant of a different theme, Macau.

By Macau, it means depicting food with a mix of a Portugese style that is different from the Cantonese style of the nearby Hong Kong island.

Here goes the review.

Special Combo
A dish that comprised of a lot of small dishes, machiam like an everything in one; grilled beef, grilled chicken, grilled pork, fried chicken wings and potato wedges.

My mum thought this dish sucked as it was too saltish!! But i personally think it's okay, edible but i will stop at that (which means, not very good lor). I especially hate the fried chicken wings. They tasted like re-used oil was used to fry the wings. 

At S$28.00, i think it's too expensive and not worth for that kind of taste.  
Rating - 4/10

Baked Rice
This dish was way better than the one above. Two plates were ordered: one with pork ribs and the other with a mixture of seafood cheese and pork.

Both were nice with thick cheese and a palatable reddish pork chop sauce. The only bad point was the stale looking pork ribs.

Costs around S$8.00 each.
Rating - 6.5/10

Pork Chop Bun
This was the best dish in the whole restaurant.

Basically it's like a hamburger but instead of a beef patty, you will find pork chop in between the buns. Cut in half, the bun was crispy and coupled with the sweet taste of the pork, it made for a refreshing taste i never had.

A bit on a high side at $5.90 for such a small bun.
Rating - 9.5/10

Boiled Eggs Custard
This is a dish not commonly seen in Singapore but fortunately, I tried it in Chinatown before. My friend, Weeyuan, called it Tan Tan (means egg egg i think) and i think it looked like soya beancurd with an eggy taste.

Just imagine a thicker and more solid custard cream and you will know what i meant. The one in Crystal Jade Macau was not bad but the egg taste was not strong enough.

Price: Cannot remember
Rating is 5/10 .

=========

Tried other dishes but generally they were only okay. Frankly, i would not go back to this restaurant unless for the pork chop buns. I think Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao will still be my favourite haunt for now.

Besides Waffletown…..

Total cost - S$119.00




Thursday, July 28, 2005


Old Car Finally Cannot Tahan Me!!

It should have been a really nice day today; I managed to sneak into Ngee Ann Library even though 'security' was pretty high and i had a really fun time playing badminton wif my colleagues.

But after that, the whole day went haywire!! Read patiently for my disappointing, moody-inducing, tired-inducing tale…

I happily drove my car with 4 friends inside. As I turned out of Bukit Panjang Community Centre, I started to smell something funny but i ignored it till i turned into BKE (Bukit Timah Expressway) towards city! That's when the smell started to get really pungent and something was wrong with the stability of the car. I stopped the car and realised the front right tyre had burst!

Yes, burst, not punctured! All of us were in disarray with me as the most affected. I tried calling my mum (she dunno wat to do), my dad (din ans his phone) and my bro in law (who was patient but equally helpless).

I freaked out!!

I am in the middle of the bloody expressway with no help and my friends were suffering with me!! Anyway, my father finally called back and told me there’s a car breakdown sign and a spare wheel in my boot! And i tell u, i have driven this old car for 5 months and never had i notice that there’s a bloody spare tyre!! But there it was, hidden beneath layers of newspapers!!

I attempted to lift up the car using the car jack and i managed to! But when i turned out the bolts on the burst tyre, the whole thing turned!! So i had to undo it and used some equipment to take out e bolts!! Luckily we had Lango, a future engineer to help me wif the physics aspect (i never like e subject). I installed a new tyre!! So happy even though my two hands were full of dark stuff. Kaijing said i man leh!! lol~ 

But no no, not the end of e story~! I drove via BKE to Mandai area and went through a scary road leading to the Mandai Reservoir~ Tat's when i started to hear a noise, like some thing loose and knocking against the vehicle. I took note of it and decided to check on it after i get out of that stretch of road (its bloody only one lane!! And a spooky one too~!).

BUT the whole car stalled when i reached the T-Junction and my friends saw smoke coming out of e bonnet!! Yes, smoke not as in cigarette smoke but fire smoke!!


The whole engine was overheated (according to the red indicator on the dashboard) and the water level was low~ I called my dad, figured tat it will take some time for the engine to be cool again, therefore asking my friends to go home first. Luckily all of them had direct bus!! But felt so guilty because i offered and yet they were late and still have to take bloody expensive transport!!

Im alone, standing beside the car when i bumped into one of the most embarassing moments in my life!! An SBS No 138 bus stopped right beside me and all the passengers on e left side of the bus were all looking at me and my car!! They have never seen a broken down car before?!?! Maybe they wonder why a young guy like me is driving a broken down car!! So Paiseh!!!


My dad came and we waited a while, filled up the water and checked on on the engine before driving home. Something is definintely wrong with the engine because the temperature of the engine shot up again (according to the indicator again). Anyway we reached home around 12 midnight, bushed, tired and hungry!! Luckily, there was still dinner for me!! Some veges, herbal soup, steamed fish and best of all, a steamed crab that was so meaty and tender!!!

No moral for this story but my dad told me the car may be scrapped soon!! So no car for me!! But good lah, i will spend lesser on food and nothing on petrol!!! lol~




Sunday, July 24, 2005

It Finally Happened…

Finally finally but i cannot said i should be glad about it.. But i finally went without food for one day!! Not because i don't want to or an extreme way of getting slim, but i am sick and really have no appetite wat-so-ever for food. For many who were wondering, i have the runs!! Horrible diarrhea since midnight and i had to wait for 2 hours to see the doctor!! Luckily i lived just opposite the clinic so i went back home twice!

Anyway, i had no idea what i ate to give me such bad runs! Eight trips to the toilet without any solid stuff but semi gooey stuff splashing all over the toilet bowl. Plain disgusting i will say and the area where it spit out from stinged of pain whenever the gooey stuff forced itself out!! Haha. But im feeling much better with the pills given though im still weak. Lying whole day on bed until now to check my email. Another feat i guess, i seldom don't touched the computer when im at home. Lol.

Thou e appetite was curbed but it will no doubt ever been eradicated.. Another makan session tomorrow? =)




Friday, July 22, 2005

Life and Death

Life, what is the meaning of life? Death, is it the ending of life? or the beginning of another one? From the start of human mankind to now, everyone wonders the same thing. That's why there are so many rituals, so many customs to do wat are to be done when we are borned and when we.. die.

My maternal cousin, Ralph, passed away this morning at Singapore General Hospital (SGH). His condition was lymphoma cancer and he was only 32, the age where some old business men believe to be the start of life. I was not close to my cousin, never am.

Never saw him for like 5-7 years until a month back, when he went back after chemotherapy. Shocked then was an overstatement because my mum did tell me he looked different after he was afflicted with such horrible ailment. I was not at all shocked but i am still relatively surprised at how cancers can make one looks so different. My cousin was a handsome guy and had been an air steward before but he was not the same after getting this illness.

I felt pity for him but yet i should not be because he was strong and determined to fight back the illness, struggling to stand up against it. I wonder if i have the same strength, the same courage..

I went wif my mum for the wake at Serangoon Gardens. My mum knew my cousin was going to pass away; the doctor had said tat his life was going to end soon.. No chemo, no drugs can help any further to prolong his life. The cancer cells spread too fast, too much..

When i reached, everyone had their heads down, crying, sobbing.. My heart went out for them. My mum started to cry when she saw Ralph’s mum. I can feel their pain, their sorrow. Its indescribable.. Since e body had not arrived yet, i went to Pet Resource to look for girl girl (a stray dog) to lighten my mood.

Ralph’s body arrived at around 5 pm and i reached just in time. Once he was put into the white coffin, all of us proceeded to see him, to talk to him as our last words to him according to chinese custom. No one’s eyes were dry.. Even mine were watering but i tried to fight back the hot tears that were really in a big hurry to roll down my oily cheeks.

Ralph’s father, a usually strong figure, cannot fight back his tears. After the glass was placed over e coffin, big uncle was putting his face on e glass, crying, listening, toking to my dead cousin. But can he hear anything? Maybe no, maybe yes. That's one thing bout life and death, no one knows…

That's why i always emphasize on living life well, happily and yet simply. I have done half, i guess, im happy but not simple enough.

Too much shit i eat and frankly, alot of what you eat has an impact on your life in the future.

Anyway, please pray for my cousin, hopefully he is pain free and happy in the other world, if there is one…







Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Finally!!


Finally i managed to skip some meals!! Well, basically I was not that hungry because im entirely engrossed in e new Harry Potter n the Half Blood Prince. So i only had a breakfast with POST Great Grains with milk, 3 eggs, 2 pieces of bread and a glass of milk again~ Lol. Not little but well, manageable i guess~ After that i skipped my lunch and my dinner!! Great feat right?! Especially for a food lover like me.

Sad to say, all hell broke loose at night, after my class.. The class was dimissed earlier and i felt the tide of hunger rising.. This came right after I had a good poo (not watery but firm and solid one) during the class break. Anyway, i passed by Chong Pang Nasi Lemak and had a sudden craving for it.. So i bought one packet with beansprouts, toufu and a drumstick. In addition, I asked for less rice.. Yes, i finished up e whole lot, plus two hard boiled eggs my mum bought for me!

Moral of tis Entry
Buy me more books or send me book vouchers for any event that a necessity for gifts is required~!! I guess i can forgo my meals for books. But please!! No textbooks!! Totally repulsive!




Monday, July 18, 2005

Dental Hygienie is Important!!


Finally i brought my friend, Alex to visit a dentist whom i know can treat his gums problems!! As most of you know, I was in dental practise during my NS stinct and have been very particular about oral hygiene not only for myself, but also for my parents and friends. For people i just know or do not know very well, i seldom dwell onto that since it can be quite embarassing.

So for all friends who read this, remember!! Sometimes i really wana tell you but dunno your reactions lah~ So….. U guys know lah!! Approach me if you want to touch your dental issues.

Anyway, we went to a dental clinic one of my dental officers, Dr Edwin Oh, was working for after his dental bond (yes, all dentals students are "bonded" after graduation). Nice environment with a beautiful view of Orchard area!! And i had a good time remembering the Kavo Dental chair used; amongst so many dental chairs, Kavo reli best!!


Alex’s gums problem was really horrible!! He had plaque and calculus (not maths) covering some caries on his upper teeth!! Horrible right?? That's a bad thing of not taking care of your teeth and gums!! Yes, they come together!! And he had calculus all over his teeth and in between teeth!! Yes, in between teeth!! Why?!?! Becoz this bloody guy never flossed his teeth!!

So everyone, do remember to buy a good floss! My personal recommendation is Oral B Satin floss! It's fabulous!! My doc friend actually have to use a dental instrument called sickel for Alex’s gums~ In dental jargon, using a sickel means the problem was bad. Hahaha. Or bi good, never take care of his gums.


Alex said he dun feel pained so Dr Oh’s skills must be damn good~ Hehe. Anyway, if you guys and gals are interested in having a dental checkup, you can approach me for my friend’s number. Fyi, all e above pics were approved by Alex!



Saturday, July 16, 2005


Guiness Gala Dinner



Today was a rainy day, in a way and i was real scared because i was driving to Singapore Expo for the Guiness Gala Dinner. The tickets were complimentary from my uncle. For a moment, i thought it was going to be some stout drinking stuff but surprise surprise, it's like a concert with chinese style dinner!! 7 courses, not 10 courses, a bit not traditional style though~ lol. But it's a really huge event!! A 10,000 people turnout with 1,000 tables available!!
 

The Guest of Honour of the event was again another surprise; our dear Mrs SM (Senior Minister lah!) or Mrs Goh Chok Tong, who was embroiled in a scandal recently because of her comments on the $600,000 salary of Mr Durai, the infamous CEO (i think) of NKF. But well people, media may not always potray the truthful intent of a person. A lot of words can be twisted into a different meaning and so, let's dun dwell too much on what Mrs Goh sait. Maybe it's taken out of context?

Another nice surprise!! The main theme of the day was not food, the category i always loved to dwell in! Not that it's not fabulous, but it really was not worth mentioning when every dish was cold!! Yes, i know the cold dish was supposed to be cold but have you ever tasted soggy crackers with cold chicken!?!? They were edible at the very least consideration and seriously not that bad.



The main highlight of the day was really the celebrities they invited for e show!! Zhou Chuanxiong, Ah Du and Alex Toh~!! And the thing on everyone’s mind seemed to be the Tuo Diao (Stripped!) song of Alex. I don't understand the mentality of people! Yes, its a nice song but yet, it's like a lot of people wanted to see Alex being stripped down to his underwear!! There were a lot of screaming and shouting for the striptease. I dunno whether to laugh or despair at how narrow minded some people can be. Overall, it was a really good concert by all those involved, including the compere, Quan Yi Feng!


The emblem of which im chopped for easy access. Toilets were really congested (imagine 10,000 ppl sharing just 8 toilets!!) so i would usually go out to the foyer. I dun have a big bladder for all e water i had inside!!



Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Driving Day

Yes, been busy driving the whole day!!

Not that i was complaining but i really hate driving under the hot sun~ And wat's worse? Rain plus hot sun!! It's a great miracle i was not sick, since I cannot wind down the windows of my good old Toyota Corrolla DX (yes, i finally got the model) when it rains!


9am and i was out of the house, to go market with my mum to buy fresh fish! Ask her to buy NTUC she said not fresh!! After i reached back home, my dear old rubee peed!! Being a responsible owner, i had to clear up the mess ,as usual. Late for my mom and my sis’s appointment at the gynae but doctor was busy! Went to eat hor fun but bloody pic showed 3 prawns and i only found one!

CHEAT!!



Drove to pray at one of the temples near Balestier. After tat it's snacks time!! Went to buy peng kuey (rice snack) and tar sau piah (bean paste pastry)! One good thing about balestier, it's their tar sau piah. Had heard that Balestier food was good but i seriously haven't try much stuff there except for Urban Pooch, a doggie cafe tat sells human and dog food. Visit grandma in SGH and then go AMK NTUC for grocery, and then go back home. Night time go out eat at Chomp Chomp. Total fuel charge still manageable! And luckily Shell is giving out 25% discounts!!!


Another sinful and tiring day…. Tomorrow healthy!!






Saturday, July 09, 2005

Finally My School Mate Commented……..

Today is my first class for the new semester and though i was eager, i am still late due to a bad stomachache. Anyway, all went well, with an interesting module and an equally amusing lecturer, but when break time came, i was faced with a school mate who commented: "eh, u like become bigger/fatter right?"

*thunder claps with heavy rain tat has e ability to flood the singapore river*

I was not shocked, but well, truth hurts don't they!? My motivation comes back again, and yes, i am motivated to go thru my demonious ordeals to make myself as skinny as Kate Moss in the old days or Naomi Campbell now~!!

But saying all these, i still need my dinner right? I only had like two packets of Indomee with 3 hard boiled eggs and 4 prawnz for brunch and i was "a bit" hungry when 8pm came. So there i was, roaming around Marina Square area because the road systems sucked!! I tried to go Marine Parade but due to road closures, i ended up in Marina Square. Though both had Marin, but apparently they had great differences!


Anyway, I was stuck with a crave for xiaolongbao (pic above) and surprise surprise, there’s one in Marina Square Shopping Centre at the area called Center Stage. Dun asked me why center stage, it's neither an auditorium nor a theatre even thou there’s a band in the middle. Anyway, my perky eyes catched a glance of a restaurant called the Imperial Treasure Xiao Long Bao and i was like, YES!! It's by the same guy who set up Crystal Jade and the concept was exactly like the Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao although it had some Teochew dishes, one of which was turtle soup (i din try this disgusting dish though!).


To curb my weight and my waistline, i only ordered two dishes, the Hong You Chao Shou (Red Oil Something) and the XiaoLongBao. They were fabulous, as usual, though the red oil (pic above) was the best i ever ate! Highly recommended!! I gave it 10 upon 10!! Total spending was only $11!!

Now back to my exercise regime.. Hm.. Should i jog or should i do my pushups? But like a bit late right? Never know if there’s ghosts or not. Hm…. Maybe i should sleep… Yawnz.. *will finish the dumplings on the table first*




Friday, July 08, 2005

Busy Fulfilling Night~!

It should be exactly two am when i finish writing this blog post and yes, i just reached home!!! After a long trip that started from 7.45pm! As usual, my first stop after fetching my friend, Kimberly, was to go eat~ My life revolves around eating, remember? and my stomach apparently likes to revolve around fats too, i realise. Haha.


The first stop after roaming around Geylang for around 10-20 minutes to find a f*cking decent parking lot for Yong He, the famous You Tiao King!! For people who don't understand, it meant dough stick king. We ordered 3 glasses of soya milk, 1 soya beancurd, 3 dough sticks, one set of dumplings, one xiao long bao. The quality was still as good as before but the dough sticks were abit cold even thou crispiness remained!! Their dumplings (guo tie) still tasted good and i managed to persuade Kim to eat it with ginger and vinegar and now she’s HOOKED!! Haha.

After having a full meal (i ordered another glass of soya milk), we went to the famous lorong 18 geylang for an innocent view of red light district girls! And i tell you, they have advanced in their dressing! A lot of them wore bikinis! I never seemed to catch these kinda gals last time! The more funny thing happened when we passed by a group of tranvestites who were also looking for "business" and one actually looked at Alex and wana hugged him leh!! When alex rejected, she was so disappointed and say "wei!!" with a girly sway. Haha, the charms of Alex~


After the invigorating walk was the craving of the day! We went to the HK Smelly Toufu (STF) and ordered two pieces!! Quite expensive at $2 each, it's quite big compared to one I had in HK; Smelt the same though. I sincerely thought so until i was driving my car and Kim wassavouring the STF and the smell started to get more and more disgusting! Alex started to comment it smelt like diarrhea and i agreed!! BUT the taste of it was reli marvellous, i guess we should ask Ang Moh to try these also! Lol..


After all those heavy munching and with a smelly car travelling on the road, we went to Cosy Bay!! I just loved this place but this time, i went up to the tower and Kim and I just ordered fruit juices and started toking about life. It's been a long time since we last talked like this. I had a deeper understanding of her and i guess she had of me too! Anyway, the scenery was still as good as before, if only the wind was stronger.

Finally we came to the last event of the day! We went to Changi Village for tranvestites viewing and this time, the numbers were lesser but it made up for quality! The trans time were so f*cking f*ckable! Opps, i mean f*cking hot!! and pretty! Some came in just hot pants and bikini. It's more of an eye opener ~ Lol. Really enjoy e day! And Kim, thanks for your meal! hehe

Pity my car still smells of STF. Sighz.




Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Manhattan Fish Market!!


Please do not be misled when you see this restaurant residing in the middle of Comic Connection and a Jap restaurant on the 6th level of Plaza Singapura, thinking it is an original from the one in America. It's more of a spinoff from Fish n Co and yet, the tastes were comparable and cheaper!!

Me and my NS (national service) friends (3 old kids) ordered a manhattan seafood platter for 2 and lemon mussels tat came with bread.

At first glance, you may thought the seafood platter looked familiar to the one in Fish N Co, but surprise surprise, it came with a big chunky piece of fried fish that tasted marvellous with the saucy fabulous mayonnise that came as a separate condiment.



Fyi, when the waiter served us e platter, he actually used a high powered flame burner to further crisp the prawns to a darker but yet more succulent color. Though the buring smell was unbearable at times but well, kind of a show for us! Lol.

Another original item was the potato-balls-lookalike, which was actually fried oysters! It tasted not as "fishy" as normal fresh oysters  and yet had a certain Q when you bit into it, oozing the oyster out of its fried "shell".

There were two things that you may find more tasteful in Fish N Co, firstly was the rice. The rice tasted quite normal and had in fact, a mushy feel and not as fragrant as the butter rice served by Fish N Co. In addition, although Manhattan Fish Market Seafood Platter offered fried calamari, the calamari was small and tasteless, machiam like eating some deep fried thingy without any knowledge of the taste. In this case, i will prefer the grilled calamari offered by Fish N Co; they gave more calamari and the size were bigger too!

Another dish we ordered was e lemon mussel with bread. We thought it will be just normal mussels on a plate but it actually came as a soupy combination. With the bread, it felt as if we were drinking soup instead of eating e mussels. But the taste was reli fantastic!! The slight tinge of lemon with the seafood taste of the mussels brought out the overall good combination! One regret though, there were only 3 pathetic mussels!! Wish there were more. Lol

All the above are of compliments of my NS doctor, who has now gone into private practice. Thanks Dr Oh or Edwin or Sir, watever. Lol




Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Poor Rubee

I was such a bad owner!

To say that was becoz i finally managed to procure some dry food for my dear old shihtzu, rubee san or chan; watever gender you wana him to be. Rubee is my dog, obviously and i really love him a lot so the lack of food for the past 1 and a half day had been perpetually on my mind, provided im not eating, toking to friends, playing computer games, sleeping, travelling etc etc.

Okok, i know all these were invalid excuses.

But hey, i woke up damn early today!! Especially when i only slept at 3 am this morning!! But well, my early was like almost 0930hrs. haha. But anyway, i brought my dear old spoilt rubee for a walk and for him to release his bottling urine in his small bladder (he is a small dog lah) and then i drove out to sembwang shopping centre to Aquapets (pet shop) to buy his Natural Balance Organic dry food. 

I managed to park for free right infront of e coffee shop my mum works at!! and i managed it with parallel parking!! But well, the "hole" was comfortably big for my car to reverse in. Haha.

I asked my mum to take care of my dear old spoilt cute rubee while i rushed up to Aquapets. I reached at around 10.28 and it's not opened yet! I waited… and waited and the shop finally opened at 11!! Sianz…. Am supposed to meet for sister to collect some stuff and i had to postpone it because im working at 12.30 today!! Sad…

Anyway, after buying the food and asking the shop keeper to ask the supplier for any bigger bags for the Natural Balance Organic (surprisingly rubee is quite a big eater for such a small dog), i went to bring my dear old spoilt cute pampered rubee and drive back home.

I got back home, brought out his food and he f*ucking ignored it!! Can u imagine?!?! After so much pain and time, he ignored it!!! so i had to mash it up with bananas and dry treats. He ate but only e parts where the treats were!


Right now, there is still more than half a bowl left and the dear old spoilt cute pampered bitchy rubee is sleeping right beside me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!




Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Unfitful Sleep


Sleep to me is the most important thing (beside eating) in my life and i have always enjoyed and craved for sleep when im not enjoying things like sex or food or computer games or internet chatting.

Opps, please cancel e sex part.

Continuing, i have been having rather unfitful sleep for a couple of weeks and  wonder the reasons behind it, especially when i had dreams tat i remember but not the details, like those numbers which can be potential 4D or Toto strikers!! Lucky the person who won the $2 million Toto prize. God knows when is my turn for it.

By unfitful, I meant I have difficulties going to sleep, and i keep yawning and sometimes, stifles of yawn came and with stifles, i feel even more difficult to doze off!! Besides that, i will also wake up very often at night.

Sorrie for sidetracking. Haha, anyway, the potential reasons for the very unfitful sleep are as per follows:
 
1) My heart condition is coming back. I used to feel this way when i had my superior something something condition regarding my heart, where i can get ‘attacks’ with over 200 heart beats per minute.

2)  have been playing far too many computer games!! Now my fav is warcraft 3 and i have been sleeping on average at 2am every night. And the best time to sleep is medically advised to be between 10pm - 2am.. i heard.

3) Lack of exercise. I used to be able to sleep extremely well after i had a 20 min jog at night and i used to jog like almost every 2 days or sometimes even daily. But nowadays, being a glutton and a lazy bastard, i have been skimming on it… Beside not having a good sleep, i have been gaining a bigger waistline. Philosophically, this is a good example of "you gain some, you lose some".


4) Haze related problems. I got it when Singapore had the worst haze situation from the forest fires around the region. Amongst all the reason, this is the only one i cannot do anything about!! So Indonesians around the world, please do help and get the Indonesian government to be more stringent and harsher in the ways they prosecute the offenders, especially those big timmers. Maybe it will help all of us, not just me, not just Singaporeans but for the whole of the region, including your own countrymen.

I guess the above conclude the possible reasons for my unfitful sleep but frankly, i believe gluttony and lack of exercise stand a higher chance of the true reasons. Though im facing this situation, i still believe in "Good Health is the way to Enjoy Life".

So where’s my sport shoes for jogging? Rubeee~~~~~~~




Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Sin…


I have always thought about the 7 sins but I think one sin shd be included and that will be FOOD!!! Ya, it's always so sinful to have food around our life, esp in Singapore where food is plentiful and in abundance and in many great variations and tastes. Sighs… *watering*


As usual, today revolves around food again. I went to bugis to meet my friend, alex and we went to Parklane Fried Wanton and ate the fried wanton mee! And my gosh! The standard was much better for the bugis branch and i licked finish the whole plate..


After my hair cut (yes, i cut short again!!) , we went to eat at Mos burger and tried their vegetable covered teriyaki chicken patty (Natsumi Teriyaki Chicken Burger). And well… its just a piece of tasty teriyaki chicken covered with lettuce. Nothing really too great bout it and i made a mess out of myself. *shrugs* Ordered their plain hotdog too. It used to taste quite good but this time, the bun was horrible; lacking the spongeness and it's cold!! The hotdog itself was juicy but the mustard and tomato sauce destroyed it totally!

So yes, another sinful day……. Fats coming to me…



Monday, June 20, 2005

Recalls of The Past (PLC)


I just received a new friendster testimonial from a friend i known from Pet Lovers Centre (the company i bunked with for 4 long years) and yes, I do miss all my friends from there, not to mention those lovely customers who used to bring their dogs and ask my advice on dog’s health and nutrition. Gone were the days and I do miss them deeply, greatly.

I still remembered the year when I first came in, it's December 2000 and I was required to do a stocktake in the PazaSing outlet. I love the staff there, so funny, so real. I shuffled around the outlets so often that eventually they called me "floater", as in a ghost that floats around.

I knew a lot of friends from there; jasina (our big mummy), pearlin (younger than me but i called her jiejie), pearlyn (ultra funny and optimistic), stella (always bickering with me), huiling (talkative like me), shaoxing (philosophical), stephen (handsome plus funny), stephanie (fun loving), anne (crazy one but nice!), linda (our big sister), lavinia (my ex wife who brought much laughter), cheryl (chiobu but ki siao one), audrey (the taitai), karen (my dear ex manager who were so nice to all of us!) and of course a lot more others.

All of them took up a special place in my heart and made my life so much easier. To them, i may be just a naughty, michevious and forever funny, chirpy, sun-shine loving guy but i know they really care for me and i really do miss them very much..

The attachment with the company was damn high tight and to think of leaving was difficult for me but i guess i do need another pasture to taste a different type of grass. So i have to harden my heart but well, i will return!! Remember terminator. Lol. And well, e grass im eating now dun seem tat great anyway.



Saturday, June 18, 2005

CounterStrike (CS)

Played CS after work yesterday (after a long rest of 2 years). Well, im still "Lan"!! But well, what to do, im older and my reflexes were not as good as before, esp when i seldom exercise nowadays and im getting damn FAT!! *Looks at the swimming tyres and the bulging chest (or breasts)*


But i have a plan!! Im gonna exercise tomorrow, i need to jog, need to swim! Well, have been saying this for the past few months. God am I just like my parents! As we grew older and older, motivation just got lesser and lesser… Only motivations were food n sex (maybe)!! Hahaha. But rest assured guys n gals!! I will get back in shape! Tanner!! Fitter!! With bronze chest and hard abs!! And it will be soon!!

In the meantime, please define soon.



Friday, June 17, 2005

Petrol Oil Massive Discount!!


Finally!! Discounts have risen to 26% for oil companies in Singapore!! Finally i can lessen on my load on those expensive petroleum for my old trusty Toyota Corolla dunno wat series. But But But!!

I saw a few Shell Stations giving the discount but i was thinking : "nvm, go yishun ave 5, and in one go, i can eat my Chunky ice cream by Walls and pump oil" And *Crash*!! I went to Yishun and they are only giving 10%!! 10 Pathetic %!!! *Kneel Down and Cry* I went over to the Shell station at 700 and still 10%!! So poor me went back home, with only half empty tank. Or was it half full tank?

Watever.