Snacking (Brother Rojak, Tan's Tutu Cakes, Yue Yi Tai Shan Popiah) @ Block 449, Clementi Town

Main Objective

To try the famous rojak by the two brothers.

Today, i am going to give my own opinion of this apparently very famous rojak in Clementi; see the many accolades pasted!!

Everytime i was there, a queue was guaranteed. Today is no different from the other days although the queue cleared up pretty fast.

My review?

Maybe i bought the wrong type of rojak. Comprised of only you tiao and tau pok (plus a century egg), it was not mixed the typical way. Instead, they were just drenched with the prawn paste and sprinkled with peanuts.

That's too easy!!

Without hard work, nothing tastes fabulous!!

*Cavin's Philosophy*

influenced by Kon

Okay, maybe not. I find the sauce a little bit too salty and lacked the usually sweet-salty taste. The you tiao and tau pok were also too not crunchy enough (our fault because we ate it quite some time later).

Nonetheless, we shall come again for the normal rojak, mixed the usual way (with the delicious century egg). Hopefully by then, i will be convinced of its popularity.

Secondary Objectives

The two stalls nearby had queues too; Tu Tu Coconut Cakes and Popiah! Since we were not having any big item meals, might as well right?

Firstly, on the tu tu cakes.

The cool and wet weather recently must have driven the sales pretty high!

Generously filled with either grated coconuts or grounded peanuts, the freshly made tutu cakes were such stomach warmers!!

They were so marvelous we almost ordered a few more! Unfortunately, by the time we decided, there were a queue of around 6-8 people.

Time is precious.

Lastly, on the popiah.

My first vegetarian popiah with no meat, the first ingredient reaching your taste buds should be garlic. Without that, the popiah will be tasteless (definitely not a good thing). 

For non-chilli takers, kindly note that the chilli in their popiah was f*cking spicy!!!

The stall has a tiger for a boss (fierce)!! Don't get on her nerves okay? Smile even when she scolds you. If she continues, block your ears.

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Location

Block 449, #01-211, Clementi Avenue 3

Baofeng Lake (宝峰湖) @ Zhangjiajie (张家界), Hunan, China

Hi-yo!

Located in the middle of the jagged rock formation hundred of feet above, the lake was unsurprisingly boring.

But it all made up with an interesting boat ride by the enthusiatic boat commentor who shared the minority tujia customs and also narrated the diferent rock formations using our imagination (again).

A Toad with an Open Mouth.

The Laughing Buddha.

A Sleeping Tortoise.

A Lady with the Traditional Tujia Headdress.

Within this peaceful arena, the silence was at times broken by the pitchy yet melodic singing of the tujia lady on a traditional, oriental boat.

Most of the 'other' times, the silence was broken by the crowd we were with, who were really loud and rowdy (okay, maybe seven out of the forty tourists but with the decibels of a hundred persons)!!

The only picture that showed most of them.

From it, can aga aga gauge their attitude right??

They were so noisy, they drowned the voice of the poor tujia commentor. And they jostled for pictures, disregarding basic safety.

At that point, i would really love to give them a hand; by pushing them into the water. Being nice Mr Cavin Teo (and they had a group with tall, big sized guys), i threw out that thought!

I was praying that God will help.

Yes, the commentor was indeed using a loud hailer.

She lost to the seven bitches.

Sakura International Buffet @ Clementi Woods

sakura sakura 

no-yama mo sato mo 

The famous song on Japan's cherry blossoms, this well known restaurant with the same name has in fact no direct connection (whatsoever) with sakura. A distant connection is likely the japanese cuisine they served as part of an international buffet.

Buffet eating is in any Singaporeans' blood, so i heard!!! And for me, three buffets in the past month after a long hiatus!

Burp........

I HATE buffets.

True that they provide a lot of variety but that can be a disadvantage since the more the varieties, the higher the chance to mess up your taste buds! And age works in a very strange way past 25 years old; lowering appetite but a growing waistline.

That's life for you, kids!!

(you know who you are)

Without explaining too much, here's a pictorial treat (some only hor) for all of you!

Cheese-Baked Oyster; cold, a sure way to fail this item.

Mayo mussels and prawns, which were good!

Roast chicken. Not too bad if it's deboned.

Mixed Plate! I tried the teriyaki chicken and the crab shell thingy.

Fresh scallops!

Fried items!

BBQ items!!

BBQ scallops. Leave this! Save your stomach for something more palatable!

Kueh Pie Ti; okay lah

Eggs tarts, char siew pastries and some dim sum to the right. Didn't have the stomach to try these.

Teppanyak menu!!
Finally tried shishamo! Still feel guilty about it... How can i eat pregnant fishes!?!?

Soup Stuff. Ignore these when you are eating buffet!

BBQ Squid: Good!

Various Sushi; pretty trashy. Give me authentic Japanese sushi please!

Another plate of assorted sushi.

Satay!! Cooked really well with the distinctive smoky flavour. Best eaten when it's hot!

Durian Paste! Yum Yum Yum! A bit too fluid though.

Various desserts! I love the black sesame mochi!

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For roughly S$25 per pax on a weekday dinner for quite an expansive menu, it's quite worth it. Of course, you can always double that price for something better at other buffet restaurants. 

Location

Clementi Woods Park, 93A Clementi Road, Singapore 129781. For reservation, please call 6474-8197

Additional Information
Ample parking available!

For food items that require some cooking time, please use the clips available at the stations. The food will be delivered to you once it's ready.

Priceless - Change of LCD Screen for Digital Camera (Panasonic Lumix TZ15)

Let me begin with the situation a few weeks back.

"A hundred and ninety seven dollars?!?!?
I can bloody well get a new camera!!"

The above was my truthful exclaimation to the poor technician from Panasonic who called me on the status (aka repair costs) of my sick camera.

My first official camera, the Panasonic Lumix TZ15 was bought 18 months ago in the IT show. Hm... Or was it Comex or PC Show? Whatever, one of those filled with people shows either in Suntec City or Expo.

I did some over-the-surface research then and liked this model for its 10X optical zoom, its vibrant colors, its don't-need-to-think-too-much-nor-too-deep settings (via Intelligence-Auto mode), its relatively large LCD screen and the fabulous anti-shake function (i have early symptoms of Parkinson disease).

So what has happened, with the baby only 18 months old!?

= I am a really extensive user. Multiple shots were required due to my amateur photography skills. And i love taking pictures of anything (and that includes a lot of naked useless pictures)

= I don't take care of my electronic gadgets! Covers are necessary for all of them as a result of my numerous accidents and if i happen to lose the cover, too bad; it will take ages for me to buy a new one.

= The real, technical reason? The LCD screen died on me. It was initially showing shades of green, red, brown and eventually, it was the ominous screen of death.

Bottomline
I have a spoilt camera!

Available Options:

1) Repair the camera at the official yet exorbitantly priced Panasonic Service Centre

2) Sell the camera to the karang guni man Cash Converters and get some cash in return

3) DIY; buy the LCD online and change the screen myself!


My most sincere appreciation to the best search engine in the world, i managed to find a webpage that focused specifically on the repair of LCD screen for Panasonic Lumix TZ15!!!

Wahahahahahahaha.

But before i can do a miraculous revival of the camera, the affected spare part must be sourced and purchased! Another google search brought me to ownta.com.

The product was delivered to my house yesterday and with much anticipation, i embarked on a micro-surgery to let my camera rise from the deathbed!

Following precisely the steps kindly uploaded by Edmond, i am pleased to inform all of you...

My Camera Has Fully Recovered!!!

Cost of LCD Screen : US$43.52

Cost of Shipping: US$5.53

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Cost of Repairing: Priceless

Things to Note

The really minute screws were a pain in the ass!!! And don't bother buying the installation kit in ownta.com. Useless! Wasted more than twenty minutes on that!