Centralised Parking

Centralised Parking

The Gang of Four was supposed to have dinner at this Entrepreneur Business Centre located in Kaki Bukit.

As i maneuvered my car into a vacant lot using another existing stationary car as a guide, i was wondering why the car park lot was so huge! Frankly, there wasn't much maneuvering to speak of (which is not very common for me).

Only when i strolled past the stationary car (to the lift) did i realise that the vehicle was taking up two lots! Mind you, the driver was almost perfect in centralising his/her car.

Retribution came shortly after when the place we were supposed to have dinner was closed for renovation!!!

*Beats Chest*

Tze Char Mee Hoon (煮炒米粉) @ Hiap Hoe Eating House, Yishun

Looking at a full-house coffee shop with a long queue at You Huak Restaurant, Mom decided there and then that it's not her day to have her first try of the famous white bee hoon.

Nothing's lost though as we changed course to have our favourite hor fun at Hiap Hoe Eating House in Yishun!

And to compensate my mom (who has been craving for the white bee hoon since her chicken pox incident), we ordered the normally darker, tze char style, bee hoon!

Like its hor fun sibling, this was cooked to wok-hei perfection with savoury starchy sauce that made slurping a must in order to savour all its goodness!

Hor fun and bee hoon were not enough to feed three of us! And we were convinced a plate of Har Cheong Kai (Prawn Paste Chicken) should satisfy us!

When i first had har cheong kai, i swore i will never have it again as the smell was too disgusting! Yes, coming from a man who loves smelly tofu, this is UNACCEPTABLE!!

Things have changed after i had a damn good har cheong kai in Holland Village. Truthfully, the har cheong kai from Beng Tin Hng (the tze char stall) had the disgusting right smell that strengthened with nearing proximity.

Fresh out from the frying pan, the deep fried wings were crispy-hot and lip-smacking good! However, as ha cheong kai, i personally thought they lacked the strong marination of pungent prawn paste.

Having to see blood (typically of frozen chicken) while tearing the wing apart was also an anti-climax to a pretty good meal.

=====

Location

Block 747, Yishun Street 72,

#01-108, Hiap Hoe Eating House

(Stall Name: Beng Tin Hng)

(Walking distance from Yishun MRT Station)

Pricing

Bee Hoon - S$3.00

Prawn Paste Chicken - S$8.00 for 8 pieces

No Service Charge and GST.

Family Outing (패밀리가 떴다)

I know i have been slacking on blogging.

The main culprit unintentionally contributing to the lack of posts is this Korean variety show named "Family Outing"!

Though the conversation was in Korean, the video includes Chinese subtitles which help me tremendously in understanding most of the conversations. As with any translated languages, some jokes may seem pretty weird to us.

So what is family outing?

Basically, the family was made up of seven people from the lucrative entertainment industry!

The most famous is singer Lee Hyori, voted number one sex kitten in South Korea! There are other notable members like Dae-Sung from the very popular group, Big Bang and Yu Jae-Suk, top MC in South Korea!

Every outing will see the family inviting 'guests' (normally one) to different rural areas in South Korea to take care of a house while the residents (mostly the elderly) go on an apparently sponsored holiday.

Besides taking good care of the house, the family was required to complete some local farming tasks like picking pessimons, moving the cows and catching eels, to name a few.

Consisting of two episodes over a two day, one night trip, you will see the mischievous family embarking on various games that always turned out to be freaky hilarious and at times rough!

As with most Asian families, cooking and having dinner together is a must and the Korean cuisine usually looked so delicious, my craving for Korean food has never been stronger.

One segment i particularly enjoy was the morning game to decide who will be the unfortunate loser to make breakfast for everyone.

The games are mostly nonsensical like attempting to pull a thread through the eye of a needle with the host (Yu Jae-Suk) trying his best to fan it away, trying to catch a falling piece of paper, selecting the correct water hose etc!

Each morning game was unique so you will never find the same one a second time!

Seeing the sleepy celebrities without their makeup and unkempt hair was really refreshing in a country where looks are so important, plastic surgeries are common practice!

Spanning over 20 months and visitation of 41 different families, this realistic variety show eventually ended on February this year.

I am so hooked on this show! My free time is almost entirely used to watch the videos on my iPhone!   

My current watch is episode 79; another 7 episodes before the inevitable withdrawal symptoms step in.

Ramen & Desserts @ Tampopo Restaurant

Hearing so much about tampopo and doing nothing to try their celebrated ramen is embarrassing for a person who always has ramen craving!

I am still short on cash and it's not helpful that the 13th month bonus is no longer applicable for my current position. Well, i have my means to get food (and it doesn't mean demanding free food from food establishments)!

Tampopo is not a pure-ramen restaurant as it offers a wide variety of Japanese food like any full fledged Japanese restaurants.

Their main selling point seems to be the famous black pig meat but my focus was on ramen and ramen it shall be (plus one side dish and two small desserts to conclude the meal)!

Miso Deluxe Ramen

The star of the day!

Although chef-recommended, i know i should not have expected too much from the chicken+pork soup as it was obviously miso based. It was still tasty (due to the big slab of butter i guess) but scored a notch lower when i compared to pure pork broth (think Ippudo)!

Dislike the imported Hokkaido noodles! They had that taste of flour found typically in thicker noodles. Maybe they were just not soaked long enough!

I was satisfied but not amazed with the much-publicized black pig meat (kuro buta) in my ramen. Each slice had a porkier yet savoury taste that was akin to a normal chashu with slightly salty charred sides.

Not sure if it's the norm because i find that this Hokkaido style ramen had a lot of ingredients!!! Like the generous serving of corn kernels which provided a nice crunch to an otherwise slurpy meal.

Instead of asking you to pay additional for this looked-like-hard-boiled-but-actually-not seasoned egg, my order came with it at no extra charge! All for only S$15.80 a bowl! Comparatively cheaper than most ramen restaurants in Singapore.

Hotate Cheese

Wanting a smaller meal, Alex opted for this tiny plate of scallops with cheese and onions.

The scallops were in fact nothing special! We were more more taken with the extremely cheesy cheese!! And you don't need me to explain further on my favourite onions!

Scoop Cake

When i was looking through the many reviews of Tampopo on the internet, one strong recommendation was the Japanese desserts in Tampopo.

Looking perfect in every possible sense, i was quiet for a few seconds before using the fork to destroy it! The sweet tooth monster cannot resist it!

What struck me initially was how fantastic the cream was! It was not insanely sweet yet exuded an incredible vanilla fragrance that proved to be too irresistible for me!!

It's definitely the main factor for me to patronise Tampopo again!

Custard Pudding

Truthfully, this is the first time i had custard pudding that was so fulfilling!

Not only was the pudding dense and bouncy to the max, no expense was spared on the syrup, which again was full of flavour without creating a sugar overdose!

=====

Location

177 River Valley Road

#01-23/24 Liang Court Shopping Centre

(besides Clarke Quay)

Price

Miso Deluxe Ramen - S$15.80

Hotate Cheese - S$12.80

Scoop Cake - S$6.00

Custard Pudding - S$5.00

Subject to GST and Service Charge. Plain water served with no additional charge.

Additional Information

Using the chopsticks sleeve to write your feedback is a really innovative, cost-saving method. A box is placed next to the cashier for you to "throw away" your comments.

Tampopo supposedly serves very good pork cutlets!! With most tables surrounding us having at least a serving of the deep fried black pig meat, I guess i have to make another trip in the near future! 

Central World after the Red Shirts Rioting (2010) @ Bangkok, Thailand

Touted as the biggest shopping complex in Southeast Asia and the third largest in the world, Singaporeans would love this place as there are loads of unique shops and restaurants (at least for a foreigner)!

Not to mention the various artsy fartsy artifacts planted in numerous locations within the mall that are great backdrops for camwhoring!  

One of the questions i am always asked was whether Centralworld (เซ็นทรัลเวิลด์) has opened its doors after the infamous rioting by the Red Shirts in May 2010.

No Bangkok lovers can forget the horrifying scene on TV showing a gaping hole in the touched complex.

Coming back to the question; yes, Central World has re-opened on September 2010 (this was evidenced by my recent post on Yoshino Okonomiyaki) although roughly 30-40% of the original complex remained close to the public.

To attract more crowds to meet pre-riot levels, the management has been very diligent to organise events! In the three days i was shopping in Centralworld, i remember the arrival of one Korean boyband, Elle fashion show, two product launches and another Korean star; Lee Min-Ho.

There's even a brand new skating rink!  

Judging from the building's damaged facade, i doubt Centralworld will be fully operational for at least one, two years. I am not too worried as most of my preferred shops (and restaurants) are in the operational wing!

Heng ah!