Hong Konging con't

Another day of work in WanChai....not too much to update once again. Had duck noodles for lunch. pretty good and cheap too.

Arrggh my fingernails are getting long....I hate long fingernails. Should I buy a Hong Kong nail clipper? Life's little dilemmas...

Oh...and the laundry is long overdue too...argh.

Hong konging

Not too much to update....just going through the daily grind of working in Hong Kong. Been waking up too early every morning...6am...yea...that's way to early for moi. Operations and training have been good so far, although some of the stuff I would absolutely not implement in Singapore. Such as: You cannot sit and eat your lunch break in the estashblishment during your break, and worst there is no break room. So where the heck do you go in the middle of a busy city? To the harbor to enjoy the thick haze that looms...where visibility is at 10%? Workers are humans too man, and you said you should make this establishment like your home and feel comfortable in it.

So...I'm almost up on my break right now. Plus...I've got only a measly 15 mins of internet usage time at the coffee place...Guess what I want to most say is :

Poopie, I miss you lots and lots and I still am unable to find your bird nest face lotion...but I miss you.

Laterz.

Hong Kong Mo Man Tai

In case, you guys reading out there wondered where I've been and if I'm neglecting the blog...I'm not. I'm just busy in Hong Kong right now as part of my training for my upcoming stores to be opened in Singapore soon. It just might be the next best thing since sliced bread.

So...while I'm getting myself 'juiced' up and working per Hong Kong working conditions( 54hrs/ week) phew...you then realise being back in SGP ain't so bad afterall...but it's all good and managable. The Darlings here(don't get the wrong idea...it's what all associates are referred to in this establishment) have been welcoming and hospitable. Training has been fruitful and worthwhile(Although my boss keeps checking up on me to make sure the rest of the guys are taken care of).

And...the adventure had just only begun...I've got to eat at Fook Lam Moon(old skool dim sum place) ...see some wild game getting slaughtered, do some cosmetics shopping for poops, get some snacks for the folks back home, Go to the peak and soak in the view of Hong Kong harbor etc...etc...etc...Yea...I treating it like a 'working holiday' of sorts.

I've been taking a number of pictures so far....but in an effort to cut costs, I'll be using the free internet access that the store has....and will only upload the pictures when I'm back... But of course, I'll be updating you on more as time goes by....

My Bak Kut Teh tension reliever

Nothing like a good piping bowl of bak kut teh(directly translated to pork rib tea) to relieve the tension and the angst filled atmosphere of my previous post. E is back in town on school break and we met up with her for dinner. Decided on no-nonsense soul food, and went to Xu Juan Balestier Road Bak Kut Teh for makan. There's the more popular one down the road but I feel it's over-hyped. I guess I'm loyal to the underdog-not so fancy type eateries.

Don't know what is it about Pork Broth and pork meat slow cooked succulently till the meat falls off, but it has a healing effect on the mind. Sipping the broth with the fresh white pepper flavor, it allows one to forget all the tension and stress engulfing ones' life. Better than aromatherapy....

Bak Kut Teh is not complete with the salty Szechuan pickled vegetable, TurKwa(pig liver), Tur Chang(pig instestines)....I know I know....Chinese people eat all sorts of rubbish...
Obviously enjoying their meat...

Instestines from poor Miss. Piggy...oink

Nothing beats free unlimited refills of soup...forget about Coke....

And, as usual crazy Singaporean foodies and one Nippon-jin go all the way to Chinatown for some Ahboling(Gultinous rice balls with filling) for dessert.

Another day of my get fat diet....

who said Singapore got no Aloha?

Spotted at Far East Plaza. I wonder whether they greet you with a

ALLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOHHHHAAA!

prior to suffering on the dentist chair.

Grumpy waiters and fine dining the old skool style

This is one of the restaurants that shouts old skool, as if stuck in it's never-changing time capsule while the rest of the Food and Beverage world has gone trendy and upmarket. It is a restaurant with old world charm, a rustic ambience and best of all, the grumpy Hainanese waiters. Time and time again, upon returning to this establishment, one is still greeted(or otherwise) with a nonchalant tone of :"How many?" or when they 'graciously show you to your table with just a point of the finger. Strangely enough, those are the very traits of lousy service that keeps people like myself coming back for more. Not to mention they also do a really mean Borsch(a hearty Russian vegetable soup), Lamb Shashlik(Russo kebabs) and the nearly extinct Baked Alaska(ice cream with a souffle topping flambee at your table).

Tucked away in a hellhole of a restaurant location, it is too easy to miss unless someone brings you there. Better yet, it is right in the heart of the Orchard Road Shopping district(yes...poops likes the road very much) and great place to have a meal after all that aimless window shopping. While a tad pricey for the grumpy grandad service, it is more than worth it for the memories. I don't see it lasting very long(all the waiters are on the brink of suffering a heart attack while flambeeing your Bananas Fosters), and also because in the long run, it will eventually give way to newer development...So I'll more than enjoy it while it still lasts, and share it with the people who would appreciate the intrinsic points of dining in life.

Definitely no tourists here...and please adhere to the restaurants' dress code or else you get scolding from the Uncle waiters for wearing slippers...

The interior hasn't changed since God knows when...the waiters too...although some of them have seen better days...There were less of them around when we came this time round so I assume they are probably permanently retired if you know what I mean.

We started out by ordering the Kabou-somethin'...basically a cold cut platter which features some very old skool styles of cold cuts, devils eggs with caviar, fresh crabmeat with mayo and shrimp cocktail....very colonial, very old skool and good too...

When you come here...this is a must-have. The Borsche is a hearty vegetable and beef soup in a tomatoe based broth and a generous dollop of sour cream. Decadent!

SSSSS...thats the sound of our lamb shashlik sizzling of the hot plate. You're not going to find those gimmicky nice looking presentations on oversized plates here. Just straight up good honest fare which is extremely satisfying.
Posing lah...trying to hide my slippered feet for fear of getting scolded by the Uncle waiters
Me tucking into the lamb shashlik...
The 'I'm full and satisfied look' from poops

Of course, I was feeling stuffed too. So we decided to skip the Baked ALaska and head on down to the Coffee Club near 24hr fitness. I take pleasure in seeing those fitness peeps running on the treadmill and watching you chow down on some real calories laden desserts. Muahaha.

Post non-persistent political blog post

Ok...no prizes for guessing who won the Singapore General Election again.

Once again...the Lightning Party had scored a huge victory, ending up the day with a whooping total of 82 out of 84 seats in parliament. Shit, we all knew that was going to happen right? So...no surprises there. But I thought the opposition did try their hardest in securing the two measly seats in parliament, so I applaud them for that. In fact, they actually managed to garner substantially more votes for themselves than the previous year. I also applaud the people of Hougang and Potong Pasir, for their sensibility in not getting sucked into the upgrading carrot-aka lightning party trump card...It's bloody yours and mine taxpayer's dollars afterall, and every neighbourhood SHOULD be upgraded.

Alamak...after election blog will kenah catch or not?...After all I already tahan/kept my mouth shut for that long regarding political posts...Like Mr. Brown says: " Prison got no Broadband..." I also do not want the pleasure of eating out of an plastic tray with Changi Prison Curry Rice. Therefore, it is important that I keep this blog post to a commentary rather than a one sided write up on the elections.

Despite all my nonchalantness to the melodramatic poilitical environment in Singapore...It felt rather to good to exercise my right as a citizen to VOTE for the very first time. It feels good to actually cross out that box on the ballot. Why? Because you know your vote counts. Which box I've crossed out? well...I'll leave that to your imagination. It is no thanks to the super-huge GRC formations and walkovers even before the elections, that almost 2/3 of the Singapore population did not participate in their right to vote. I feel everyone SHOULD vote. But the system in place is such, and SGPeans are sadly programmed to just simply follow suit...So, it really feels darn good to vote. Especially since you have the chance to, don't waste it.

On the James Gomez saga...enough of it already. I will not continue to give my view on this topic. However, it is an uneasy feeling to know you can get detained and your passport confiscated when you are not even offcially ARRESTED. After all, getting arrested means: "innocent until proven guilty." Ok...maybe I'm unclear about the provisions of the law and I'm no lawyer but I would hate to get detained and have my passport confiscated(when I'm not offically arrested) when I am at the airport, trying to fly overseas to work and resuming my non-political life. Couldn't they just detain me at home or something? So I don't have to carry all my barang-barang and lugguage and then tell me you have to come with us to the police station...? Mucho Sucko man....

So enough is enough....on the Elections and politics in Singapore at the moment that is. I hope to vote again in 5 years, and to strategically purchase a HDB flat in a contested constituency. I hope to see more quality opposition rising to the call of ordinary citizens(not lawyers and successful buinessmen). I hope to see more Progress Packages in future, but for the better good of the poor or those falling behind in our stagnated wage environment. I honestly think there are one too many people selling tissues and begging for loose change nowadays, or worst petty white collar crime. I hope for progress for this little island nation, and I hope to have more of a voice from all walks of life to contribute to that progress.

Wall used as Chinese Gongfu punching bag

Spotted at Hougang MRT. Is this the 'thousand-hand stance of death' or some architect's sick joke of wanting to leave his mark behind...?

Chinese Gongfu-practise makes perfect

Birthdays for the month of April and May

April and May are birthdays galore...Poops, Dad and Yours truly. Poops is officially now a member with the over 25 club, and not too pleased about it...Dad is slowly but surely digressing into his retirement mode. While me...I'm forever 21.

Happy Birthday to all of us. old farts.

Caution: View the following pictures which are highly graphic(to my overseas Singaporean peeps) at your discretion.

Most birthdays are spent with food, of course. Mom picked this little spot in Serangoon because she's a big fan of Lei Garden...I know it ain't Lei Garden but the top chef left and opened his own place...why? because I guess he was sick of being underpaid lor...

Anyways...It was set menu for 4 consisting of 6-7 dishes...and they were good sized portions too..The one above is a Fresh SongHe(Song Fish-no idea what the angmoh/haole name is) was simply yet tasty, with a black bean and light shoyu sauce.
Our 59 year old boy enjoying his meal apparently...we were all silent and endulging in our food.

The interior of the restaurant....no air-con but save on utility bill so customer no need to pay more money for cold air.
A staple of every birthday is a noodle dish. Asian people like to live long time...This is eefu noodles with mushrooms. No CPF included.
Scallops with Shitake Mushrooms and Chinese Spinach.
I thought this was the piece de resistance. Shark fins soup with shrimp, crabmeat and squid. I've been longing to have some good shark's fins for a while so this really hit the spot. Tiger, Great White or Hammerhead shark I have no clue...but what the heck.
Sorry Adrian... BUT THIS ONE'S FOR YOU AGAIN...!!!!

This jumbo shrimp was expertly done...It was real crisp on the outside(shell and all) and super moist on the inside. mmmm....