loco moco at Seow's Drive-In

Loco Moco for dinner the other night. Only difference is I substituted the mac salad for a mix veg salad....Enough said...I miss Rainbow Drive Inn and a couple other plate lunch places in Hawaii....

fun with plums & random stupidity

One of the million cost-effective ways to entertain yourself at home. Thank goodness I'll be starting the new job soon....

Whole plum in your mouth-Kids do not try this stunt at home...Stunt was performed by professionals

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This is how every Yakult lover should be drinking their Yakult. A blend of three flavors at one go.

Satisfaction guranteed.

Meet Pedro-Poop's new mustachioed Chinese Hispanic buddy

home made gourmet sandwich

When your brains just doesn't seem to churn out good menu ideas for dinner, nothing beats a simple sandwich. Of course, in no way are the sandwiches I prepare considered 'simple'. I do take much pride in my menus, and I don't believe in shoddy substandard food that are just 'edible'.

This fine example of a good sandwich(if I can say so myself) makes use of muesli bread from Werners Oven(a nearby German Bakery-Poops supplied), chicken breast seasoned with lemonpepper, avocados, streaky bacon grilled till crisp of course, local lettuce and not forgetting, BEST FOODs mayonnaise.

Who the heck uses a lace tablecloth anymore? so 70's

And Dreadful useless ornaments in the background to match

Million Dollar View Food Court

Alfresco dining and a panoramic view of the Singapore City Skyline. Not to mention affordable prices as well...This is a food court with a million dollar view. Guess where it is?

The first person who guess correctly stands to win a laksa at the location. So why hesitate?-post your answers in 'comments'....

walkabouts

SOme randomly taken pics I'm posting while watching Singapore Idol . Yes, I know it's gay and nevermind who really wins(cuz they'll end up as 7-Eleven posterboys anyways). But in the absense of good quality programming such as PBS and Discovery Channel, I guess I'll just pretend to rever in the intensity of the action between the two finalists....Urgh. enough...

Singapore River-looks clean but not too tasty
Singapore's answer to NY's Central Park- Fort Canning Park
The Man and his Ice Cream Cone-PRICELESS
Strolling along at Fort Canning
How come all the pics feature my butt? National Museum under renovation
Looking good-can't wait for some exihibits
Where the ice cream man? Lumpy Heritage tree at Fort Canning

Such admiration for the architecture or looking for the exit?

miharu

Mohd Sultan and Robertson Quay...

I remembered spending a great part of my youth in clubs and nitespots around this area. One too many nights of slinging back long island teas by the jug(aka pitcher in the U.S) and partaking in much rowdiness and girl-watching... They were fun times, with the exception of getting pissed drunk and puking onto various public roads, getting unconsious in the smaller streets, and actually having a nice cupful of Singapore river water. Returning here years later, you hesitantly relay to your partner the many vices and exploits, while smothering it with coat of 'heroic' machoism...It's the MANLY thing to do, with remarks such as: "Ay!!! this is the spot where I fought with 2 Ang Moh buggers who were staring at my friend's girlfriend and later fled in the taxi when the Ang Chia(the red riot bus) arrived." or "I slept on this bench, with dried puke on my shirt and walked all the way to City Hall MRT to go home the next day..."

Ok...but anyways, just like the foolishness of my younger years, much has evolved in the Mohd Sultan/Robertson Quay area. Gone are the popular spots like Madam Wongs, Lush, Eden amongst others...Now, it's filled with more laid back loungy type bars for the older crowds. Also spotted a good number of restaurants and to name a few, EN Japanese(Poops said its good), Coffee Bar K( japanese bar-snooty kine), Wolf Brasserie, A petit Chocolate shoppe and many others.

What with the growing numbers of foreign talent that we are encouraging to come into this country of 4 million smiles, the particular area is habitated by a large number of expats, mostly Japanese. HOw could you tell? Lots and lots of Japanese restaurants are here since I last remembered. But hey, I welcome ALL foreign talents with open arms too, cuz the general local public benefits from better food options from the respective countries. One such place was Miharu Sapporo Soba at the Gallery Hotel(the funky looking one). Poops and I were craving for some good Japanese ramen(not the faux pas food court kine), and some research on the net found us in this place.

According to them, the noodles are shipped direct from Sapporo Japan, and you could tell... They were springy, cooked Al Dente with much care. The stock is a recipe from the flagship Sapporo outlet, and definitely good and Japanesey. Much to say, we'll definitely be back for more.

The Ramen craving look...

I forgot the names, but one was miso based and Poops had the non-miso based one. Overall great soup stock and noodles to boot but would have preferred Cha Siu to be on the softer side.(Must be the tough Malaysian pork) Price range $8-12. Definitely go early cuz they get streams of customers.

peranakan from a guy name Charlie

I'm not going into a lengthy write about what Peranakan is, so for the benefit of my foreign counterparts...read all about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peranakan

The food of the Babas and the Nyonyas are what would be now contemporarily termed as fusion cuisine. A blend of all thing good and tasty from Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian influences. Modern Fusion is typically not something I would go for...it's just too much hype and some crazy chef trying to make you a guinea pig for his creativity. However, Peranakan cuisine is in a world of it's own...a culutre and cuisne so unique...it's finger/plate licking good.

Charlie's Pernakan food is located along Katong- right across the Holy Fam Church. It was actually Poops who had this sudden craving for what she calls ' the black nut stew thing'... Which also after some repititive learning...she later came to call it Buah Keluak. A far cry from the simple tastes of Japanese cuisine, this indonesian black nut(poisonous when young) is one of her fave dishes in the republic. On the other hand...I'm pretty skeptical to any other Pernakan food sold in the market other than what my mom cooks. Call it a Baba thing or pride, but it's difficult for any establishment to measure up to what a Nyonya Mother cooks at home. Skeptical as I was, we gave the joint a try and I must say It was as good as it gets. I finalise that anyone that 'dares' to open a shop in Katong selling Pernakan better be excellent and meet up with expectations or face the impending doom of restaurant closure. The Peranakans are very particular about their food and snooty like that.

Typical Pernakan fare- Buah Keluak of course, Nangka Lemak(Jackfruit in a coconut based gravy), bakwan kepiting(Pork and Crabmeat balls in Pork soup)...and not to forget the sambal belachan, a staple on any Peranakan family's table

The Ngoh Hiang in the middle ended my skeptism, it was traditionally done with the water chestnut in there and encased with the Pig fat lining. Yum.

Poops having some fun with my(er..her) nuts.

To end it sweetly, we had the green bean and sago to share. Not too sweet with a right touch of richness from the coconut cream.

Tau Kwa Pau

The probable best thing about returning home to the land of 4 million smiles(I thought Thailand had already lay claim to the tagline-and mind you pretty genuine about it) is the buffet of endless food options.

Born and bred in Katong(and sometimes Bedok), you naturally evolve into a out and out gourmet of sorts, with a constant intent to seek out gastronomic delights. This is one such place revisited. The Tau Kwa Pau shop at the corner of Joo Chiat Road and East Coast Road. It has sinced moved into a dilapidated coffeeshop(which used to sell really good raw fish salad and congee back in the day) right across where it originally used to be. Apart from the enlarged and brighter signboard(which I assume is sponsored by Carlsberg-talk about Globalisation)....the same guy selling tau kwa pau(fried beancurd stuffed with tofu and duck) is still churning out the old school taste of Katong which hasn't changed.

In some ways, I glad to say no change is good....

What Canard a l'orange is to the french, tau kwa pau and duck rice is to the Smiling Singaporean

And of course, everything gets washed down with a good cup of kopi...

Of Joblessness, Jessica Simpson and Junk...I'm back

Wassup all. I'm finally back from the down and out-ness of joblessness. What was an uneventful span of nearly 2 months led to an uneventful lifestyle of sorts with an even more uneventful state of mind devoid of all inspiration to contribute to this sadly unattended blog of mine.

Questions have been asked if I'm still alive? or if I'm still in the 4 million 'wayang'(for show) smile republic or finally retreated to Tibet to live a life of reclusion. Ok...so to answer all those queries, Yes...I'm very much alive. Yes...I'm smiling for the IMF-World Bank, and yes...I've been reclusive but only to my rented bedroom. (I've thought twice about harvesting yak butter and making candles out of them)

So I guess one can finally say 'normal' life is back on track with a new found job(finally a 5day work week with the weekends off-a new experience totally). A new scope of job tasks(I've kept away from the wonderful world of operations at the expense of a pay cut of course) and a new skin care product from Poops. (She wants me to look flawless like Jessica Simpson-it's airbrushed!!!)

Coming out of a rut definitely feels good. In these past months, I had one to many kopis at the nearby kopitiam to the point where my kopi-O is already on the table before I even order it. So personalised is the service that I even get my usual table from my kopitiam maitre-D.

Sigh....great to be back but back to work....

Few more applications of this Proactive Stuff- I'll look like Jessica Simpson minus the big hair and boobs.