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我輩について 男 中華と日本料理 客人数 Counters 通告！ Trip will proceed with 3 pple - Spice Peranakan - budget: $15 - Shimbashi Soba at Paragon - budget: $25 - P&P Thai Food - budget: $15 Reviews 評判 怨言与投诉
友達様 Take Out Bento Boxes February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 |
Thursday, September 28, 2006 Hello Cruel World Sorry guys, haven't been updating for aeons. I was and still am terribly immersed in this fantastic RPG i'm playing. Anyway, this post has potential to be an Offensive Post, so it's your choice to read or ignore. This is my blog. I don't really need a debate here either. heh It has come to my knowledge via word of mouth that the number of retainees has shot to record high this year, althought it comes as narry a surprise. I'm not being cynical or arrogant here, contrary to what some will feel after reading this. However, i would like to point readers to the crew that are in it right now, and ask readers to imagine realistically, their futures. I am not a seer, but basic extrapolation does not daunt me, nor many of you astute members of the audience. There were 2 interviews and and essay writing, all for the sake of assessing your attitude towards the profession. No doubt that it was all done with good intentions, but the path to hell is paved with good intentions as the mentor said. Be realistic, i say to those who still insist on using interviews as a judge of character. Interviews are such inaccurate measures, being liable to variables such as the interviewers, the environment, the different questions that are MEANT to stump people etc. The whole thing, in the end, just measures, the wit and eloquence of the victim. Oh yes, and his external appearance too. I simply feel that this is totally irrelevant to this course of study, which requires more in terms of passion and willingness to serve, and also an aptitude in the enormous amount of things to be learnt. By implementing this essay and interview, the officials are just choosing those who know their way around the whole scheme, but may not necessarily be suited for the future task. Year 1, foundation year, is the simplest yet most important year to get through. A good foundation is always necessary for more advanced things, and looking at the attitudes and behavior of those students, i cannot help but fear for the future of this service industry. How can i trust them, when i have seen how they were? How can i trust someone who doesn't have real passion in what the course requires, and whom only knows how to smoke people by speech? Where's the true quality in the service then? I fear for the future of this industry in the hands of people like this. I'm not criticising each and every one of them. I know some are exemplary, but this constitutes about a mere handful. The rest, a motley crew who take pride in nightly revelling and/or messing around with extra curricular stuff in a bid to get instant gratification ($). These people with no passion for the course they take, and hence no real motivation to perform, do not deserve their luck. More deserving students with the correct aptitude and attitude are put aside, either due to a less than stellar eloquence, or due to the "distribution of minds". Cruel, unfair and short sighted, the people who decide are. I spoke with teachers, who complained that the testimonials they wrote, for the students they believed deserve places in the course, were laid to waste by the horrid scheme of interviewing and essay writing and also this "distribution of minds". I do not profess that i deserve a place or what, but i definitely can say that i do have a better attitude than most. That said, i don't desire a place in this course no more. After looking at the people in it, and the fact that they let so many deserving people down, i say to hell with it. Wednesday, September 20, 2006 IMF This post does not revolve primarily around the IMF, contrary to what the title suggests. For the past week, i have heard the uproar, and the anger of NGOs and interested individuals not being allowed to protest the IMF on home ground. The furore is that my country is one which does not place human rights in consideration, a pseudo free society. Mr Chee, the infamous guy who protests EVERYTHING and anything that the government does, also decided to chip in a piece and hold a standoff with the police for days. Personally, i find myself totally agreeing with the government's stand to disallow protestors. It is rare that the gahmen and i can come to a consensus, so there must be a reason. My reason is this. The past IMF protests have not been very violent, with the last VERY violent one 6 years ago, but being a small country, we shouldn't take chances. Any little violence here can easily cause the whole country's only economic area to be engulfed in flames. If one group is allowed to protest, the gahmen has to open the floodgates, and allow the rest to do so to ensure fairness. So why start, if you are not confident of stopping the flow. I personally don't want to see the only economic region being ravaged by protestors, no matter what they are protesting for. To me, protesting is not being very constructive. Yes i know Ghandhi did it, but how often do you get that kind of results? Furthermore, this is an international organisation, one that will not change itelf just for a bunch of people making noise. And the opposition... Seriously i am very disappointed by how certain opposition people behave. Being in the opposition SHOULD and DOES NOT mean opposing every single thing that the gahmen says. To me, being in the opposition means to oppose as and when you feel that your way might be better for the public at large. Mr Chee does not appear to do this at all. He just gives me the feeling that he is opposing every single thing in order to cause the toppling of the government, which makes no sense. Even if the current government is incapable, it would still be better than him. I have reason to believe that he is just doing things for the sake of it, and having the passion for it furthermore. It shames me. If he were to lead the government i dare not imagine how the local society might detiorate... Thursday, September 14, 2006 Beppu Menkan 別府面間。。。 警告！In view of the excellent disappointment, this shop has been awarded the Stamp Of Disapproval On a tired Thurs evening when my ma did not cook, we decided to go out for dinner. I recalled that the shop opposite Thai Express at Tiong Bahru Plaza was always packed, and since it appeared to sell Japanese Ramen at competitive prices, we decided to take a ....look... Izakaya style shop with extra seats placed in the open air balcony with bamboo and dim lights to create an ambience of sorts, the shop's service was incredibly tardy. A waiter promptly served up a bowl of edamame枝豆 as appetizer, which i enjoyed. The one who took our orders took 6 minutes to arrive. She couldn't understand me when i read out the japanese dishes. I tried to make some clarifications regarding the spiciness of the ramen, which the shop is famed for, having many dishes with the word Jigoku地獄. She was unable to help, and showed signs of exasperation. In the end, we made the orders fast. My Hiyashi Ramen, came looking impressive in a heavy bowl. Mix it well, and tasted it. Noodles were too undercooked. Sesame dressing, vinegar, chilli oil, leek, corn, carrot, chopped chashu..simple..Nothing really much special although it was not bad. My ma had the Kamado Jigoku Ramen. Soup was bland other than the salt and the chilli and hints of sour?!? The beef was sliced thin, but not marinated. Noodles were to overcooked. My sisters had the chashu ramen, four fatty but not impressive pieces if chashu, in a so called Kyushu style tonkotsu soup. Bland. You can't taste any effort in the soup, unlike the one at Miharu. Soup had hints of weird flavour, possibly from the yellow stuff used to colour the noodles. Therefore, poor grade noodles used. At $6.80 - $8.80 each, it may seem worth it, but i'd rather save up my money and have Ajisen ramen even. Promising shop, with plenty of newspaper publicity, but what happened? Dousing chillies in ramen is NOT called eating. In Japanese it is called jigyaku自虐 self torture. Yeah, if you want to just burn yourself, here would be a good place to douse yourself with chilli, ask for "eight chilli". Maybe the main shop at far east is better. But for now, i've had enough. Bleah. Food: Come here only if you love chilli more than the taste of good ramen soup. Ambience: Pseudo Izakaya style. Cost: 4/10 Not worth it, nuff said. Location: 9/10 Tiong Bahru plaza is where the MRT station is. Address: 302 Tiong Bahru Road #02-16 Tiong Bahru Plaza P.S. For those of you who argue about the characteristics of Beppu Ramen, I actually do my research. Beppu Ramen is supposed to represent the Beppu hotsprings which are called "Hells", hence the ramen names. But a good chilli sauce with a poor stock is like balancing Okazaki castle upside down on its peak... Tuesday, September 12, 2006 美春日本ラーメン After a long walk in Labrador park, nuwex and i decided to check out the Miharu Japanese Noodles stall at Gallery hotel which i have been waxing lyrical about. We scoured Gallery hotel for the shop, which has been known to hide in a small corner of the hotel.  When you find the shop, you'll most likely see this view, which is from the side. The shop is pretty darn small, with only 3 tables inside, and two 居酒屋 style sitting places, and a bunch of counter seats. The seats outside, i wouldn't recommend, unless you like to get sweaty after your noodles. We proceeded to order very soon, since the menu featured nothing more than varieties of noodles. I ordered the Tokusen Miso Ramen 特選味噌ラーメン. Please note that if you turn the japanese menu over, there are english translations available...Anyway, the tokusen miso ramen had a broth concocted from this really red miso 赤味噌, which was advertised to be from Hokkaido. The chef scoops a nice dollop of it and puts it in the dashi to cook, together with the famous nishiyama西山 brand of noodles from sapporo札幌. The noodles were the highlight, being flavoursome on their own, and having a very nice elastic texture, alhough i felt mine was slightly overcooked. The ingredients weren't impressive, with the usual bamboo shoots, corn, and a large piece of chashu. the chashu was a disappointment. Fresh as it was, i would have liked more marinating and cooking till the fat was melt in your mouth, just like those at Ohsho. The soup was extremely tasty, but not as salty as i expected. Thick and hot, with a miso taste within. My only complaint is that i would have liked more miso flavour and less of the dashi, after all, miso was supposed to be the highlight of this soup...For your information, miso ramen originated from Hokkaido. Nuwex had the Tokusen Ton Shio Ramen 特選トン塩ラーメン. The name basically means special pork bone-salt based soup ramen. For people who don't really know what the name means, it means that using a salt based stock, usually flavoured with some seafood or kelp, the chef adds pork bones to stew for 1-2 days, which by then the protein in the bones seep into the soup and produces the milky look and consistency. Nuwex's soup was rather impressive, being thick and deeply flavoured. The soup leaves a nice milky aftertaste in your mouth too. But Nuwex complained that the soup was too "tasty". Guess he meant salty. If you eat at authentic jap shops, you'd find the saltiness just nice though..haha.. The shop serves very good noodles, but i feel that the soup needs some improvement in the case of mine. Maybe it's because the head chef, who's a japanese, isn't there... Anyway, this is really worth a try for ramen lovers. The serving is huge and you would be too full for anything else after dining here. They also serve Tsukemen 付け麺. This is a variation of ramen inspired by soba. The ramen is served dry with a more concentrated soup at the side. You dip the noodles in the soup before eating. Very novel idea that's not found in many shops. Do give it a try too.Food: Rather impressive ramen, but i like my miso soup to taste more of miso...Novel tsukemen available, but lack of beverages. Just stick with iced water. Ambience: Very small shop, done japanese style but with chinese oldies playing?! I'm not complaining much however, just that i'm rather unhappy with the air con... Cost: 7.5/10 $12.50 for a tokusen miso ramen, and the rest are cheaper. But with a lack of miso taste, and the ingredients are rather little, to a cheapskate SG boy like me, erm...yea.. BUT in the end, i find it worthwhile, for the excellent noodles. Location: 3/10 Not that notoriously hard to find. It's in the northeast corner of the hotel's first floor Address: #01-11 Gallery Hotel Tel: 67338464 Business hours: 12-3pm 6-10pm WHATEVER, i can't stand it, i feel like eating there again....Despite my complaints... P.S. oh yeah, if you guys are wondering why i rarely do reviews that slam the eatery, it's because i do my research before even eating at where i review. If i fail to give a review after eating there with my camera, it's because i find it unworthy...k? Monday, September 04, 2006 うざい！！！ 近来，不知为何心总是觉得有些烦。过去的一个星期，从来没有一天可以睡得安稳。一睡下去，就开始做一连串迷糊的梦。醒来后还是依然疲倦，简直像是整晚没睡到一样。 胸口持续含着一阵阵刺刺的感觉，就好比里头莫名其妙地长出一团荆棘。原因？自己也不晓得。为什么会这样子。。。 从一方面来看，心里似乎有些该说却没说的话。换个角度来看，又好像是该做的一些事情，最后也没做到。最后，眼看这些模糊的感觉都是有些关联。 烦死了！始终还是不知道是为了什么，夜夜如此失眠。工作时没精力，知道自己这样但什么也做不了。还这么小，就让这些事情而困扰。可是，想来想去，只知道心里好像是含着一股后悔之气。为什么而后悔，那又是另一个问题。 其实，自古以来，我从来不为任何事，除了感情之事，而失眠。虽然如此，自己还是不知道是为了什么感情问题而辗转反侧。或许，我该放几天假来把自己给搞清楚。。。  Friday, September 01, 2006 P&P Authentic Thai Food Had long made a promise with nuwex to go dine together someday. With two weeks left here before returning to China, we got two other dudes out for a nice cheap Thai meal.  Located at a certain Sim Lim Food Court along quite deep into Veerasamy Road(if you enter from the Little India side), the stall which occupies two units, seems to be the only lively stall in an otherwise relatively quiet coffeeshop. Nevertheless as night fell, the stall's customer number increased rapidly. The four of us cozied down and looked through the menu, served by a rather friendly helper of which we couldn't decide her heritage...The menu offers both ala carte (ala tze char) or individual full meals if you are alone. Of course we went for the tze char. Which Thai meal would be complete without Tom Yum! We had the Tom Yum Talay, which is of the authentic clear variety. I don't have to reiterate how much i hate the red chilli oil variety that's such a cheap method of spicing up the tom yum. This is the real thing guys. Boycott the red ones. The soup, non oily and harmless looking, shocks you with a nice zing and spiciness made from careful brewing of kaffir lime and Thai chilli padi. Add in blue ginger, and other spices, plus a generous offering of fresh fish, squid and prawns(guaranteed fresh by my own fresh-o-meter), the soup provides an excellent appetizer and companion to the meal. My only unhappiness i that there's not enough soup...The soup is also not all that hot, which appeals to more people. Fried pork with Basil was rather fantastic. Lean pork slices in a good marinade, fried with basil leaves and chilli. The basil had this herby taste, which made the dish taste rather exquisite, yet very Asian style. The pork was not over fried, and was tender with a slight chilli fragrance. A recommendation by the lady who served us. Fried kangkong, done very nicely. No sambal, just chilli, ginger, garlic. A refreshing change from the usual sambalified kangkongs in chinese restaurant. Not oily but fragrant. Of course, it goes really nice with rice. Green chicken curry scored for its sweet milky yet not overly fatty taste. The chicken was ok, but the curry was really the highlight. Going absolutely well with rice, i asked for a second plate just for the curry, which leaves a lingering aroma. Not very spicy too, but still addictive. Stuffed Chicken wings. The wing, with its bones removed and stuffed with vermicelli, minced pork and water chestnuts, then fried lightly to a crisp and served with thai sweet chilli sauce, was so popular it was ordered twice. The batter was light and crispy, and the filling was refreshing, offering the chew of the meat, and the occasional crunch of the water chestnut. One of the must try. The repressed nuwex had his fill. Satisfied and getting sleepy already. Those two behind, I dunno why are they looking at us though....Food: Rather authentic Thai food. The cook is a Thai lady, so what do you expect. Haha, great place for homestyle Thai food. It's not superb high class food, but very homely yet well prepared dishes. Cost: 9/10 Cheap. Dishes are around $8 each unless you upsize or order fishes, which seem to be very nice too, considering their popularity with the other customers. Ambience: 5/10 Weird to be eating Thai food in a very Singaporean coffee shop, but whatever! Location: 7/10 Not really that hard. It's near Rochor Police Post Address: 638 Veerasamy Road Sim Lim Food Court #01-101 Opening hours: 11.30am-10pm closed on sundays |
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