 |
||||||||||||||||||
|
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 |
Sunday, March 25, 2007 EMO It was indeed nostalgic to go back to school to teach, as i find more and more things that remind me of my own memories. One very significant JC student affliction is what is now termed as "EMO". In my time the syndrome wasn't so widespread, but now it seems as if EMO is getting a revival of sorts. Common symptoms of EMO include
Objectively speaking there is nothing exactly wrong with EMO. To many it's just a passing phase that you'd laugh at when you grow out of it. But what is important is not to let this EMO phase determine your true character which you move into society with. What is even more important is to disallow EMO symptoms from giving your friends the impression that this is who you are. As i said, EMO is temporary, your true character lies within. So psychologically, why do people emo at this age? My hypothesis is that at this age, when we are teetering on the edge of adult society, we need confirmation of self worth. As many would attest, the best method to gain feelings of acceptance is through others' empathy. Also significant is to make yourself stand out from the rest, both of which can be achieved via emoing. Imagine you emo-ing in the school lab, sitting on the floor at the back with your head down or in your hands. First, the girls will ask you what's wrong. You have successfully gained their attn. Next the teacher asks you what's wrong. Now you stand out and you get the attn from the rest. It makes you feel good because it seems as if so many people care about you. It increases self worth doesn't it. If you don't agree, it's more or less because you are the one who is emo-ing, and you are not consciously aware of your own motives for emo-ing. So what does this imply? EMO is generally for attracting attention, as well as feeling self worth and impressive. To me, the most damaging form of emo is having so much angst. Why angst? I believe when you believe you are full of angst you make yourself look like an anti hero, a symbol of deep thought and macho-ness. How to have angst? You listen to metal, you embrace alcohol and a generally bad ass attitude to the rest. You rebel against authority and the norm and you lament about how the world stinks and life sucks, even when you are so much better off compared to others. There is, as i said, nothing specifically wrong with EMO, but it's harmful if you, in your fit of angst, self destroy by bingeing and generally incurring the wrath of others in your rebelling and bad attitude. Even if this is a passing phase, i believe we should assess what is it that we are doing by this EMO-ing trend. First off, is there a reason? Is there a valid reason for all this emo-ing? Often, i see peers from well to do and loving families indulging in this self destroying act. Next, many also don't look half bad, and many have loyal friends. So why the need to continue? Even if one of the causes is biological, the consciousness can resist it. If it couldn't, many girls of tender age would have been rendered pregnant. It is important to note that the attention gained from emo-ing is temporary. Many people will be desensitised by people who keep using this method to gain attention, and in bad cases, the opposite might become true. Of course, if there is a valid reason to emo, then that is fine. I used to emo too, coming to school with a foul face, and stoning alone at class bench as if i'm full of grief. It's funny now that i recall it. I had no reason to do it. I have a nice family, i have friends, i'm more or less content. The world didn't owe me anything. But it made several people disgusted with my antics to gain attention, i believe. Thinking back, i disgust the present me a bit too. What is more important during this period is to find who your true self is, instead of conjuring up an emo self or creating more facades. No one can trust someone who wears so many masks, and no one can relate to people who put up an emo pseudo anti social attitude in society. Change yourself for society. Society won't change for you. If you feel angst towards the world, then do something about it. If you feel angst and you just keep wallowing in it, you will destroy yourself. Only yourself. No one gives a damn about you. Saturday, March 24, 2007 Botak Jones One balmy evening, upon a very last minute plan again, a party of 14 set out for Botak Jones, following raving comments by Samwise the previous night. We reached this Kopitiam at Clementi at nearly 7 and the place was like this.  The queue was apparently always so long at peak hours that they had to set up a small counter to prevent interfering with the other stalls, who weren't getting much business at all, except from Wibibi who had fish porridge due to a disagreement with the throat. It was fraught with trepidations as we sought to find seats to plonk 14 people. The rain was not being helpful either, and also people who refused to get up after eating. So by strategic deployment of people, we managed to get some to queue while the rest dispersed to 'chope' seats. Lesson learnt: don't come at peak hours. According to Samwise, 4pm will be good. The menu was huge, offering many different kinds of meats, sets and sides. But due to financial concerns most ordered only 1 set. First up is ONF's special of the day, Giant Italian Pork Sausage $6. It came long but rather thin. (sorry for the pathetic handshake, i was trembling with excitement. The sauces are courtesy of ONF) This sausage was deceptively simple, but the bite into it brought juices bursting around your buccal cavity, followed by its aroma and a nice and moderately strong charred taste. The meat was fresh with no weird aftertaste, and chunky, not totally squashed up like hot dogs. Tells of real stuffing. It comes with plenty of sliced onion which was rather disappointing. Also, although it tastes damn fantastic, one sausage can't fill a guy, so order something else together. Sam had the Cajun Chicken $12.50. Denouncers of breast meat please go away. I always knew chicken breast meat had secrets up its sleeve. Chicken breast meat is so striated so it absorbed all the grilled flavour of the spices and fire, making this the most flavourful chicken breast i have ever tried. The juices were locked in, demonstrating the skill in making this dish. It's served with a topping of mozarella and spicy chunky Cajun sauce, which blends in perfectly with the spices used on the chicken breast itself. Fantastic The Dark One ordered Rosemary Lamb Chop $11.50/$14.50. Apparently he didn't look very pleased, due to the fact that it was not meaty enough as there were bones... Oh well, I didn't get to try it so i don't know the taste. But the inside was pink and juicy looking. Fish and Chips $10. Popular item for those who don't know their meats. Pacific dory breaded with Japanese bread crumbs then fried. The inside of the fish was juicy and soft, and the crumbs were crispy too. However this had conflicting reviews by different people. But it should be a fool proof choice. I liked the way they breaded the dory themself. Not cheapskate ones bought from supermarts. YJ had Salmon, which was a new item apparently. Very nicely done salmon cut in steak form (vertical, not the sideways fillet style). The flesh slided past each other well. and it tasted nice and fatty, which was cool cos when salmon is not grilled well, it loses its fat, which defeats the whole purpose of eating this fish. Fish was fresh too, without any fishy smell. But as YJ said, "how can you tell it's fresh when it's cooked?!" Let's just say i have my ways. YAY, this is MINE. U-Crazy-What? at $12. Should have ordered it with cheese, but what the heck, this time i'll have it "original" Three huge 150 gram beef patties. Three well grilled beef patties with the char lines proving grilling on open charcoal fire. Three juicy patties hand formed obviously, as the meat was not well packed, which allowed it to retain juices. Maybe because it was peak hour, all of them were well done, not medium. Nevertheless they were unexpectedly juicy for well done beef. When you bite into it, you bite through tendon and meat, very nice feeling of soft meat and crunchy tendon. The burger buns are redundant actually. Especially the one squashed by the meat. At the end of the meal you'd find it soggy and .... nvm. Eat the beef with generous helpings of Tabasco, or ask for chilli con carne. Next time i'm gonna get the cheese.One thing to note, the fries come slightly spiced, so if you are terribly scared of chilli please raise it up. For the rest of us, we enjoy. Food: Really cool authentic american food. Comparable to Billy Bombers I think, given that it's in a food court. Western food lovers shouldn't miss out on this. Cost: 8/10 Worth it. You get superbly prepared meats in huge quantities for around $10. Ambience: Noisy food court at a HDB void deck... All outlets are the same Location: 6/10 They are all relatively near MRT stations but you have to know where to walk. Address: Clementi Outlet Kopitiam Blk 325, Clementi Ave 5 #01-129 Tel: 67741225. The guy said to call if many many people are coming so that can advance booking or something. Thursday, March 22, 2007 Your Brain Usage Profile: Auditory : 31%Visual : 68% Left : 61% Right : 38% Sherm, you are somewhat left-hemisphere dominant and show a preference for visual learning, although not extreme in either characteristic. You probably tend to do most things in moderation, but not always. Your left-hemisphere dominance implies that your learning style is organized and structured, detail oriented and logical. Your visual preference, though, has you seeking stimulation and multiple data. Such an outlook can overwhelm structure and logic and create an almost continuous state of uncertainty and agitation. You may well suffer a feeling of continually trying to "catch up" with yourself. Your tendency to be organized and logical and attend to details is reasonably well-established which should afford you success regardless of your chosen field of endeavor. You can "size up" situations and take in information rapidly. However, you must then subject that data to being classified and organized which causes you to "lose touch" with the immediacy of the problem. Your logical and methodical nature hamper you in this regard though in the long run it may work to your advantage since you "learn from experience" and can go through the process more rapidly on subsequent occasions. You remain predominantly functional in your orientation and practical. Abstraction and theory are secondary to application. In keeping with this, you focus on details until they manifest themselves in a unique pattern and only then work with the "larger whole." With regards to your career choices, you have a mentality that would be good as a scientist, coach, athlete, design consultant, or an engineering technician. You can "see where you want to go" and even be able to "tell yourself," but find that you are "fighting yourself" at the darndest times. I'm So Eligible 你有没有girlfriend? 没有。 为什么没有？！？！你这样ELIGIBLE!!!! 哦....哈哈.... Second time this exchange happened at work. Am i going to hear this every few weeks? I wouldn't bother about this, but when i think about it it brings back certain memories and forces me to look at myself. I seem to have come quite a way from my last relationship. 2 years have been, fast and yet not that fast. I think about what happened, and i realised that i, who once considered myself as so mature and right, was indeed being too self confident. I blamed her for certain things, but now there's no need to save my ego anymore since i'm already so far away from those memories. No one was at fault. It was just too bad we ended up too different. Back to the question, there are a few reasons why i'm still eligible but unattached, but if i remove all other variables and think about how i am to others, i realise i cannot come to any conclusion. Another colleague had told me that i am self effacing (go check dictionary), which i asked a friend and she agreed. What was notable was that, all my close friends would disagree with this statement. So what does that show? To my students, I'm again another person? So which is the real me? Which is the persona i should embrace? I get disappointed time and again when i realised people around me fail to understand who i am and why i think in certain ways. Could it be due to my quirk that actually impedes them? I learnt to trust people with my thoughts first to in turn gain their trust, in the hope that more can relate to me, but i don't know how good it is working as of now. And as for socialising in public, i still can't figure out my own character and even what i'm trying to do. Maybe i should consciously try shifting attitudes around and see what happens. After so much digression, it's back to the question again. To answer that is relatively easy. First, I just came out from army! How many girls do you expect me to know anyway? Through my own experience, many girls find me scary cos I do and think certain things 'normal' people don't. And this well, i can blame it on the fact that i take initiative to tell others these thoughts in the first place. I don't blame anyone, i think i'm weird too, but that's relative to the 'norm'. Next, I hold a set of very unique values and thoughts which I'm more or less sure few girls can accept. Simply put i'm too conservative in a world that is rapidly changing. I'm relaxing a lot, but the fundamentals are still there. Oh wellz, I'm not in the mood to FIND a girlfriend anyway. What will come will come i guess. Saturday, March 17, 2007 Aerin's  Tucked in one end of the Raffles City B1 Marketplace, under a transparent ceiling, this open concept casual eatery conveys a park-like feel that's relaxing and cosy. The water features lends some harmonic melodies and soothes the eye too. Furniture is decked out in a brown colour scheme, and calms the diner down into a mood for good food. The menu offered a moderate variety of Europena Fusion cuisine. After a long time debating what to order, we decided to order as many varieties as possible. We started off with a Butternut Pumpkin Soup $8. Butternut pumpkin soup is terribly hard to get it right, due to the fibrous yet very sweet flavour of butternuts, which can easily make one feel sick of it after a while. However, Aerin's scored with this soup, which featured a mild yet full bodied taste. First a savoury taste followed by the mellow sweetness of the butternut, along with the creamy texture of the soup. There is no aftertaste lingering around, which succeeds in preventing you feeling sick of it. This soup leaves you craving for more. HX ordered the Fillet of Snapper $20 which was a Must Try!!. Pan seared snapper came with mashed potato, french beans in tomato coulis sauce. Snapper was fresh and flaked easily, but not very spectacular as it tasted rather bland on it's own. Not exactly a disappointment but noto exactly a must try either. It's well done, as the fish was nicely browned but not charred but could be more tasty. Marc had the Spaghetti with Prawns $18. Pasta was al dente and the sauce was light but Marc wasn't terribly impressed with it though. Works well for people who need carb, but Aerin's doesn't seem to specialise in pasta. Gavin's Cajun Grilled Chicken$19. Really Grilled chicken with crispy skin in a chunky cajun sauce. The chicken has a juicy and smooth interior, although been grilled, and the sauce's sourish sweet taste went well with the chicken's aroma. Another Must Try. This time i agree. My Meditteranean Lamb Rump $28 served medium rare. Fantastic. Why isn't it a must try? The lamb was very well roasted, locking in all the juices in the medium rare inside. You could even see the juices when you cut it open. A slightly crisp exterior followed by a soft, tender and juicy interior bursting with lamb's unique flavour without the stench. Paired with the mint yoghurt tzatziki, the lamb leaves you craving for more. I was so sad when there was no more lamb. Served with couscous (kush kush), a mysterious meditteranean staple that is made from semolina flour. Unique together with capsicum and the tzatziki sauce, but didn't really appeal to me. Rice is still my favourite staple. However they got the texture right, as it was light and fluffy. The mentor and HJr had the best main course Yakiniku Cod $28. Obviously fusion, this dish featured baked fillet of cod served with a crabmeat potato mash in a japanese sauce. The cod was a miracle in itself. Slightly charred skin which gave a sweet crispy flavour with the sauce and the cod meat, which was fresh, flaky and smooth. The fat layers between the cod had broken down giving a smooth texture and spectacular fragrance to the meat which was springy. Served with a unique mashed potato which had crabmeat mixed in. The mash was delicious too, with a strong crab flavour and a mild potato one. Baked Apple and Rhubarb Pie $11 for dessert. A huge compendium of ingredients and tedious preparation, this dessert requires 15 mins to make. Definitely too much for one person. You have a nice scoop of traditional vanilla bean ice cream perched on top which was fragrantly sweet, not cloyingly a la artificial vanilla. Next is a flaky pastry layer then a small pot of large apple chunks, rhubarb slices and raisins. The pot contents are slightly caramelised and very sweet so this is where the pastry come in. Mash everything in and the pastry complements the sweetness of the apple and the sourness of the rhubarb. The ice cream lends a complex feeling when the mouth tastes hot apple and cold ice cream. Sweet sinful but a work of art. Double Chocolate Fudge Cake $5.50 looks deceptively well behaved. This devilish chocolate cake has got to be the most sinful chocolate cake i've ever had. RICH and sticky fudge forms the exterior which poorly guards a fudge laden sponge that falls apart due to its density, exposing another layer of rich fudge in between. You will take a moment to pull your mouth apart as the decadent chocolate is so rich. Yet the cake is not overpoweringly sweet, emphasising on the aroma of the chocolate instead. Small, but lethal. Food: European/Meditteranean/Western/Fusion. Done really well. The main courses score for the impeccable presentation and effort made for great taste and the desserts were spetacular as well.Ambience: Casual dining, relaxing and cozy. Couples will be happy here. Cost: 5/10 Rather high end, but you pay for quality. 6 people ate up to $195. Time to save more money Location: 9/10 Raffles city B1 beside The Soup Spoon. Address: Raffles City B1-11 Business Hours: 11am -10pm daily Call 63372231 to reserve.   Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 A poorly organised food trip saw me and 16 others settling on DIn Tai Fung for dinner, instead of the Outram Claypot Rice. Just as well since i had been wanting to review this place for some time. I chose the Paragon branch as it was the first outlet that opened here. This being my second time here. SInce 11 people were eating, we occupied a large round table with this guy showing off his elation.  Din Tai Fung, being a chinese restaurant, uses the usual orangey lightings, much to my dismay as the pictures came out all orangey. The menu is rather limited, with your Northern chinese dumplings and la mian as the main stars. First up, is the famous Xiao Long Bao. Touted as a work of art, each xiao long bao has exactly 18 folds and can be held up by chopsticks without breaking. The skin is neither too thin nor too thick, and the hot stock within was fragrant and flavoursome yet not too salty. One common mistake of pork used in northern chinese cuisine is a weird chemical taste which is not present here either. Pork was fresh and mixed well with the stock. Lives up to its name as the best xiao long bao. Definitely a must try. Of course, don't forget to dip it in ginger soy sauce! Vegetable Pork dumplings were of a different plane from the xiao long bao. The skin is thicker here, which wasn't very pleasing, but the filling of 韭菜 chives and pork was rather well mixed and fresh, without being overpoweringly "chive-y". As with the xiao long bao or any dumplings, EAT IT HOT, or else the skin will become chewy and disgusting. Another must try is the Prawn Pork dumpling, which i had on my first visit and was significantly better than this. All dumplings are 10 for $8.50 The Tall Guy who had this vegetable pork dumpling noodle $8 commented that this was ordinary. Of course, the noodle was pulled on the spot and rather elastic. Xiao Zha Bor had the Zha Jiang Mian 炸酱面 $8. I had this on my first visit and loved the sauce with was slightly sourish and sweet, due to the well prepared bean paste. The meat was also tender. Sadly the sauce was too little, as with the Dan Dan Mian 担担面 too. Picture was too hastily taken, but Xia Zha Bor was praises for this. Her direct quote however, had to be censored due to hygiene concerns. I had the Steamed Chicken Soup with Noodles $10.50. The soup was well infused with the flavour from the chicken wing, and i could detect no MSG. Very sincere soup indeed, not too salty either, just tasting of fragrant chicken. The soup only uses chicken wings, one of the most tender parts of the chicken. So even after being steamed in the soup the chicken remains moist juicy and tender, and 原味. The noodles are served plain, so my favorite way of eating is to add a spoonful of chilli sauce and oil, some soy sauce and vinegar and two spoons of the precious chicken soup. Mix it up and it tastes fantastic. Enjoy the soup slowly, and savour the essence.Food: Northern Chinese cuisine, similar to Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao but better. Although standard has dropped a little, it's still worth a visit if you haven't done so. Always order the Xiao Long Bao. Ambience: Noisy chinese restaurant, fitting for the cuisine. Talk loudly and make noise! Cost: 7.5/10 Manageable for the quality. Might seem not very value for money though. But $18 should be able to fill one person very well. Location: 10/10 5 locations, Paragon, Wisma, Raffles Place, J8, Tampines Mall Address: Paragon B1-03 Very easy to find the rest too Business Hours: 11am-10pm daily Saturday, March 10, 2007 Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice  Tiong Bahru is one of the oldest estates around nowadays, exuding an old world charm, with its elderly population, and famous market and good food. Many people today, especially the young ones, might have never heard of Hainanese curry rice. Not chicken rice, but curry rice. So this post shall aim to raise consciousness to this rapidly disappearing traditional food. Loos's Hainanese Curry Rice is situated just outside the renovated Tiong Bahru Market, at the junction of Eng Hoon St and Seng Poh Road. Just look for the long queue with many old aunties and uncles queuing up. The stall is in an old kopitiam but from the looks of it, the whole kopitiam has been swallowed by this stall alone. The rest of the kopitiam only houses a drinks stall and many tables and chairs. Hygiene conscious people might baulk, but damn you understand. This is how people used to have their meals. The curry, takes up to three days to cook, and is the main draw. They prepare about 20 different types of dishes to go with the curry and the rice, so one is spoilt for variety. Here was the menu for today's lunch. First of all. When you come to eat, usually the rice will come with a little braised sauce and curry. BUT, since the curry is so thick, rich and aromatic, that is definitely not enough. Ask for a separate bowl of curry and ask for rice without any sauce. THEN, take the curry and drench the rice with it. You can taste the effort in the curry. The gravy is exploding with flavour, yet not too spicy to make you go numb. Of course, you can't be eating curry with rice alone. First dish. Stir fried cabbage with tang hoon(rice vermicelli). The cabbage, being a sweet soft vege, complements the curry the best. Next, the assam fish, or stingray. The assam sauce, if added to your curry rice, gives it another level of flavour. The fish itself is fresh and cooked in small pieces such that the whole piece is infused with flavour. We ordered curry chicken too, which was quite well done. The breast meat was not too tough, although the curry was kind of oily. There was steamed egg too, which had a soft and smooth texture, and also potato for my youngest sister. Other delectable choices include large minced pork balls, braised fatty pork and stir fried leafy vegetables. If there is squid that's a good choice too. But most of all, NEVER miss out on the pork chop. Screw those pork chops by fake Western food stalls. This is the one you shouldn't miss. Crispy and fragrant yet not oily exterior, and a juicy tender thick interior. My favourite way is to order it without any sauce, then dip it into the remaining curry for the rice. Fantastic. A meal like this for 5 people costs less than $20. Not a bad deal when the food is good and your stomach is full to bursting.Food: Old world curry rice. Better to come in groups and order more dishes to try. Easy to get hooked on the curry. Cost: 9.5/10 Cheap hawker prices for good food. Just like old times. Dishes range from $0.70 to $4. Ambience: Old world seating surrounded by low rise buildings and an elderly population in a run down kopitiam. Nostalgic and romantic in itself Location: 7/10 Not very difficult. All you need to know is where Tiong Bahru market is, and route behind it to the left. Buses 16, 33, 63, 75, 195, 175, 970 serve this area. Address: Blk 57 Eng Hoon St #01-88 NOTE: Their food usually runs out by 2pm. Come around 11am for optimum choice!. Monday, March 05, 2007 My Personality
Whoo Hoo! Check out my Conscientiousness! WOW 99! Model Student! Friday, March 02, 2007 JLPT 4 Result!!!  Due to the great 自卑 beating i had today, i just had to do something to repair my ego that was shot down in flames...Although even this is nothing much haha. Oh well, 1 year of studying ensued in a 385/400 score in the exam so, should i skip level 3 this year...hmm..96% for lvl 4, if i skip one, maybe result will be 60+%? Stil a pass..hehe |
|||||||||||||||||
