Happy Budday!

Attendees: Bud, Cheryl, Elvin, Joyce & myself

Had a pre-bday celebration for Bud last Saturday evening. Our initial plan to go Eng Seng's Very Pepper Crabs was changed to No Signboard Seafood Restaurant @ Geylang because they had more variety so to speak. Our orders - White Pepper Crab, Butter Crab, Cereal Prawns & Scallop with Seasonal Vegetables & la la (I think!?) Good thing about this place is you can order 1 crab per flavour unlike Eng Seng where you have to order 2 crabs per flavour at least. But somehow when we were eating the white pepper & butter crabs, there were no ooohhs no ahhhs and worst thing.. my mind was crying out loud for Eng Seng's crab! How I miss the crabbies there. Sob! Nevermind, I'm sure there'll be a next time. But I'm really thankful for those who managed to turn up, enjoyed the company v much! Thinking back, the last time at No Signboard Restaurant was also with Bud/Cheryl/Elvin - almost 1 year plus back.

May I just add that the bud's bday chocolate cake was super-moisty-chocolately-fudgey-sinfulicious-goodness?? Mama Mia!!! If I didn't have to watch that waist line of mine (which by the way is disappearing), I would have gone for seconds or even thirds! Arghhhh! This to die for choc cake is from famous Choc.A.Bloc which happens to be a stone's throw away from where I live (Yay!). Usually they require orders three days in advance, but lucky they baked extras that day phew! Di, listen up I am so gonna get this for you on your next bday! *slurps*

*Choc.A.Bloc
Blk 86 Bedok North St 4 #01-179
Singapore 460086
Tel : 64466096
Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays

Leslie Kee is one superstar

Joe Nakamura (below Andy Hui) is so hot!!

"Superstars" is a life-work project by local celeb photographer, Leslie Kee which took around 1.5 years to complete. For this photo-book, Leslie got about 300 Asian artistes to pose with proceeds going towards helping the victims of the 2004 Tsunami. MDA has banned the book in Singapore because of some "full-nudity photos of males" photos, disappointing many. If MDA are able to lift a long-standing ban on the popular US women's magazine Cosmopolitan, why not this? Time to loosen the apron strings men, afterall this is not pornography, this is ART! Well the good news is some photos from the project are currently being exhibited at National Museum, including special appearance of Singapore local artists.

Jo, Tx & myself had made arrangement to catch the photography exhibit yesterday afternoon. Somehow it did not start very well for either of us. Firstly I stupidly entered the ERP gantry four times, then I parked at the wrong carpark which resulted a 15 minute walk uphill to reach my destination. TX was 'conned' into buying a small box of mix candies at $30!! For the name of charity. Just as she thought one good deed will beget another, she found both her feet submerged in mud on her way to the museum! And poor Jo had to wait an entire hour for us. :x

A minimalist approach; no fancy backdrops using mainly basic colours (e.g white, black, brown,blue & lotsa skin), it was evident the attraction was the "Superstars" themselves and nothing else. Its pretty awesome to see the 'other side' of some of the artistes, very interesting. Pity that the exhibition space was quite small, compared to the ones held in Tokyo and HK which featured more of his works. Within 20 minutes, we were done with the exhibits. Had to admit I was slightly disappointed, not of his works of course. Do drop by if any of you have the time, its still worth the trip. :)

More photos of the project can be viewed here.

*SUPERSTARS Exhibition
National Museum of Singapore
93 Stamford Road
27 Apr - 4 May 07
10am - 6pm
Admission - Free

New York New York

This is an overdue post and because I am lazy, I'm gg cut short it and let the pictures do the talking instead, yak yak yak. All received stamps of approval from me except the cheeseballs which tasted rather potatoish rather than cheesy. (bottom left)

Special thanks to Mr Conan Foo, the manager of New York New York, for hand picking the three of us to sample pure hot chocolate on the house! Instant sugar rush I tell ya! This is exclusive to only us and no other customers! *Proud look* Mr Thoughtful Foo does the hot chocolate personally and makes sure each of us get our drinks piping hot! I'm pleased I chose this over queuing for donuts last Friday. Above average food, more-than-I-can-ask-for service plus CLEAN sofa seats, trust me I will be back again.

*New York New York
1 Raffles Link Citylink Mall
#B1-47A
11.30am – 11pm

Also available at AMK Hub now

Not nuts about donuts

Man, this is crazy! Singaporeans love to queue, sometimes I think they queue for the fun of it. A long line forms at the basement of Raffles City everyday and waits could go up to 4 hours. I'm no donut fan but I was ever so curious to find out what's so special about this donut factory craze. Jo, Neoneo & me took half day intending to queue for the donuts. For the fun of it of cos. But we didn't in the end. Filling our stomachs were top priority at that moment in time so we dumped the donut idea altogether.

Then this afternoon, I received a call from Jo. She got her hands on the doughnuts after 2 hours of queuing! Woot! And she got us some..how nice of her!! I drove down to her place at night especially to view the entire collection of doughnuts and of cos to claim my share. Within one night, I sampled 7 flavours. What an accomplishment!

My thoughts? I am still not crazy about donuts. Flavours like Apple Cinnamon, Double Chocolate, White Strawberry Heart & Cheese Tartar were not bad but some erm were just weird and disappointing- Lotus Mocha. Think red bean paste in a tau sar pau but coffee flavoured *shakes head*, Peanut Butter - Pathetic solidified peanut butter filling (where's the creamy peanut butter which should ooze out fm every bite? Sigh!) Texture wise - it felt like I was eating semi-soft white bread with varied toppings all these while. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it. But they don't come close to my version of my dream donuts - melt in your mouth kind - light, fluffy, creamy in the inside with a slight crunch to it! The last time I had decent tasting (and pretty!) ones were from Mister Donuts from Taiwan.

Donut Factory gets credit for creativity i.e injecting asian flavour into their doughnuts e.g. Spicy/Wasabi cheese & Kaya White Chocolate. (Jia thinks otherwise). Also for $11/dozen of assorted donuts, they are definitely cheaper and better than those you would find in 7-11 stores. But all factors combined, I don't think they are worth queuing long hours for. In fact, the management should rethink about speeding up donut making process which clearly is the root of the problem.

Ok. Enough of doughnuts and I will stay off 'em for the time being. To know how Donut Factory's doughnuts compare to US's Krispy Kreme, visit Jia's blog.

*Donut Factory
B1-61, Raffles City Shopping Centre
250 North Bridge Rd
Singapore 179101
Opens from 12.30pm

200 Pounds Beauty

If you think that 200 Pounds Beauty is going to be like Nutty Professor or Norbit, you are very wrong! Based on the Japanese manga by Suzuki Yumiko, Hanna (Kim A-jung) is a plus sized gal blessed with a stunning voice. Not being able to fulfil her dreams as pop star , she becomes a cover singer for the talentless Ammy and moonlights as a chatline / phone sex partner. After a turmoil of emotional upheavals which includes being humiliated infront of her one sided love aka Ammy's record producer Sang-Joong (Very charming -> Joo Jin-mo), she disappears for a year and becomes the new Jenny; through the help of plastic surgery.

The film discusses some real issues like insecurities of plus sized people, how beauties get their way in society, attitude towards plastic surgery in a light hearted and humourous manner.The strongest message that comes out of it is not to blinded by success at the expense of kinship and friendship. Although this movie does not have an award winning script, I loved the movie nonetheless. A number of issues mentioned above were close to my heart and certain parts of it managed to elicit soppy tears from the emotional me. Sniff. Kim A-jung & Joo Jin-mo did a good job, also not forgetting the other characters. The music in the film was awesome, some of which were sang by Kim A-jung herself! I particularly liked "Dance with my daddy" by Alex (Clazziquai) for personal reasons..will be loading the songs into my mobile real soon!

Go watch the movie! One thing for sure, you won't hate it.

Cartel Cartel, dirty fella!

Today is full-force-Muay-Thai-training day. Awesomely fierce lesson involving some really intensive padding work and shadow boxing. The instructor paired us up Gal Vs Guy and my left foot was kicked twice on the same spot during the one-to-one session with my partner which happens to be the ang moh guy. Foooooooking PAIN and I am limping already! Help I need a sinseh! *whines*. Guess that more or less contributed to my poor performance towards the end - disoriented and poor coordination of limbs. Oh well.

Straight after class, Jia & me headed for Cafe Cartel at Siglap to replenish our burnt calories. I've got nothing to complain about the food and service (at least for now). But there was one incident I just need to get out of my chest!! >>> When we entered, I already noticed the sofas were quite dirty but we still sat on the sofa seats anyway (the less dirty one of cos). 20 mins later, the couple next table left to make payment (also sofa seats). Guess what I saw shortly after their departure? A waiter using a brush to sweep the bread/food crumbs ONTO THE SOFA right infront of us! WTF!! Arghhhh, got more gross one or not!!! We fled right away after the horrifying sight!

Dear Cartel, better do something before being marked by MEWR! Good Luck!

Rain, I'm coming!

Jia recently worked up quite an appetite for Korean cuisine, thanks to the many Korean dramas she has been faithfully following. She insisted I try this truly authentic Korean restaurant with her and so I was like "Why not?". Anything that brings me closer to Rain's roots!

At the extremely well-lit and spacious Ju Shin Jung (west coast branch), we were warmly welcomed by the manager. 15 minutes of intensive menu reading and we finally decided on what they were famous for - Korean Charcoal BBQ! Mushroom, Bulgogi Boneless Chicken Leg & Sliced Sirloin! In addition, we ordered Yuk Gae Jang (Spicy Beef & Vegetable Soup) and also Yidong Makguli (Rice wine @ 50% off) to share. I was pretty confident of finishing our meal (considering the experience I have had in Seoul Garden) until the waitress started to fill our table with close to 15 side dishes. Wau lau... siao liao how to finish!? It was all too late when we wanted to cancel our beef soup order, sigh. No choice, just eat lor.

I wouldn't go into each and every of the sides but those worth mentioning include 1) Big headed beansprout 2) Vinegared seaweed 3) Spicy Anchovies (Ikan Billis) 4) Kim Chi 5 & 6) ) Seasoned Tofu & Sweet Corn Kernels both which I had lotsa trouble picking with the metal chopsticks (stupid me did not realise they provided spoon until towards the end of the meal) Sigh.

The Yuk Gae Jang wasn't as spicy as I hoped for but the soup was still packed with sweetness of veggies and beef! Not forgetting the slurpifying Korean vermicelli in the soup! The mushrooms would have been a favourite among the mushroom fans. They were fresh and unseasoned, one could easily taste the original juices of the mushrooms, especially the white button mushroom. But I still like mine with butter. My top choice for the night would have to be Bulgogi Beef - Marinated to shiokness, it gets two thumbs up!! Bulgogi Chicken was actually quite tender & tasty but we were both too bloated to experience the goodness of my all time favourite meat. There was quite abit of left-over so being the typical cheapskate Singaporean, I asked for a plastic container to 'ta bao' (pack back) home! Don't waste mah, the food very expensive you know? The waiter also handed us a plastic bag to place the container, how thoughtful!

Other highlights of the meal include:

• Complimentary iced-cinnamon flavoured dessert drink & heart shaped watermelon slices - what a nice way to end the meal!
• Deceiving "white coins" sitting mysteriously on a plate - When added with water, it magically expands and transforms to a wet towel! Amazing!

*Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ

27 West Coast Highway #01-18/19
YESS Centre 1F S117867
64640872

1018 East Coast Parkway #02-01
Rain Tree Cove S449877
64479279

Lunch 12pm-2:30pm / Dinner 6pm-11pm

Singapore Flyer - A new world record!

For the past year or so, I've been driving along ECP- Benjamin Sheares bridge wondering what the construction near Marina Bay was about. Almost gave up guessing until one fine day I saw an assembled rim that resembled a small portion of a wheel! Ferris Wheel I thought? Bingo! The world largest observation wheel to be exact!! Woo hoo! That sounds really cool men.. haha.. I always dreamt about being on a ferris wheel..seems like its gonna come true real soon!! Looking forward to its completion in 1Q of 2008, ppssss..anyone wants to tag along? Hee

About Singapore Flyer

Once completed, the Singapore Flyer will be the world’s largest wheel a height of 165 metres – equivalent to a 42-story building (beating the Star of Nanchang & London Eye), diameter of 150 metres sitting astride a 20-metre high, three storey terminal building.

This Asia’s first-ever giant observation wheel (GOW) will offer passengers a panoramic 360-degree view of the city centre and beyond to about 45 kilometres, including the Indonesia (Batam & Bintan) & Malaysia (Johor). Designed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the wheel will feature 28 air-conditioned capsules with a floor area of 26 square metres and capable of holding 30 passengers each. Each complete trip lasts for an estimated 37 minutes. Prices start from $20.65 for children, $29.50 for adults.

Did you know?

Large Ferris wheels have been marketed as observation wheels to differentiate them from the smaller Ferris wheels, but ironically are more similar to the original Ferris wheel than the smaller modern wheels.

An observation wheel is a large slowly rotating and vertically oriented nonbuilding structure carrying enclosed passenger cars or pods along its circumference. Although observation wheels are often described as Ferris wheels, the two differ in a number of significant respects. Read here for the differences.

Astonished? Read on

My mind was filled of Aston's Specialties since the day I chanced upon Leslie Tay's blog. The photos he took made every item at Astons look exceptionally tempting. You know me lar- glutton, garbage hound, greedy pig (triple Gs!) Hehe, so I went to ask every possible easterner friend/colleague of mind, including my dearest mum to go with Astons (with me of cos!). I failed TWICE because my dining 'partners' were put off by the looong queue.

Applying my common sense theory, it worked for the third attempt! Early Weekday Lunch = No queue! Yippie! Thanks to my equally excited colleagues who readily agreed to lunch at Astons. 4 out of 6 of 'em had chicken, it could have been 5 if not for neoneo's sore gum. Boring bunch? Maybe, maybe not. Two of them who initially thought of pepper fish were told that the supply of fish had run out. (Half an hour after its opening?? Hmm)

Anyway, first up was mushroom soup with garlic bread. Neoneo's had only one slice while mine had two slices, probably they liked me better haha. Delightful soup I say - It had finely chopped mushroom bits; definitely not the campbell soup and add water kind. Accompaniment was the lovely, crusty, garlic buttery infused.. garlic bread. A great deal at only $2.20!

Then came the mains - Four chicken mains with varied sauces & side dishes ($5.90 each with two sides). From baked beans, pasta salad, coleslaw, mashed potato, potato salad, fries and a whole load of others to choose from; the choices are way more interesting than the standards you often get at western food stalls @ kopitiam, hawkers or food court. Most of the sides were pretty appetizing, even the baked beans incorporated a barbeque-like taste in the sauce. The mashed potato was a slight letdown, just wasn't smooth enough for me. Unanimously, we couldn't help but compare it with Popeye's. Neo commented the gravy had a nice mushroomy taste to it tho. The chicken was good enough for the rest I think because all of them finished their share. I 'kopped' a little from Miss Lim (she had Hickory BBQ Chicken) and i thought the BBQ sauce was devine!! (smooooky, aromatic & tangy). Can't really comment on the pasta ($5.90 including soup) cos I didn't try it.. why not let neo review it herself? lol.

Presenting the much in demand ieatSuper Burger ($12.50)!! Named after Leslie Tay - the blogger who first instigated the owner, Aston to create this over-the-top burger. You can read more about the 'birth' of the burger here. This jumbo-wumbo burger also happens to be my order. What I liked - 1) Fresh, crisp veggies (romaine lettuce & tomato) 2) Streaky bacon grilled to perfection (salivating already!) 3) Out-of-this-world crispy-licious onion frost! 4) Cheese which melted nicely on the pattie. What I did not quite like - 1) A miniscule amount of onion frosts as compared to this!! Sigh 2) Not so soft and fresh tasting large sesame bun. 3) No sides 4) Almost non-existent BBQ sauce on the pattie. Verdict: A little disappointed and overrated but decent enough experience. That's what usually happens when you go there with extremely high expectations.

Nevermind about some imperfections, I'll still be be back again for more (Prob after it reopens on 1st May, hopefully the queue situation betters). Totally value for money, efficient service and a whole load of stuff still untried. Oh. Another thing to note, they do not accept NETs or credit cards, so remember to bring CASH!

*Astons Specialties
119 East Coast Road
(Opposite Katong Mall)

L for Lixiang

What Death Note Character Are You?

The most accurate part of this test:
ah-hem *clears my throat*....Me being highly intelligent!

Relac one Bedok Corner~

My grandma's leg has been acting up lately, making it quite inconvenient for her to move around. So being the good grand child I am, I offered to send her home after her usual 'hobby'. Another of ah ma's friend also tagged along for the car ride so we thought why not we have dinner together?

Four of us, including my mum, arrived at Bedok Corner Food Centre; a place where my dad used to frequently bring my mum & me for dinner..long before it was renovated. The upgraded Malay Village influenced Food Centre now has 30 over stalls arranged around a central courtyard to reflect kampung-style community living.

While i ordered Or Luak , Satay & Jiu Hre Eng Cai, mum was in the queue for the famous Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee for more than half an hour. The wait for so long that the gramps couldn't tahan their hunger and started without us. When we came back with the noodles, we also saw popiahs and sugarcane 'juice' on our tables, courtesy of Ah ma & her friend. Overload of food yet again! Sigh. I decide to forgo the also famous Ye Lai Xiang's Cheng Tng because there're already sugarcane drinks. The sugarcane drink was overly sweet. Obviously the S21 owner had dliuted the original sugarcane juice and replaced a portion of it with sugar water yet still claim them to be "Sugarcane Juice" instead of "Sugarcane Water".

This crispy type Or Luak was just so-so for me. I personally favoured the gooey-more-potato-starch type rather the crispy type. Having to taste it only 20 minutes later, the crisp was already losing its 'power'. The mild chili dip also lacked the fire. My mum and the golden agers didn't think much of this as well. But the good thing is this stall is halal and the oysters' size are tad above average.

On the other hand, the chicken & mutton satays were very well marinated and barbequed. Unlike other stalls I've tasted, the chicken satays were tender and juicy. Peanut sauce dip was sedap and of the right consistency! Nicely done! Pity the stall helper wasn't helpful when my mum wanted to da bao (pack back) those satays we couldn't finish.

Despite this stall not using the traditional opeh leaves, the Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee still delivers! This version is the wet and dark kind which uses thinner bee hoon (not like the usual laksa thick bee hoon). Noodles are not soggy and flavourful with prawn stock. Sambal chili was not overwhelming, just the way I like it and also prawns were fresh. It would have been perfect with some crunchy pork lard but too bad this stall is one of the vendors supporting healthier eating by Health Promotion Board (HPB). Good news for the health conscious! This stall actually is one of my dad's fave!! Fyi, the couple has been in this business for quite some time, way before the food centre was listed for the upgrading programme. Uncle looks paler now and also has slightly swollen legs (must be due to long hours of standing!) Business is so good that he hardly has any time for toilet and smoke breaks. Must take care of your health leh, Uncle!

Jiu Hre Eng Cai was a little disappointing; the wow factor had somewhat disappeared since I ate it years ago. This overpriced, not value for money dish pales in comparison to the one at 16 Bedok South. For $5 a plate, the servings of cuttlefish, tau pok, cucumber and pineapples were quite pathetic. The elderlies also had a tough time chewing the hard tau pok and cuttlefish. :x.

*Bedok (Corner) Food Centre
Opposite Bedok Camp
Junction of Upper East Coast Road & Bedok Road
Open from 12pm till late

Jiu Hre Eng Cai (Cuttlefish Kang Kong)
Ye Lai Xiang - Stall 31
Or Luak (Oyster Omelette)
Halal Green Signboard - Stall 02
Satay (Meat Kebabs)
Two stalls to the left of Or Luak Stall - Stall 04
Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee
Big-Prawn-Pic-with-words'Prawn-Mee' Signboard - Stall 29

My week in a nut shell

Tues, 3 April
I am officially Jia's bowling kaki, she says. A couple of strikes and spares. Scored close to a 100 for bowling! Oh yay! I am improving at last!

Wed, 4 April
Mediocre lunch @ Sukhothai - Changi Airport. They serve horrible watery green curry chicken. After work shopping with Neo @ Far East. Got Jia's identical necklace @ $5 :x

Thurs, 5 April
Did close to 100 crunches during boxing. *ouch*. We gave up on my first choice - Aston's specialisties for Waraku because of the queue. Reminder to myself : don't ever go to Katong Village Branch.

Fri, 6 April
Met up with three of my colleagues for 1) lunch @ Vil'age, 2) the number 23 movie, 3) KTV, 4) dinner @ cream bistro.

Sat, 7 April
Dad's chinese bday. Temple. Pray. Baked cookies. Sink clogged. Dinner with Lan.

No Frills Hotel Rooms from RM9.99!

Sounds unbelieveable doesn't it!? RM9.99 approximately S$5.00 for a night!? Woot amazing...that's even cheaper than 2 hours transit at Hotel 81!!

Tune Hotels.com will surely be a hit among backpackers and whoever who needs a place to do their thing. Yeeks! We all probably know for sure that the hotel rates are not always going to be RM9.99! Duh.. how to earn money if prices are @ RM9.99 all the time! The prices are largely dependent on time of booking, availability and demand. From the random tests I have done on the site, the price ranges from about RM18 - RM74...still a very good bargain I say!

However, don't expect too much from the hotel - afterall its a NO FRILLS hotel! The hotel rates do not cover facilities such as air-conditioning, towels, toiletries minibar, sofas, hotel kitchen, swimming pool but at least there's five star king koil bed to sleep on!!

Fyi, this no frills concept is by Tony Fernandez, the same man behind AirAsia. Five more hotels are scheduled to open at KL airport, Kota Kinabalu, JB & Penang by end of this year. 30-40 more hotels planned to be open in major cities in SEA, concentrating on destinations where AirAsia flies. (does that mean Singapore too!?)

Rem to bring your own towels and toiletries!

Sawadee-ka!!!

It was mum's day off so we decided to hang out and spend some quality time together. After two hours of furniture viewing @ Furniture Mall, mum was needing some H20 to quench her thirst. I craftily suggested we get it from Golden Mile Complex because I needed to stock up my fave fried crispy soy bean from the Thai Supermarket! Of cos I got my way, mum and myself cannot resist any supermarkets! (ok..maybe except Giant) So there I was all excited and ready to show mum one of my fave supermarkets!

I immediately headed for the basket once we reached the entrance of the supermarket and my mum stared at me. Haha, bet she was expecting nothing more than a bottle of water and fried crispy soy bean. Surely I wasn't. In here, you can get all sorts of intriguing thai products which you can't find elsewhere in sg. An entire shelf dedicated to all types of curry pastes (green/red/yellow) and another just for Tom Yum instant noodles...Woo hoo..totally awesome!! Here are some pictures which I snapped while shopping!

My fave Tom Yum instant noodles so far

Overdose of Curry Pastes


Fishies in yakult like bottles


Power Crispy Shrimp Chili Paste; I add it to almost everything!


Mischief Powder for the mischevious

After paying for our purchases, it was almost time for dinner. I knew exactly where to go, so I led my mum to level 1, Diandin Leluk for dinner. There's no better place to get authentic thai food in sg other than here! Mouth watering food at affordable prices! Forget about Thai Express or Asian Kitchen! Thinking about it makes me drool already. Both of us shared a plate of Pad Thai , Prawn Cake & Seafood Tom Yum Soup. They were all VERY VERY yummilicious! Prawn Cake's da best I've ever tasted; Seafood Tom Yum Soup - potent and absolutely SHIOK! Pad Thai lived up to its standard - my mum loved it so much that she wants to learn how to cook it!

I swear I could eat thai food everyday... I really really wanna come here again and again and again and again....

*Diandin Leluk
Golden Mile Complex
5001 Beach Rd #01-67/68

A shop @ Golden Mile Complex was selling boxing gloves for $45. Sounds like a real bargain and I admit I was so very tempted. Should I or should I not? I don't think I can take the stinky sweaty gloves any longer.. help!