Archive for February, 2009
Shokudo Japanese Pasta & Pizza
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
After we left Ma Maison, my aunt and I went in hunt of desserts. We stumbled onto a restaurant called Shokudo Japanese Pasta & Pizza. The menu at the door showed various delicious-looking desserts so we decided to give it a try.
The restaurant was bright and had a casual feel, quite different from the atmosphere at Ma Maison. We did not order any of the cooked food but after peeking at other people’s orders, it seemed to be a substantial amount. Of course we would not know whether it tasted good or not.
Shokudo Japanese Pasta & Pizza
200 Victoria Street
#01-53 Bugis Junction
Tel: 63389216
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Tags: bakery, desserts
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Ma Maison
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
My aunt treated me to Ma Maison for dinner. In case you don’t know, Ma Maison serves Japanese-style western food. We went to the restaurant at Bugis Junction. It was a nice cosy restaurant with European-style furnishings. The interior was a bit dim but I guess it added to the relaxing atmosphere. It was a popular place and my aunt have to make a reservation beforehand.
Ma Maison
200 Victoria Street
#02-51 Bugis Junction
Tel: 63384819
(more…)
Tags: japanese food, western food
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The beggar again
Monday, February 23rd, 2009
Rixou told me that she bumped into the beggar from yesterday. She was having lunch with some colleagues at a hawker centre and the beggar came up to their table. He used the same tricks and grabbed one of the colleague’s arm. Luckily the colleague was a guy so he just shook the beggar off. Then as they had finished their meal, they just got up and left. After they vacated the table, the beggar sat down and drank a bowl of leftover soupfrom their table. And that’s not all. According to a colleague, the same beggar was also spotted at Serangoon perviously. For a person with no money, he sure got around.
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A beggar at McDonald’s
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
Rixou, Soranoneko and I went the McDonald’s outlet at United Square. While we were chatting away, we suddenly saw a piece of paper landing on the table. It had 4 numbers written on it. The paper came from behind me so I turned around and saw a plump man of roughly 30 years old. He was dressed in a bright green t-shirt and berms.
Before any of us opened our mouths, he showed us the back of his hand and held up 2 fingers and asked us for $2. His attitude put me off. He was the one asking us for a money but he behaved as if we owed him the money. $2 is a small sum of money but I was so pissed off by him that I did not want to give him the money. So I picked up the paper and asked him to take it back. He immediately knelt down on the ground and mumbled the usual he had no money for food etc. He kept mumbling under his breath and refused to leave. I was so angry that I glared at him in silence. I thought about leaving or even calling the police. I was that pissed off.
Then Soranoneko decided to give him the $2 to get him to go away. She and Rixou dug into their bags but I was faster and passed him the $2. He took the $2 and left. We saw him went to another table a few tables away from us. I asked Rixou to take a picture of him with her camera. She wasn’t able to to take a shot of him. Then we saw him walked unhurriedly out of the fast food restaurant. I kept feeling angry about the incident for some time but I kept quiet in front of Rixou and Soranoneko. I was angry because I felt this man totally did not deserve the $2 I gave him. I also felt that he targeted us on purpose as we seemed less likely to reject him.
And the paper with the 4 numbers? I threw it into the dustbin when we left McDonald’s. Considering the source, it would be a waste of money to bet on them as it would not win anyway. Even if it can win something, I do not want to have anything that is linked to the beggar.
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Encounter with a rude woman
Friday, February 20th, 2009
We went out to lunch at Clementi hawker centre. Mao Mao was left to guard the table while the rest of went off to buy our food. When I returned, I found Mao Mao and Spider sitting at a different. Mao Mao explained that after we left, a woman approached her and asked if the seats were taken. Mao Mao told her that they were, which was the truth as there were enough of us to fill up the whole table. Then the woman told Mao Mao that she could not do that as there was no reservations allowed in hawker centres. At this, Mao Mao replied, “That’s why I’m sitting here, auntie.” And woman said, “It’s not auntie, it’s Miss.” Mao Mao was rendered speechless. At this point, Spider returned and they decided to move to another empty table as the woman was not moving. The empty table they moved to was just next to our former table. It just goes to show that the hawker centre was not crowded at the moment and there were plenty of other empty tables for the woman to sit at. We concluded that the woman was just out to pick a fight.
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Iljimae
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
I started watching Iljimae when I returned from Taiwan on the 15th. I watched a few episodes everyday until I finished all 20 episodes today. That’s 20 episodes in 4 days but I fastforwarded about one-third of the show. I usually skipped scenes where ugly, evil old men plotted evil deeds, in other words, scenes without Iljimae or his friends. The good thing about Korean dramas is that they will usually repeat the important points of the plot. Just to make sure that the viewers don’t miss it.
The story was not bad. It was a bit draggy in the beginning as 3-4 episodes were about the background and showed Iljimae as a child and how his father was framed and killed. I liked the kids who acted well but at the same time, I was impatiently waiting for Iljimae to grow up so that they could move on with the main story. I liked Yeo Jin Goo who acted as the young Iljimae. He looked intelligent and righteous, fitting the role well. I also like Kim Yoo Jung who acted as the young Eun Chae. She was so cute and had such lovely big eyes.
It was pretty sad in the beginning but got more interesting when Iljimae grew up. There were quite a few funny stories of Iljimae and his wacky friends. In between the funny parts, were more serious stories of greedy officers and the poor people who were oppressed and helpless. It got quite touching towards the end when the people close to Iljimae figured out his identity and all on their own initiative tried to help him, no matter how small or how dangerous.
I enjoyed the show quite a lot. I thought the show would be quite serious so I wasn’t expecting any funny parts. It’s actually quite funny and I laughed out loud sometimes. Lee Joon Ki was not bad as a comedic actor. He has a range of funny expressions and I am always amused whenever he opened his eyes wide in shock or anger. He’s funny yet adorable as a mischievous, good-for-nothing bum but when he was Iljimae, he was suave and heroic. His costume as Iljimae looked pretty cool but I felt it would be better if his face mask did not have the shape of his mouth.
I liked the way the story was told, even though it was a bit long-winded. I liked the way it showed how Iljimae from a village bum became a master thief, how Iljimae didn’t start out as a Robin Hood type of thief but slowly grew into that role. I also liked the parallels it drew between Iljimae’s martial arts teacher and Ja Dol’s martial arts teacher. As much as I liked the show, I’m quite glad that I didn’t watch it on TV, otherwise I might get bored with the long-windedness because there was no way to fastforward on TV.
I read online that the ending of Iljimae created a big hoo ha as it was not obvious whether Iljimae died or survived. The director had to come out and reveal that there were 2 clues which showed that Iljimae was still alive. So I watched out for the clues when I watched the last episode. And I concluded that the clues were not very obvious. They only appeared briefly and was easy to miss. It was due more to the reactions of the people who knew Iljimae’s real identity that confirmed, for me at least, Iljimae was still alive. Sigh, there was no ending to the love story between Iljimae and Eun Chae. Although it was hinted that they would meet again, some confirmation would be nice.
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SIA airplane food
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Bell and I are flying home today. We took the afternoon flight and were served lunch on the plane.
Tags: airplane food
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Day 5: Landis Resort
Saturday, February 14th, 2009
After Bell and I ate the hotel breakfast, we went back to our room and did some last minute packing. Then we lazed around and watch TV. I went back to bed and fell asleep until it was time to check out. After we checked out, we deposited our luggage at the hotel and walked around the area until 2:30pm. We decided to skip lunch as we were not very hungry. We collected our luggage and decided to check with a taxi that was just parked outside the hotel on how much it would cost to go up to Yangmingshan. It’s a little pricey but we could still afford it. Plus we were not to keen to go up to a crowded bus with our heavy luggage. So we took the taxi up to Landis Resort on Yangmingshan.
The staff were very nice and efficient. The moment they saw the taxi stopping outside their entrance, they came out to greet us and carry our luggage. Then a staff brought us to our room and wished us Happy Valentine’s Day. I had totally forgotten that it was Valentine’s Day! She also informed us that the restaurant had a Valentine’s Day special menu and we immediately went “Er…” She laughed and said we can use the Valentine’s Day menu as a reference. After the staff left, I asked Bell if they thought we were lesbians since we checked in on Valentine’s Day. Bell said that after seeing our reaction to the Valentine’s Day menu, she should know that we are not.
Just in case the Tein He restaurant was crowded, we called and booked a table. Bell spent the rest of the time repacking her luggage while I lay on the tatami mat and watched TV. At 6pm sharp, we went to the restaurant. We were feeling hungry since we skipped lunch. We ordered 3 dishes and had 2 bowls of rice each. While we were waiting for the food to arrive, Bell took a look at the Valentine’s Day special menu. There were many courses, like in a wedding dinner. The dishes didn’t appeal to us so we were glad we did not order the special menu.
Tags: chinese food
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