Archive for June, 2009
Wallpapers: After the rain
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
Here are 12 wallpapers made from photos I took after it rained. You can still see the water droplets on them. As usual, they are available in 2 sizes:
- 1024 x 768
- 1280 x 1024
The links are below the photo. Just click on the size you want and wait for the picture to load. Once the picture had fully loaded, you can right-click to save the image or set it as wallpaper.
Enjoy the wallpapers after the jump
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The Queen and Mangosteen Gourmet British Pub
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
After we had bathed and changed into clean clothes after the walk, we went to Vivocity for dinner. It was pretty late by then and the original restaurant we wanted to go to had closed its kitchen. So we went to The Queen and Mangosteen Gourmet British Pub instead. Most of the tables were filled and we were given one of the empty tables near the entrance. It was a small alcove off the side and separated from the main dining area. It wasn’t that bad as we were away from the crowd and noise. The waitresses also came frequently to see if we needed anything.
The waitress informed us (well, me actually since I was the only one with a camera) that we were not allowed to take photos of the food in the restaurant. I managed to take 2 photos before she told us. But since she was very nice about it, I will be obedient and not post any photos of the food.
Since this is a pub, there was no lack of alcoholic drinks. There were Archipelago beers which were always interesting and nice. All of us ordered the beer. Sayang, TK and I order Samui while Blackhole ordered Apsara Lager. For those who do not like beers, there were also wines and cocktails.
Food was divided into nibblers and main courses. Even though the nibblers were finger foods, they were also quite filling. We ordered 1 side, 4 nibblers and 2 main courses. I ordered a yorkshire pudding with gravy ($5) because I wanted to see what it tasted like. I kept reading about it in books but I didn’t had the chance to eat it. There were 3 yorkshire puddings in one serving so it’s too much for 1 person. The yorkshire pudding was pretty nice on its own but it tasted even better when paired with the oniony gravy.
It seemed that all nibblers came with their own sauce:
- Fish and chips came with curry tartare sauce ($14)
- Mini hamburgers and chips came with ketchup ($18)
- Fried chicken wings with Hoi Sin sauce came with chilli sauce ($12)
- Samui beer battered onion rings came with Thai chilli sauce ($9)
I liked all the nibblers except for the onion rings. The fish was nice and still moist on the inside. All of us liked the curry tartare sauce. I liked the mini hamburgers which were simple but tasty. The chips (or fries, as I preferred to call them) that accompanied the fish and mini hamburgers were fluffy and nice It came in a small bucket and there was so much that 4 of us couldn’t finish them. The chicken wings were not bad either although there was so much flavour from the Hoi Sin sauce that there was no need for the chilli sauce. I wasn’t impressed with the onion rings and Blackhole and Sayang also felt the same way. Sayang felt that there was too much batter.
There was a small debate between TK and the rest of us about which sauce came with the mini hamburgers. TK tried it first and said it was BBQ sauce. Then the rest of us tried it one by one and all of us told TK, “It’s ketchup!” We were all like, “How could you mistake ketchup for BBQ sauce?” TK didn’t believe us and thought we ganged up together to bluff him. So he called the waitress over and she confirmed that it was ketchup while giving him a puzzled look. It was pretty funny.
For the main courses, we ordered:
- Wild mushroom risotto with asparagus and oven-dried tomatoes ($22)
- Roasted rack of lamb with rosemary potatoes, grilled asparagus and mint yoghurt ($29)
We had the lamb cooked to a medium well and it was nice and tender. I liked it as it was cooked to just the right amount, neither too cooked nor too raw. Blackhole and Sayang liked the risotto which they said was very nice. I still preferred the lamb though. Maybe it was because there was no meat in the risotto, so it was just okay to me, ha ha ha!
I think the service at the pub was good. The waitresses were all friendly and attentive. When we finished our beer, the waitress came over and asked if we would like to order more beer. After we declined, she offered to get us some water and came back with two bottles of cold water. I thought it was a nice gesture.
Tags: alcoholic drinks, western food
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A long walk after work
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
This is Blackhole and Sayang’s attempt to get me to exercise. We were joined by two other guys and we went for a long, long walk which lasted for 3 hours. One of the guys lead the way and the rest of us just followed.
Once we saw an unfamiliar bird in a tree and TK asked, “What is it called?” Blackhole replied, “It’s a dalmatian.” After hearing Blackhole’s answer, we laughed while she tried to explain that she thought we were asking about the dog in the house nearby. Part 2 of the joke happened when we passed by the gate of the house and the dog came to up to take a look at us. Blackhole took a look at the dog and said, “Oh, I saw wrongly, it’s not a dalmatian.” All of us stared at her and I answered, “Blackhole, that dog IS a dalmatian.” And all of us burst into laughter.
All this happened in the beginning of the walk where we still had energy to laugh. It was a slow walk for the rest but it was long and tiring walk for me. Blackhole and Sayang asked me a few times if I was alright as I was very quiet. I was feeling pretty tired by then and I had to fully concentrate on walking to be able to finish the journey. I did manage to finish the walk. The bottom of my feet were hurting so it was a relief to be able to sit down and take my weight off them.
It was almost 9pm when we finished the walk. We did not have dinner yet but I wasn’t hungry. I felt tired more than hungry and exhaustion suppressed the appetite.
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Mao Mao gave me a dirty look
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Mao Mao flipped through her planner and noticed an unfamiliar word – “Zaika” – written at the top right corner of the page. Since I had been doodling in her planner recently, she turned and gave me a dirty look.
“What is this?” she asked in an accusing tone while still giving me a dirty look.
“It’s the name of the Indian restaurant I was telling you about yesterday,” I replied.
“Oh. Then you should have written “Indian restaurant” beside it. Otherwise how am I supposed to know?” Mao Mao replied.
“I told you yesterday already,” I grumbled but I drew a sign showing “The Indian restaurant”. Then I added, “I bet you thought it was the name of some Indian actor.”
Mao Mao laughed, “How did you know?”
“It’s in your dirty look,” I replied. And since she asked for it, I drew a cartoon of a indian man in her planner, which resulted in more dirty looks from Mao Mao.
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Snippet
Friday, June 19th, 2009
Human interaction is overrated.
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Snippet
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
Wow, I managed to do 9 push-ups before I couldn’t that it any more. And I was thinking that given how unfit I am, I would be lucky to even manage 5. Sometimes I amazed myself. Ha ha ha!
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New York Cheesecake
Monday, June 15th, 2009
During lunch, my colleague mentioned that she bought Bakerzin’s New York Cheesecake. She said it was very nice and it was only promotion until the end of the month. I was tempted and stopped by the Bakerzin outlet at Vivocity on the way home. I recently declined going for a performance and thus saved myself some money. I figured that I could afford to splurge myself a little. I bought a small New York Cheesecake so that my family could eat it as well. I was so excited about my purchase that I ate a slice before I even ate dinner! It was very nice. It was soft, creamy and light, unlike some cheesecakes which were heavy. It almost felt like it just melted away in the mouth. Ah, I’m quite glad that I went to buy it.
Tags: bakery
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Photos: Polar walks the Southern Ridges
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
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