Archive for July, 2009
Peranakan Inn & Lounge
Sunday, July 26th, 2009
After cycling we decided to just have lunch in the east. We originally wanted to go to Tamon Japanese Restuarant but unfortunately it was closed for lunch. So we ate at Peranakan Inn & Lounge which was a few steps away. It was a simple place, nothing fancy. Food was not bad. I’ve read complaints online that the staff were rude but we were nicely treated. We took a while to decide on the dishes. Sayang and I do not know much about peranakan dishes so we let KKH and TK, who had ate here before, decide.
Peranakan Inn & Lounge
210 East Coast Road
Tel: 64406195
More on the food after the jump
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Tags: peranakan food
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Cycling at East Coast Park
Sunday, July 26th, 2009
KKH, Sayang, TK and I went cycling at East Coast Park. Blackhole, who was supposed to join us, felt a bit under the weather so she decided to give it a miss. While waiting for TK to pick me up from Bedok MRT, I felt a few drops of rain and looked apprehensively at the cloudy sky. Luckily it did not rain and we had a good time cycling. Even though the sun was out, cycling caused a breeze so that I don’t feel too hot. We cycled to the end of East Coast Park which had less people and took some jumping shots in the flower garden. Then it was time to cycle back and return the bicycles. I felt that my cycling skills had improved from the previous time. I was able to handle the bicycle better and remained balanced even at a slower speed. I also no longer hold the handlebars in a death grip. I still wasn’t able to get use to the bicycle’s seat though and just before 2 hours were up, my backside felt a bit painful.
Just as I was congratulating myself for having some improvement in my cycling skills, I collided with someone else and fell. The irony gods must be laughing. You see, in front of me was a boy who was not very steady on his bicycle and kept meandering all over the road. Sayang managed to over take him and it was my turn next. I waited until he was very far on the right, leaving a big gap on the left before I tried to over take him. I sounded my bell and then tried to quickly pedal past him. When I was almost parallel, he suddenly turned towards me. I braked but my bicycle did not stop fast enough and I hit his bicycle and I fell forwards. I had put out my hands to stop my face from hitting the ground. The boy didn’t fall although I think he was quite shocked. To give the boy credit, he did apologize even though Sayang later commented that he had an irritating face and did not look the least apologetic. The boy’s father who was some distance behind, caught up with us and asked what happened. He saw I was alright and cycled off, telling his son to stay behind him.
2-day-old bruise from the fall
As a result of the fall, I had a small cut of my left hand, some bruises and scratches on my legs and I sort of sprain my right wrist and elbow. It was painful to put any weight on it, much less hold the handlebar. So the rest walked with me part of the way until it was no longer so painful and we cycled back the rest of the way. I wasn’t able to hold the handlebar with my right hand so I rested it on the bar instead. It was only a short distance more to go and we made it back without any more mishaps.
Sigh, I can no longer say that I had never fallen while cycling.
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King of Cosmos on Twitter
Friday, July 24th, 2009
Today I found out that the King of Cosmos from the Katamari series, is on Twitter. While the King of Cosmos is not my favorite character from the game, I prefer the silent Prince, he is the only talking character. And the things he says! It is rude, irrelevant, weird and full of self-importance but it is also entertaining.
The King of All Cosmos has arrived! All of my tweets are like shining diamonds in the Cosmos sky!
The day has just begun! It is as young as the newest baby. But does not need milk.
The sky! Does anybody understand it? We cannot. Its mouth is always full of food.
Love is a lot like cake. It can be the greatest thing in the Cosmos, but like cake, we find it unreliable.
Schools of fish!They never graduate.We think maybe they are learning to be doctors.
A snake in the grass is like a noodle in a salad.
The moon can be a bashful guy but, like zebras, can be enticed with friendly emotion to thrive!
We are friends with the moon and we disagree. Often we find him showing off with tricks. Like the eclipse.
Rocks are so lazy. They do nothing but sit around all day and watch us work. They also use our toothbrushes.
I am glad that he retains his characteristic nonsensical speeches.
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Zaika Restaurant
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Garlic and kashmiri naans
Redhead, Mao Mao and I met for dinner at a restaurant in Little India. Zaika Restaurant was located at Race Course Road, along the same stretch as Banana Leaf Apolo and Muthu’s Curry. It was about 10-15 mins walk from Little India MRT. It was a small restaurant that opened sometime early this year. The interior was brightly lit and furnishings were simple.
We were the first customers in the restaurant. Throughout the whole time we were in the restaurant, we only saw 3 other customers. So noise level was very low. Although the restaurant played some Indian songs from Indian movies, the volume was so low that you have to really pay attention to notice it.
There was only 1 waiter. He was a thin, middle aged man with a laid-back manner. Despite his laid-back manner, he had pretty fast reflexes. We witnessed his speedy actions because Redhead accidentally tipped over a bottle and he managed to grab it before it smashed in pieces on the floor. Besides the waiter, we spied 2 cooks in the kitchen and a cleaning staff. And that seemed to be all the people working in the restaurant.
Zaika Restaurant
38 Race Course Road
Tel: 63417621
More on the food after the jump
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Tags: indian food
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Suddenly a birthday lunch
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Suddenly at 11 am, Tong Xiang informed us that Sayang would be free for lunch and asked if we want to hold her lunch celebration today instead of tomorrow. It was hard to round up everyone because people were away for meetings and stuff so we do not know if everyone could make it. We waited as long as we can and then hurriedly made plans to go off in two cars to Sakuraya, a place where both drivers knew how to get there. Stompie will drive Tong Xiang and Sayang while the rest of us secretly went off in Si Hamil’s car.
So Blackhole, Pandi, Spider, Si Hamil and I went off earlier so that we could get a table at Sakuraya. It was Pandi’s first time at the restaurant. He does not like sashimi and we assured him that there were cooked food available. Then the birthday girl group appeared and we all did the super fake “You’re here too? What a coincidence! Oh look! We have 3 empty seats at our table, just right for the three of you!”. Of course Sayang did not buy anything of that and looked at us suspiciously.
We ordered some appetizers like scallop wings and octopus in vinegar. We also had curry croquettes and California maki, and of course no meal at Sakuraya would be complete without sashimi. For the sashimi, we chose salmon, salmon belly, swordfish and yellow tail. I was tempted by the ootoro which looked just like marbled beef but it was also very expensive and I restrained myself.
During lunch, Blackhole mentioned Fine Cuts. She talked about it twice; once in the middle of the meal and at the end of the meal. Each time, she would remind me to call her along if I am going back again. She must really liked it. Blackhole also said that this time she would eat all the US Kobe chuck roll by herself.
Sakuraya
3 South Buona Vista Road
#02-01/02 The Village Centre
Tel: 67736973
Photos of the food after the jump
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Tags: japanese food
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Fine Cuts
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
After our Southern Ridges walk, we decided to go to The Central for lunch. AC did not join us for lunch since she had a toothache so there were only 4 of us. I came up with 2 choices; either ramen or steak. Blackhole suggested that since we had not eaten at the steak place before, we can go and try it. “And,” she added, “if we are still hungry, we can go and eat ramen afterwards.” Of course all of us then proceed to remind her that our appetites are not as big as hers.
The place we ate lunch at was called Fine Cuts, located at the basement of The Central. It looked like a butcher shop, with a counter displaying raw slabs of meat and a big picture of a cow displaying the names of the different cuts. However a few plastic tables and chairs by the side were clues that Fine Cuts was also an eating place. It was a no-frills kind of place.
Fine Cuts was having a promotion at the moment; 3 set meals for $28, including soup and drink. For the meat, there was a choice of US chuck roll, pork loin, pork collar and lamb. We decided to take get the US chuck roll, lamb and one of the pork. I forgot which pork it was. Then for the 4th dish, we decided to get the one of the meats displayed in the counter, plus another $8 for the staff to grill it for us. We decided to get the US Kobe chuck roll which was one of the more expensive cuts of meat.
The soup and drink that came with the set meals were passable. Well, we didn’t have high expectations for the soup since the place’s focus was on the meat. It was pretty good meat too. We asked for the meat to be cooked to medium and they really came out medium so at least the person doing the grilling got standard. The meats were simply seasoned with black pepper and salt so you could really taste the meat. The meats were served with gravy which was either pour on top or in a separate dish. I liked the US Kobe chuck roll best as it was so tender that it almost melt in the mouth. There were also potatoes and coleslaw with the meat. I liked the potatoes and Redhead commented that the coleslaw was not bad either. Altogether we spent around $66.
After we finished our meal, we asked Blackhole if she still wanted to eat ramen. Blackhole paused for 10 seconds before she answered, “No, I think I better save my stomach for dinner.” Then Blackhole turned to me and said, “Remember to call me along the next you come here.”
Fine Cuts
6 Eu Tong Sen St
#B1-44/45 The Central @ Clarke Quay
Tel: 62242101
Photos of the food after the jump
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Tags: western food
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Walking the Southern Ridges
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Redhead came back for a visit and I dragged her for a walk of the Southern Ridges. Also joining us for the first time was AC. The sky was overcast and it looked like it was going to rain any minute. It was a good thing we didn’t call off the walk because it didn’t rain in the end. It just looked very cloudy. The good thing about the clouds was that they blocked out the sun so it wasn’t hot.
Blackhole was the last to arrive. When we saw her, she was already eating something. We laughed at her as the rest of us had not eaten anything yet. Now that everybody arrived, we walked towards Marang Trail. At the start of the trail, Blackhole had already finished whatever she was eating. Then she reached into her bag, took out a muesli bar, opened it and started eating. Of course we all laughed at her again.
All of us brought cameras and AC took a photo every few steps. We joked that she was documenting the whole walk. AC was quiet during the walk and I thought that it was because she found it tiring. Later I found out that AC was suffering from a toothache which was why she was so quiet.
We had a bit of fun at Henderson Waves where we took a few jumping photos. Then as more people appeared, we quickly packed up and left. The walk was interesting as we saw a few creatures. Maybe it was the cloudy day that resulted in them appearing more frequently in the open. We spotted a few squirrels. Redhead mistook one of them for a rat. The squirrels are very nimble and darted in and out of the trees so fast the if you blinked, you would miss them.
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Dreams
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Because I had not had a good sleep for the past 2 days, I decided to take a nap during lunch. I went to Sayang’s area which was off to the side and less traffic-heavy than my seat. Then I fell asleep on Tong Xiang’s chair. He’s on leave so he won’t know, ha ha ha.
Maybe it’s the weird sleeping position, maybe it’s the bright lights, but anyway, I ended up having a lot of dreams. First, I dreamt that Sayang’s project team members came into the room to discuss with her about their project. So I tried to hide behind the partition and pretended I’m not there. Then I stirred and almost woke up, just touching the border dividing wakefulness and sleep, and sank down again into the land of dreams. I continued dreaming and this time I saw more of Sayang’s project team members. One of them was Baldilocks, who left the company a long time ago. I was surprised as he believed strongly in “好马不吃回头草”. I briefly woke up and in my half-groggy state, I made a mental note to check whether he really came back to the company. I went back to sleep again. Hey, lunchtime was only 1 hour, I had to make full use of it. This time one of Sayang’s project team member, I presumed the leader, was very angry. Somehow the accounts that they came up with did not tally. Everybody did their own calculations but no two answers were matched.
I woke again and went back to sleep. The room became dark and old as if years had passed and everything had broken down. The aircon behind Tong Xiang’s cubicle was leaking and Sayang showed me the table right underneath the leaking aircon. The table was soaked and the surface was covered with a layer of mold. “Ewww,” I said. “How could Tong Xiang tahan this?” Then I stirred again and the dream changed. This time the room had magically widen and everything was back to its original condition. I told Sayang, “Hit me so that I can wake up.” Sayang tried but it felt like a tap. “It’s not working,” I said. “Hit me again.” And I woke up before Sayang could hit me a second time.
Bizarre.
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