Address: 1018 East Coast Parkway #02-01, Singapore 449877

I hate datelines. I hate the thought that our lives are governed by the necessity of accomplishing predefined tasks within the confines of time limits. It cheapens our existence. It reduces us to mere automatons working mindlessly on a factory floor.

Birthdays are also a form of datelines. An inching of one’s life towards the inevitable. A marker that identifies how much (or how little) a person has done prior to the date. My mum celebrated one such marker at Ju Shin Jung (East Coast). I wonder if she has thoughts on her own mortality. I did. I do hope that she has a blessed life ahead. And I hope that I play a part in seeing that she achieves that.

Pardon me for the sombre mood. I am listening to sad Beyond songs in the middle of the night. In addition, just today, I had someone impress on me the need to get hospitalisation insurance for the parents…heh.

Back to Ju Shin Jung. I had visited the West Coast outlet before. I had expected a similar standard from this branch. This outlet was obviously much bigger. And smokier. Huge expanse of concrete floors and bright fluorescent lights brings to mind a factory floor rather than a restaurant (note the “connection” I made between my earlier paragraph on factory floor and datelines…smart rite..hahahaha).

The service here was rather slow. Much slower than their West Coast outlet. These people obviously did not take seriously to the concept of time or datelines (heh heh…another “connection”).

We started off with some noodle dish. The clear strands of noodles mixed with carrots, mushrooms, radishes tasted better than it looked.

Progressing to the Bi Bim Bap. It was heartwarming to have my parents oooh and ahh while I was mixing up the contents. It was their first time having Korean food. I resolve to provide them more opportunities to obtain new experiences.

The parents obviously took to the idea of getting free refills of the Korean side dishes. You could literally see my father’s eyes widen with disbelief that there were no charges for all those little plates of food.

The differentiating factor between the West Coast and East Coast branches was that the latter had the boasting rights of using charcoal for their BBQ. I didn’t really see the attraction of the charcoal fire considering that they were placed under the grill, below the table, and very, very near my crotch.

Frankly, the meat that we were given for the BBQ were cut too thick. They were not marinated well enough too. It was quite a disappointment.

Total cost: around $150 for a meal for 6. Stick to the West Coast branch, I say.