I apologise for not updating this blog …

I have been suffering from a severe bout of … laziness …

I heard it is incurable …

I guess I am resigned to my fate of lounging around, letting time pass, not doing anything productive, and basically being a waste of space …

I know you guys are sympathetic …

I will accept donations of any form …

Cash would be good …

Anything to soothe this terrible affliction of mine …

I will try to stay strong …

But know that the odds are against me …

It is genetic …

It got my dad … and his dad …

It is our burden to bear …

Sporadically, I will exit my stupor …

And you will hear from me …

Cherish those moments …

zzzzZZZZzzz …

Address: Changi Airport Terminal 3, Singapore
Date of visit: 30 May 2008

I went to the spanking new Changi Airport Terminal 3 for the first time. It was certainly impressive. Big atrium. Walls with green foliage. High ceilings with well lit natural like lighting. Everything was well thought out and planned. Meticulous effort placed into ensuring things were where they should be. The works. The Singapore Way.

However, with the wow factor subsiding, there was a gradual realization that the place was very much a shell. There was no soul to the place. It was cold, calculating… dead. Things were clinical. A very well though out master plan with not much room for emotional input and expression. The Singapore Way.

It may be due to the fact that there were not many airlines operating from Terminal 3 or I had encountered a low peak period. I hope this place gets infused with life. I have always loved airports. It may be because it usually means that I get to leave this place for short periods of time for my holiday. A chance to get away and experience change. A way to experience cultures different from the Singapore Way.

I was not on a trip. It was another happy occasion - celebrating a friend’s belated birthday at Sakae Teppanyaki.

I have not had many chances to experience Teppanyaki. It was frankly quite exciting. Who wouldn’t be excited by the fine and dandy cutlery placed in preparation for our dinner…hur hur.

There were 5 of us. We had quickly made an assessment and gone for their Beef Set which seemed to be the most value for money. There was a dissenting view with a solitary person going for the Chicken Set instead.

Love it when there is clear effort placed in preparation of an impending dinner. It was especially satisfying when the meal preparer does the deed in full view of the patrons.

Our Beef Set started with the Chawanmushi prepared on the hot surface. Quite a feat as a friend of mine keeps mentioning to me his various failed attempts at preparing the dish in the comfort of his home.

The unique factor here was that they used some sort of onion bowl to contain the egg mix. Prawns and crab sticks are then ladled into the bowl to cook.

The novelty and presentation factor increased the score for this dish. Excellent.

The Sets all came with Salad. Tomato, lettuce, some gooey condiment or sauce.

On to the main courses. Oil was used liberally.

The smoke generated was removed through the ingenious use of a erm…”sucker” or air vent. This was located behind the grills in the picture. I found it intriguing.

The main course for the Chicken Set was done up first. There was Tofu, a full Oyster, Squid and of course the Chicken Meat. We hazarded a guess that the other items were added to increase the attractiveness of the set and thus justify its price of around S$19.

The chef, not sure if we could really call them chefs, then started cutting up the Squid. I wonder how much training these cooks get before they are sent to the front line. As a kid, I would probably aspire to be a Teppanyaki cook if I ever encountered one. You get to handle knives and cut things up. Not in a psycho way though. It would be rather horrifying if a Teppanyaki chef suddenly runs amok - suddenly jumping over the counter and pressing a patron’s face against the hot metal surface when the said patron had the temerity to ask for ketchup to go with his meat or something…

Maybe that was why we were all rather well behaved with our chef. No special requests whatsoever.

The Squid was done up with Garlic and some Dark Soy Sauce.

It was pretty well executed. The squid was not overcooked and had the right texture.

The next item in the repertoire that was our Beef Set was the Foie Gras. This was to me the highlight of the day.

To hell with the suffering of anonymous geese, this was gastronomical enjoyment at its peak. My lament was that we were only served with three paltry pieces of liver.

Our Beef quickly followed in turn. Not too bad either. Again, Garlic was the main seasoning used.

We thought that our dinner was concluded then. But the Chef then brought a whole load of Mushrooms to the table. As expected, Garlic figured in the preparation. No complains though as the mushrooms went very well with the by now familiar taste of the pungent spice.

The Chef also whipped out the Rock of Salt. The Salt was ground into the Mushroom. Erm…I am probably not conveying in text the excitement we had when we first saw the huge ass piece of salt. It was exciting. Although on hindsight, the reasoning now escapes me.

Total cost of dinner was around S$110++ for 4 Beef Sets and 1 Chicken Set and a healthy dose of garlic breath for the rest of the evening.

Address: 119/121 East Coast Road, Singapore 428806
Tel: +65 62477857, +65 63462131
Operation Hours: 11.30am to 11.00pm, closed on 1st Monday of every month
Date of visit: 6 April 2008

Food. Why is there such an obsession in our little country?

Restaurants sprouting out in every nook and cranny. Food reviews and articles populating our newspapers and media. Everyone and someone is a food critic or food blogger. Entrepreneurship aspirations for the executive crowd being predominantly in the food and beverage direction…. Everything revolves around food of somewhat.

Ask someone to describe Singapore to a foreigner..and inevitably the topic of how the food is fantastic in the country would come up. There will hardly be any sharing on the mechanics of our unique political system..or the vibrancy of our street culture…or even the character of our people. No. Instead we will be relating how our national dish is (i) chili crab, (ii) chicken rice, (iii) laksa…etc. There will be boasting on how people should come try out our food courts and hawker food. On how there would be always a food stall or outlet open in our city state.

Forty plus years of national building and our national identity is de-constructed into either (i) a crustacean boiled in some spices, (ii) a fowl left to boil in its own stock and with some boiled rice, or (iii) noodles boiled in gravy.

What the hell is going on? Would it be because our stifling environment is such that the question of where to dine is the only safe topic left? To avoid stumbling into some sort of sensitive issue, and going against some rule and guideline, we turn to food as the last haven of free debate…

Thus…my next food posting. Ironic and a bit sad…

There have been many positive reviews on Astons Specialties. This has contributed to the long queue of would-be patrons waiting their turn to be seated. I would normally have given the place a miss but the queue was slightly shorter that day.

The eatery does not have the most spacious of dining areas. In fact, the decor reminded me of a Hans eatery or a more run down Jack’s Place eatery.

Bloggers all over the country (you know who you guys are…) have been raving about their steak dishes, particularly their Wagyu Beef. And so, we tried the Wagyu 5/6 200gms item (S$38.90, which I suppose is cheap for Wagyu). The verdict. It was a nice piece of meat. Yup. You heard it. It was ok.  Nicely marbled.  However, although we asked for medium rare, it was a little bit overdone for our taste.

We also had the Ieat Super Burger (S$12.50). This was pieces of beef stacked with lettuce, onion rings, tomato and assorted garnishing packed in between two slices of sesame seed bun (anyone remember that promotion from McDonald’s where you had to recite a few verses from their advertisement to get a free burger or something…I remember, as I failed in getting the burger due to my poor pronunciation…I was only like 8 years old then…trauma man).

It was not bad lah.

Oh well, at some point in time, we must acknowledge that food is just poo(p) with nutrients waiting to be extracted by our bodies (hmm…sounds quite deep if I can say). Thus I could say Astons served its purpose that day.

Address: 69 Seng Poh Lane, Near Tiong Bahru Market, Singapore
Date of visit: 12 May 2008

A few quips on MSN messenger, a quick string of email replies and a phone call later, dinner plans was made for a bunch of old friends to gather over some local zi char food at Por Kee Eating House in Tiong Bahru.

The reason for the gathering was mainly to indulge with local fare with a good friend who had just returned from Beijing for a little R&R back home in Singapore. Por Kee was a reasonable choice. Situated just next to a carpark and with a open air dining area, it was supposed to be an institution with regards to good Cantonese dishes.

We had not had many chances to have a proper sit-down dinner. Work commitments, married life, not being in the same country were just some of the reasons. But no matter. This group of friends go way back. Ties were established in Primary school, reinforced in Secondary school and Junior College and kept strong in our adult years. When the gang arrived, it was as if we were back in our youth. There was no break in our conversation as we updated each other on our lives and reverted back to form in teasing each other (more often than not using crude and vulgar terms). This was what friendship was all about - being totally comfortable and at ease in each other’s company. This was something that was precious and could not be acquired for any amount of money (erm…ok…I would probably be best pals with anyone who would be willing to splurge huge amounts of cash on me spending my time in his/her company…).

The banter was broken when the first dish arrived. Sambal Kang Kong. A perennial local favorite that was not commonly found outside of South East Asia. It suited our taste buds just fine with the hot spicy sambal overpowering the taste of vegetables. Just the way I like it.

The Chef’s Special Toufu/Beancurd Dish is a specialty here. It got the thumbs up from our dining party. I agree wholeheartedly to the assessment.

The Crispy Chicken was ok. It came with the decoration of flower that was made from flour. That is something that is not commonly seen nowadays. It probably signifies the era this restaurant belongs to. A good thing in this age where there is so much emphasis on development and progress. The popularity of this restaurant could be representative of the longing for simpler and older times perhaps.

Another signature dish came along - the Campaign Pork Ribs. They were huge and extremely succulent. We were all presented with fork and knives to handle our huge portion of meat. I stripped all the meat from the bone and left a very pristine piece of rib behind. Yum.

Well…it was then that the conversation reverted to one of our friend’s probable departure to a country in the Middle East for work. It started out well with genuine concern over how our friend would adapt to the new environment and culture and questions on the scope of his new work. That lasted for about five minutes before we degenerated into a discourse on how the lack of pork and their by-products (we assumed that a ban exists) and internet porn (similarly, our impression of the place includes the total absence of such access) would bode badly for our friend. Various suggestions were thrown up for him to fulfill his needs while there - it mainly involved him smuggling huge quantities of DVD and Bah Kwa through courier services at the risk of him getting stoned in public or having his hands chopped off.

Our night winded down with the restaurant’s recommendation of their Seafood Udon Noodles and a few bottles of Tiger Beer. Total cost of the dinner for seven was S$150.

It was only on my way back home that I got myself into a melancholic mood. There will be less chances to meet with these dear friends of mine. More of them were venturing overseas for work. It is with some selfishness that I wished that things would remain as they are. That they would only be an SMS away in the same time zone (and with no freaking additional IDD chances involved in making that connection). That I could call them for supper or for kopi at a moment’s notice. That we could continue to bitch about the going ons in this country…

Address: 3 Temasek Boulevard #B1-056, Suntec City Mall, Singapore 038988
Tel: +65 6835 7707
Website: www.muthuscurry.com
Date of visit: 28 March 2008

It is that time of year again that involves me suffering a loss of appetite, general malaise and fatigue.
Yes, I am talking about my annual IPPT event. The physical fitness test that Singaporean males are subjected to as part of their national service commitment.

It is said that the great writers commonly tapped on the turmoil and despair that they experienced to produce their great literary work. Well…I am experiencing much turmoil and depression now…but it does not seem to have given me any inspiration to write. On the other hand, it might be because fretting over a physical fitness test does not really count and that erm…I am probably not on par with the James Joyce and Tolkien of the world…hack…my writing skills probably have as much significance to the literary world as the Russell Lee series of True Singapore Ghost Stories.

This year is slightly worse. My wife is not in town. My parents are away on holiday. I thus have no one to whine to. That is truly a hellish prospect…unable to unload my petty troubles onto others..arrgghh. Anyway, if I do pass my IPPT, I resolve to indulge myself in the most sinful food and to take time off to check out that niggling pain in my feet (heh …heh…wink).

On the topic of sinful food, Indian fare ranks quite high up that list. On this occasion, my dinner was spent at Muthu’s Curry @ Suntec City with my wife and the father-in-law. Muthu’s Curry is a home grown Indian eatery made good. The original eatery is located at Race Course Road. They now have a swanky and modern branch in the heart of the city area. I remember visiting the place when it was still quite spartan and erm…less elaborate in its decor.

The waiters there were dressed in spiffy uniforms and they took our orders with fancy PDAs. The default drink to have at a Indian restaurant would be the lime juice (S$2.50 per glass). It is thirst quenching and more importantly helps negate that burning sensation of the chili and curry spices going riot in your mouth.

Our first dish was the Mushroom Masala (S$9.00). Assorted mushrooms in erm…Masala (as I have mentioned..do not expect to find any literary gems here). It was quite good.

In fact, I could have wolfed down the rice with just the papadams and the curry gravy. This, I suspect, is what many of the Indian foreign workers in Singapore do - of course their rice will not cost S$0.50 per serving.

Besides rice, we ordered one Plain Naan (S$2.50), a Butter Naan (S$3.00) and a Tandoori Roti (S$2.50). The Naans were fluffy and quite a treat. Do pass on the Tandoori Roti though. It was rather tough and nondescript in taste.

We, of course, ordered their signature dish of Fish Head Curry (S$20). I must foreclose that I am not a fan of fish nor a fanatic of the fish head curry (ok..ok…I was trying to do some alliteration here…obviously it turned out contrived..). I do appreciate that this dish will appeal to many. The curry had a tangy taste and had a marked difference from the more commonly available chicken curry.

The Mutton Vindaloo (S$9.00) was a good choice too. Although by that time, our taste buds had already been inundated by all the curry spices. The mutton was succulent and the gravy rich and flavorful.

Sigh…can’t wait to stuff myself with fat..