Rajipoo's Gore-may Blog

Strawberry salad

2009-04-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

I dunno who I was trying to fool, but i tried eating a salad for lunch. No prizes for guessing if i was satiated or not. I ended up going to Botak Jones for a cheeseburger.

Mentaiko pasta

2009-04-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

I had the good fortune of getting some mentaiko from Kyushu and despite having it with only once before, i had never tried cooking with it. Got a recipes off the net and it turned out quite well. Brown some onions, add cream, mayo and then the mentaiko(broken out of the egg sac) . Toss in cooked pasta, top with a boiled egg and garnish with nori strips.
Delish.

Brekkie at Han's

2009-03-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just need a something basic like bacon, eggs and toast, pure comfort food.

Red Star Dim Sum

2008-06-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

Its been ages since I had old school tim sum, the kind that came around to you by a lady pushing a cart around the restaurant and u pick what u want to have from the cart... Just brings back childhood memories of having tim sum at Prince Room with my parents at the now torn down Selegi Complex. It was quite crowded at Red Star that morning, having to queue for about 30mins before we got a table. The fare was quite average really, with my dining companions saying that the standard has dropped quite a bit. We ordered dish after dish hoping that the next one would taste better that the last. By the time we were halfway thru eating, i realised that i was already full from drinking so much tea cos of the salty dim sum. Some items like the yam puff and glutenous rice wrapped in lotus leaf was decent, but items that i recommended by friends like the egg tart was disappointing because of a chemical aftertaste.
Well , at least the ambiance was nice, tacky but strangely comforting.

Inspirasi Mee Soto

2008-05-15T03:21:00.000-07:00

Just when i was in the Bedok area, the famous Mee Soto stall just had to be closed! Another time perhaps...

No Sign Board Crab Bee Hoon

2008-05-06T02:32:00.000-07:00

This is just one of the most awesome recent discoveries that I have made, or rather tasted. I have heard of crab bee hoon for ages, but finally got myself to go try some. Not exactly cheap at 40 bucks for 1 plate(1 big ass crab), it is kinda steep... but ok for an occasional treat! I was on my way back when i asked the driver to drop me off at No Sign Board at the infamous Geylang red light district. Feeling out of place i thought i just tar-pow my late night craving to devour in the comfort of home. Its a little greasy with a bit of kick from the chilli and pepper but the noodles are just so tasty! Rather heavy and I don't recommend eating it at midnight, best leave that to a professional like me.

Casuarina curry

2008-05-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

Ok boys and girls, its time again for me to diss food places.... I ended up at this prata place in the north of Singapore totally by accident. I wont go into details, but getting a lift from a golf driving range by a golf lesson course-mate ended up with me joining them at this place that serves fare that is quite alien to me. The prata here is like a cracker, even worse that the rubbish they serve at Jalan Kayu. How hard is it to find crispy yet fluffy prata these days *sigh*. I won't go into detail about the curry cos that was just not nice at all. But being in new company had me on my best behaviour and ate as much as i politely could. I am sure this place has a loyal following judging from the packed dining area, but maybe i should recommend a better prata place in time to come.

Chanko Nabe

2008-03-18T04:59:00.000-07:00

Its been cold and wet lately so i suggested to Mako to have steamboat for dinner but instead he suggested having chanko nabe, which is basically the same thing but Japanese. Chanko being the the staple food of Sumo wrestlers does not make you bulk up into a Yokozuna cos it is relatively healthy, you just need to eat a sumo portion to pack on the pounds. Many retired sumo wrestlers open up chanko restaurants in Japan but we didnt expect this one to be owned by one too as the waitress pointed this out as we were looking at the sumo wrestler photos on the wall.

The hotpot comes to the table with most ingredients already in the pot, so the fire is turned on for you and you just wait for it too cook. We had a couple of pretty tasty appertizers while the chanko was cooking.

Pretty awsome sashmi. Note the thickness. Practically melts in your mouth.

Devine deepfried tenticles.

Cant remember what this is called, but its basically fried minced tofu with other things in it.

The chanko's flavour is light yet tasty and with further cooking, the broth tasted even better...

Finally the diner is given a choice to finish off the soup either by just drinking it, adding udon or rice into it. We decided to have it with rice and to my surprise, it was cooked by the waitress at the table for a good 5 minutes and turnd into porridge! Not what i had in mind but good none the less.

Nanjing Steamed Bun Restaurant

2008-03-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

Nanjing Steamed Bun Restaurant in Bugis Junction is quite a gem. Good xiao long bao, i think better than Din Tai Fung. They have big ass soup dumplings that is just filled with soup and even comes with a straw. Scalding hot so sip with caution.

Chatterbox chicken rice

2008-01-20T23:58:00.000-08:00

*Sigh* Just my luck to finally try the famous Chatterbox chicken rice, only to be disappointed by dry, tasteless and rubbery chicken. I know it was the breasts part (which i prefer, stay away thigh fans!) but if done right, breasts can be very tasty. My dining partner who is a Chatterbox dining veteran(also a chicken breasts fan btw) said it tasted far better on his previous visits...Everything else was good tho, the chilli and rice was perfect.
Oh well, will just stick to Boon Tong Kee and 5 Star Hainanese chicken rice.

Wedding Bells

2007-11-23T00:02:00.000-08:00

Marie tied the knot today and she and her mum made these excellent suji cupcakes as party favours.

Gone in 60 seconds

Masala Prata

2007-11-22T23:59:00.001-08:00

This is a recent invention that i have only found in a Tampines prata shop. Its a prata filled with potato masala(same stuff u get in a masala thosai). Looks sinful but was not greasy. Total comfort food!

2007-11-22T23:19:00.000-08:00

I never got the logic to paying for fish head curry until today. I mean why eat the head which is full of bones when u can eat the body of the fish which has more flesh than a head. Anyway on my last trip to Banana Leaf Apollo with M, he requested for fish head curry...I tried to up sell the chicken masala and fried mutton(which was all that i cared to eat there). Of course i reluctantly ordered it too as M wanted to try the fish head. Turns out its actually quite nice...the soft bones were nice to suck on tho i am not big on the jelly like brain bits(best part according to some connoisseurs), the flesh was actually quite sweet and soft while the gravy complimented the fish very well...

I don't know weather i should feel tickled or disgusted, but seeing this white person eat using the fingers on his left hand left me perplexed. Felt like telling him that the left hand is reserved for cleaning your arse after a shit, but i could not be arsed. hehe.

Xiao Long Bao

2007-11-21T20:04:00.000-08:00

I am a total newcomer to the world of these evil little devils, they are so addictive and delish. Apparently they were all the rage in the mid 90s in New York and Din Tai Fung was ranked one of the world's top 10 restaurants by the New York Times in the 90s. I dont think i can agree with the moron gourmets that write for NYT but i can definitely count more than 10 restaurants better than Din Tai Fung. Not that i dont like these morsels of flavour, but i think the bland western tastebud has a long way to go before making a stupid top 10 list of the best restaurants in the world. OK i wont go off tangent here. Back to these dumplings. I have read about them and expected them to be a little bigger, maybe the size of a char siew pau with a few spoonfuls of the soup, but can be devoured quite easliy in one mouthful, soup and all.

Service was prompt and polite, the soup dumplings pretty nice, stir-fried dou miao light and refreshing, minced duck with tofu almost addictive and the drunken chicken not bad. It was served chilled, not something that i was expecting but as I later found out it is not that easy to make. We also had a bowl of beef brisket noodle which was quite average...

Vindaloooooo

2007-11-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

I am not sure what possessed me to make a vindaloo but I think someone in the office was eating it at their desk as I could smell the spicy and pungent smell wafting from somewhere... My last memory eating vindaloo was when i was about 9 or 10 and it was terribly spicy, but decided to give it a go now as I think my now not-so-delicate palate would be able to take it and probably enjoyed it too. Its pretty easy to make actually, just need a lot of onions(equal amount in weight to the amount of meat being used). Basically cubed meat is marinated in the blended vindaloo spice combo with some vinegar, garlic and ginger paste. After marinating for a few hours its added to browned onions and simmered for an hour with loads of split green chillies. Quite exciting to see the colour change from a pale to a rich brown colour, almost like rendang! Its pretty spicy cos of the green chillies and dried red chillies that was added into the spice mix. The texture of the gravy was slightly grainy from the partially ground coriander and mustard seeds. Fiery and will definitely give you gas...
Tastes better the next day!

Godzilla Da Pao

2007-05-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this is a gimmick or if it has been around but I definitely have not seen a pao that is almost as big as a face. I decided to get it after seeing it in the heated display at the food court near my place.

Thought it would be enough for me as i was pretty hungry but i decided to share it with Jac as it looked like a lot after tearing it apart. The filling tasted pretty normal but it had a few unusual ingredients like, crab stick surimi, lapcheong, some slivers of fish cake. Think i tasted a bit of salted egg yolk in it too.

Overall it was alright but felt quite thirsty after eating it. MSG perhaps...

Last day

2006-07-23T23:57:00.000-07:00

I went to meet Shinya for lunch today and on my way there I realised how the native males have a terrible fondness for handbags or rather, man-bags as they are now called.

Lunch was at a traditional Japanese restaurant where most of the locals were having a Sunday lunch. I decided against having any raw fish today cos my tummy felt funny after all those beers and very spicy grade 7 coco curry last night. So I took a safe bet and had a Oyako donburi setto. I kinda wished I had something a little different but since i was gonna be leaving japan but I decided against it.

Did some last minute shopping and rushed back to the shoebox. We were running terribly late, any later and I would have missed my flight for sure.

Managed to get one nice picture on the train there of the paddy fields...

After a pretty harrowing check in and a hurried goodbye to Neil, I realised I was the last one to board but not before a very through screening before boarding, almost short of a strip search, no thanks to my accidental terrorist look(unshaven beard and green military-esq shirt)

On board, the food was nasty.

Read all about it here.
When will i every be bumped up to business class??

Day 16

2006-07-23T06:09:00.000-07:00

I woke up with quite a terrible hangover and I just wanted to stay in bed, but i had to meet Neil, Mariko-san and her friends for Mariko's birthday lunch.

We met at Shibuya and headed to an Italian restaurant(Mariko digs Italian food). We each order a different entree and to my surprise we all had little side plates to share the different pasta dishes. I wondered if it was a Japanese thing to split your main course like that but I guess the girls wanted to try each other's dishes.

Dessert came in the form of a birthday platter for Mariko, topped with various desserts that the restaurant had on offer.

This is So. He has a voracious appetite

A very big cone

So likes being swung

After saying our goodbyes to Mariko and her friends, I took Neil to the amusement park next to Tokyo Dome to ride on the Thunder Dolphin, a roller coaster ride. We must have gone on it at least 3 times.

We had such a blast that Neil insisted that we did the touristy thing and purchase the photo that they take while riding the roller coaster(of course we had to strike a posed).

We had one last meal at Coco curry, Neil as usual had the Katsu.

I was more adventurous and had 2 small curries of varying levels of heat. One a grade one(left plate which had no taste of curry whatsoever, and the other a grade 9 which was quite unbearable(right plate).

We head back to the shoebox and to Neil's horror he comes across a cockroach on the wall. He smacks it with a roll of newspaper and puts it in the toilet bowl...

...and gives it the ultimate insult by taking a shit on it

Fun with some souvenir stockings that we got from the sex shop that was run by a middle aged Japanese woman.

A last romp around Baraki Nakayama

Good old ciggie vending machine

....and a beer vending machine!

A last stop at the convenience store for a bento

One last bento

Day 15

2006-07-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

Ok I have one last full day to myself. Neil has gone away to the coast with Mariko where they will celebrate her birthday but I will still be meeting them and a few or Mariko's friends tomorrow for a birthday lunch.

I head down to Tokyo Station in the morning where it was pissing down. I didn't relish walking around the whole day in wet shoes so I decided to stay indoors. Did window shopping in Ginza after breakfast at Tokyo station.

Scrambled eggs, toast and a sliver of ham. I have yet to see brown or whole grain bread here, only white.

Lunch was a selection of Chinese styled dumplings from the food hall of Seiyu but there was just no where to sit and eat. I walked and walked in the maze of underground passages that linked all the malls and subways. Not a single bench in sight. The steps of a staircase would suffice but if they were not wet from the rain and the constant flow of human traffic I almost gave up hope until I chanced upon a bench near the underground entrance to one of the malls. Balancing the flimsy plastic tray on my lap and pouring soy sauce onto the lid, I tried to devour all of it asap after realising that I was sitting just outside the toilets.

I chanced upon these lovely crunchy bits on sale at one of the food halls in Ginza. Very nice.

The weather being too wet for any outdoor photograpy I decided to visit a few museums in Meguro.
One of them was the very informative Meguro Parasite Museum

We are full of parasites

And birds too

And cats!

Oishi

There were other not so plesant pictures that I took at the parasite museum but I figured its not something that should be on a food blog.

Standing ramen stall in Meguro...I wanted to try it but I was still full from the dumplings I had for lunch.

I head down to Shinjuku to do a little bit more shopping followed by a night of drinking.

Shinjuku is abuzz with people going everywhere.

The anti-smoking signs placed in the designated smoking areas on the street are so cute!

Downtown Shinjuku at night
The rest of the night was an alcohol-induced haze and i don't want to go into detail. Details will be given upon request ;)

Day 14 -Sumo town, Akihabara, Asakusa

2006-07-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

Big ass shorts
I finally made it to Ryogoku where the sumo stables are located. But upon walking around Sumo town and finding not a single sumo wrestler in sight, I found out later that the they were all at a tournament in Nagoya. Dissapointed, I walked over to the Edo-Tokyo museum but decided not to go in as I felt like I should make the most of this sunny day and not spend time indoors.

I considered having Chanko-Nabe, a hearty one pot dish with noodles, vegetables with meat of seafood eaten by Sumo wrestlers but I was a bit worried that the portion would be exceptionally huge and would be unable to finish it.

I have heard of maid cafes but nun cafes?
I leave for Akihabara to do some shopping. I can't afford any kind of electronic gadgets(thats what this place is famous for) but instead got some retro ultramen monsters figurines.

Some other crazy shit that is available here in Akihabara
I walk around finding a place to eat and stumble across a signboard that had a few hearty looking stews on the menu.

mmmmmmmm......

I had about 2 hours before meeting my friend Akira so I squeezed in a quick visit to the nearby Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. I visited this place back in 2001 but it has gotten even more touristy since then, with a plethora of shops with covered walkways leading to the temple.

Worshippers that visit the temple let smoke from the insence pot linger onto their body-apparently its healing.

A fugu(pufferfish) shop - another thing that I didn't get to eat

Tabi-toe divider shoes

I finally saw the Phillip-Stark designed Asahi building when leaving Sensoji, had wanted to find it on my previous trip but didn't have enough time. I would have wanted to go to the bar and museum there but it was getting late and had to meet Akira.

Weird signs along the way

No standing?

Great view from the top of Tokyo Dome hotel.
At Idabashi Akira takes me to Tokyo Dome hotel for drinks and later dinner at a Yakitori styled place that had too many things on the menu.

I didn't eat that much after the late lunch at Akihabara but wask kinda peckish by the time I got back to Baraki Nakayama. I got me a super yummy sandwhich from the convienence store

and some fried chicken that the Engrish boy didn't agree with

Day 13 - Tsukiji

2006-07-19T23:50:00.000-07:00

Yet another rainy day in Tokyo but I only have a few days left here so I had better make a trip to Tsukiji rain or shine.

I braved the rush hour crowd with Neil.

Tsukiji fishmarket is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind. The suprisingly unfishy-smelling expanse which sees 2000 metric tons of seafood pass through daily is not only a must see for a foodie in Japan but for anyone on a budget cos its free!

Being my 2nd trip to there(the 1st was on my earlier trip to Tokyo 4 years back) I couldnt help but realise that there was less variety of fish on display. Don't know if its cos of overfishing or probably cos I was late(it was almost 9am by the time I got there-some businesses were already done for the day) but there were still some curious looking seafood on sale.

As I left the huge seafood complex, I came across a not very environmentally friendly aspect of the Japanese obsession with freshness. I hope they recycle.

It was already 11am when i was done exploring and the next must-do when at Tsukiji is to lunch at one of the many shops there. I was thinking of having sushi but had plans to have sushi for dinner with Mariko and Neil so I had my favourite Japanese food which i havent really had since I got to Japan-Unagi!

The Unagi was melt in your mouth.
The owner of the establishment who was fluent in English, took it upon himself to teach me how to order food in Japanese and even wrote it down on a piece of paper (even though I was pretty happy pointing at plastic displays and pictures on menus) and went on to teach me other useful phrases.

After the much needed sustinance, I shopped around for foodstuff: bonito flakes, dried kelp, dried fishy snacks and even got a wasabi grater and a very sharp carbon steel knife(bad idea actually, later find out from neil that carbon steel rusts easily if not take care of properly).

A knife for every occasion

Urrgh.

I crossed over to Ginza and roamed around wondering what I should do the rest of the day. But first I had to take a dump. I saw the Sony building and realised that they should accomodate me since I have spent so much buying their products all these years. So I went in, smiled and made a beeline for the toilet, that came complete with built-in bidet. I came out a new man.

Flopping around in my flip-flops in the rain, I decide to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography where I saw the World Press Photo exhibition and a retrospective of Issabela Huppert (The Piano Teacher, 8 Women) by a whole bunch of different photographers. I can really appreciate the fact that museum visitors in Japan keep extremly silent while viewing photos/works. Can't say the same for Singapore.

Time for dinner with Neil and Mariko where we had sushi back in Ginza, right across the road from Tsukiji. It was a pretty nice restaurant bur felt like such a slob dressed in bermudas and flip flops(i came dressed for rainy weather!) and was quite conscious of my smelly feet(imagine how they would have smelled if I wore shoes instead!) since we had to remove our footwear before sitting crosslegged at the table(uncomfortable after being on my feet all day). Mariko presented Neil and I with matching Jinbeis. Mebbe there will be a Japanese film festival in Singapore where I can wear it to.

Gorgeous starter of a crab jelly topped with salmon roe.

Sushi feast

I think this not unagi but anago... so decadent!

I had my 1st taste of natto...not as bad as I thought it would be, the consistency is similar to the sap from ladies fingers

As we said our goodbyes to Mariko and thanking her again for the Jinbeis and the best sushi that I have had, Neil made a bet with me that that i would be hungry again by the time I get back to the shoebox. And I did.

So it was greasy sauasage buns and beer to end the night...

Day 12 - Tokyo

2006-07-18T23:35:00.000-07:00

Today I checked out Shibuya. Did some good shopping(and eating). The weather was wet and my shoes were soaked through. If it rains again tomorrow I am wearing slippers.

Satute of Hachiko the dog next to Shibuya station which is also a popular meeting point.

Went across the subway station to a Starbucks that overlooked the major crossing at shibuya

I had a green tea latte. They don't have regular latte's on the menu.

I walked around and found a something yummy to eat and decided to have ramen.

Pay for your order at the vending machine at the front of the restaurant(nothing was in Engrish!)

My order turned out to be an extra large bowl of spicy ramen topped with beansprouts and slivers of pork. Extremely oishi!

Despite the wet weather, I managed to walk from Shibuya to Omotosando. Along the way I did some shopping which i didn't expect to do.

Posh shopping at Omotosando Hills

I arrive back at the shoebox to find a crazed Engrish person doing some ironing...

Ok enough mucking around. Tomorrow I get up early and will go to Tsukiji fish market,

Day 11 - Tokyo

2006-07-17T23:33:00.000-07:00

I decided to shop around Shinjuku today while Neil stayed home, He called in sick cos he overslept, but he actually was still coughing like his lungs out. I had beef soba in a shop I found while wandering around Shinjuku. The broth was really salt but I do love soba.

Kim Jong-Il inspired sign board for what I think could be a hairdresser.

I spent quite a bit at Tokyu Hands. It kinda like a giant hardware store but with a lot more cool things.

Back at Baraki Nakayama I had a curry bowl at Coco Curry. I am beginning to tire of sticky Japanese rice and am starting to crave long grain rice that is normally served back home. The curry was more starchy than normal but was tasty due to generous portions of pork belly in it.

Day 10 - Tokyo

2006-07-16T23:31:00.000-07:00

Brunch was ramen at a little shop at the subway station and one of the best that I have had. Tad bit salty from the miso that was used but the broth was good.

After lunch we headed down to Ueno market where there was a lot to see and eat

blood red octopus

unagi and fish roe

street food

meow

and visited a chain of Engrish pubs called the hub... green tea and malibu is a great combo

From Ueon we went to Akihabara, also know as Akihabara Electric Town. A total geek paradise but I wasn't feeling like one that day so most of the time there was spent in a pretty large toyshop there.

Dinner was at Sapporo Lion Beer hall where we had a light dinner as we were heading out to Ageha later that night

I dunno what this is called but its like potatoes and sausage on a hotplate. Oishi!

yum...

good pasta with clams

Ageha was a blast. Cool space with three dance areas(one outdoor with pool!) and we met some interesting characters(and a few topless ones). We got home at about 5am(the sun was already up when we were leaving the venue)
Of course after all that drinking I had to have a bento to help me sleep.

Day 9 - Tokyo

2006-07-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

Neil woke me up 2 hours after I got to bed. I felt like absolute shit. Of course he threw a hissy fit for abandoning him last night. Our train back was not till 12.30 but had to check out at 10.30 so we decided to have breakfast (brekkie number 2 for me) at the McDonald's where we could stay out of he heat and not have to lug our stuff around.

Looks like we weren't the only ones who went to MacDonalds for refuge... but these girls were there to nap after a long night out.

Its hot everywhere. The train station had its air-conditioning on to a bare minimum. The waiting room showed other travellers straining from the heat whilst fanning themselves. We got out of the stuffy station to have a cigarette hoping that that there might be a breeze or something. There was actually a slight breeze for a few seconds but a minute later the heat radating off the tarmac got quite unbearable. The alcohol consumed just a few hours earlier didn't help either.

Neil found an air-conditioning vent.

The Shinkansen was warm and stuffy and sleeping was not easy. I kept getting up every 15 minutes, waking up hot and sweaty and trying to fan ourselves back to sleep.

Getting back to Tokyo was a bit of a relief. Apparently it has been raining and the weather was somewhat cooler. Even the the Subway was cooler than in Osaka.

Back at Baraki Nakayama, Neil and I tucked into curry at Coco Curry...

then went back and napped till dinnertime.

Neil got up feeling like he had to make up for not drinking last night but first decided to clear out the shoebox a bit

This stuff is vile. And I am not just talking about the white boy. Shochu is like Japanese vodka and it come in what looks like a milk carton. Call me a pussy but I will stick to biru.

We went for dinner at Nishifunabashi and went to a restaurant that had too many things on the menu

These deep fried whitebait was excellent with a squeeze of lemon

Neil with a prized catch which he literally caught with his teeth.

We walked around Nishifunabashi and looked for a place to have a drink in but the place seemed pretty dead so we decided to head back to the shoebox where i could sleep off the rest of my hangover...

Day 8 - Kyoto

2006-07-14T23:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, another day of proper sightseeing. Off to Kyoto on a 15 minute Shinkansen ride-not enought time for a bento lunch on board, but had excellent food at a restaurant at the station.

As usual Neil had the Katsudon

while I had what i had been craving for a long time... Tensoba!

We made our way to one of the many temples in Kyoto. Just wallking up the hill to the main entrance makes you sweat like a pig(its really humid there). Good thing we had our towels which we used in numerous creative ways...

Need a green tea ice-cream bun to cool me down...

Sugoi!

The main drag in Kyoto held a street festival which had huge carts carrying musicians and while the connecting smaller roads had a lot of food stalls crammed onto them.

On the way back to Osaka we shared the carrige with chain-smoking salarymen when we seated ourselves in the smoking carrige of the Shinkansen.

The Osaka Metro even have women only carriges for ladies since groping on crowded trains has become a problem.
Neil and I recoiled in absolute horror

when we saw this...

but just when you think that individuality is unheard of here, I think it is accepted in small doses...

This would be our last night in Osaka and we wanted to make the most out of it, though Neil wanted to nap for a while as he was still a bit ill. So since I was raring to go, and had only one key card(some strange hotel policy), Neil stayed in first while I got a head start with the night's drinking.

It was close to 4am when I got back to the room. I lost track of the time (I left my watch at the shoebox in Tokyo...) and was expecting Neil to either throw a hissy fit at me or be fast asleep. He was asleep so I tried to wake him up but he just mumbled something and went back to bed. So feeling that the night was still young, I decided to go back to the bars around Shinsaibashi where we frequented earlier in the week. Being rather tipsy, I couldn't get my bearings to find Bamboo so I headed further down to B-Trip which was by a main road.

B-trip was in full swing, packed with an intresting crowd. I spent most of the time at the bar talking to a funny guy (below) who has a fetish for non-Japanese chicks. He spoke decent Engrish and was unhappy being a drone and was tired of life in Japan.

I can't recall if he was showing me with his fingers how long his johnson was.
Its 7.30am and I can feel the Chu-hi creeping up my throat. I decide to shower, have breakfast and go back to sleep before we check out at 10am.

I just had to eat something as I could feel the acids in my tummy just churning away. The cup of oj was a bad idea.

Salarymen having brekky

Day 7 - Osaka

2006-07-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

Ok we decided to stop behaving like alcoholics on holiday and start doing more touristy things and do some sight-seeing. Although we got up at late(again) we did get to take in a major Osaka attraction-Oska castle. But first lunch. With a stop at a pet shop. Same story here as in Singapore. Underage pets that should still be suckling being put up for sale. Yes the younger they are, the more cute they look, thus being suceptible to impulse buyers.

Oishi!

Deep fried paradise...

More bento. Katsu for Neil, fish for moi.

Park at the foot of the hill that leads up to the castle

The moat that surrounds the castle

The old castle itself(ironically rebuilt numerous times after a few fires), filled with interactive displays, video shows and a good view of Osaka from the top.

We saw these guys on these jumpy thingys...

tres cool....

another funny name

We did some bar hopping and had dinner in a place not famillar to us(it wasn't Shinsaibasi where we stayed) but we were not completely lost.

Excellent appertiser was deep fried breaded camembert with raspberry sauce.

Hamburger steak with mata lembu on top

Neil had pasta topped with some fish roe

Conversation with some of the bar staff over the geographic location of some part of Japan lead to the map of Japan being made out of things lying around the bar counter.

Its disconcerting to see the sun up by the time you get back...its just gonna screw up the next days activities

Day 6 - Osaka

2006-07-12T12:31:00.000-07:00

The early part of today was spent nursing our hangovers. It was almost noon when we had breakfast at an Italian restaurant where we both had the bolognese, which was rich with olive oil and had a generous topping of parmesan.

Al dente hangover cure.

We headed out for a spot of shopping then and off to the food halls of Daimaru for a light lunch to have back at the hotel.

Strange usage of the Engrish language

Deep fried heaven

3 types of Inarizushi with different fillings, parma ham salad, a katsu and some tempura thingy

Neil had a roast beef salad, katsu sandwich with some sushi and veg on the side

Post lunch nap

We got up in the late afternoon and went to Dotonbori which is like a food street that is just across the river from where we stayed in Shinsaibash.

Donkiote here has a ferris wheel like thing

At last something cultural

Wasting money

Btw, Hard Gay is from Osaka

You can rent a dog

Tacky pachinko parlour (get them everywhere here)

I was an octopus ball in my past life.
Alas, we didn't even eat at at Dotonbori. We completely missed a few landmark eating places there. Next trip lah...

We had dinner back at a little restuarant specialising in Omelette rice with katsu.

I had the works

Engrish boy just had various fried things on a stick

The pleasure quarters of Shinsaibashi at night.

An Engrish speaking establishment called Bamboo. Typical size for many a Japanese bar there, seats 8.

I wasn't hungry and but Neil ordered a quesadilla. Had a slice, was so oishi!

They also make a stew with tongue

Another bar we went to had this pre-historic pet

We got back to the room at about midnight and Neil had to sleep off his slight flu so i decided to go out and make the most of the night. Exploring the nearby streets and dodging advances from working women, I ended up in a cosy Yakitori across from Shinsaibashi.

Too much food...

A drunk man sat himself next to me and started talking to me, who i later learn is the proprietor of the place. After my meal and making fun of me by insulting my intelligence(the words "you are baka!" still haunt me), he insisted that I come for a summer BBQ that he was throwing in Kyoto next Monday. I would gladly go if I was still around in Osaka but we had to go back to Tokyo by then. Then he dragged me across the street to another establishment that he owned and made me down some premium sake (or so he claimed).

He then took me to another establishment that he owned on the other side of the street. It was a pretty cavernous bar (pretty big by local standards) and we sat ourselves at the bar counter. He then gave me some foul tasting black coloured salts that apparently were thousands of years old and was good for health or something(can't remember much at this point as the beers and sake were really taking effect). After more boisterous conversation and very painful back-slapping, I left for the room, to climb into bed after yet another night of liver pickeling.

Day 5 - Osaka

2006-07-11T23:09:00.000-07:00

Shinkansen!
We overslept (got up at 10.30) and rushed to catch the 12.10pm Shinkansen(bullet train) to Osaka. We were worried that we were gonna miss it, in case we got lost in the maze that is Tokyo station or got on the wrong platform(these super efficient trains leave on the dot). By sheer luck, the exit from our train from Baraki Nakayama was less than 100 meters from where the Shinkansen entrance was. With less than 10minutes before our train leaving, we had already got ourselves beer and bento, quintessential things for a bullet train ride.

i had what i thought was unagi, but was someother kind of fish

Neil had the kastu don bento

Not a cafe for dogs like they have in Singapore but a pretty posh one for humans

This building is probably a bitch to water and weed

Roaming around Shinsaibashi, looking for a place to stay, i just had to have one of the specialities from Osaka... takoyaki

and later okonomiyaki at the basement food hall of Daimaru

Had a drink at an Engrish pub(it was the only watering hole that was open that early) this dark Heiniken was niceeee, pity they don't have it back home.

We found a reasonable place to stay on the main drag and cleaned up before a night on the town. Wandering around at 8pm, we found most bars empty(it was a Tuesday night after all. We ended up in a bar called B-trip, having beer after beer. We were getting bored and restless. The bartender tells us that B-trip usually comes to life at about 5am.

I next ordered what a lady across the bar had. It was called a red-eye. Half beer and half tomato juice, served with tabasco and pepper. Yummy, just like a bloody mary. Neil insisted that it was a woman's drink but i couldnt be arsed. Quite drunk, we left B-trip for some food. The bartender suggested a 500yen restaurant. We thought that it was an all-u-can eat establishment, but it actually 500 yen per item. Kinda steep for a hole in the wall but the food was good.

You got to love the menu

remanants of a 500 yen fried chicken

spagetti with crunchy bits of minced meat, oishi!

quite amazing what is churned out in this tiny corridor of a kitchen

We had more drinks at an Engrish speaking establishment called Bamboo(the owner Daryl is an aussie ex-english teacher). We ended up pretty drunk horsing around in Donkiote(a chain of shops that sells a smogasboard of things, kinda like Mustafa's)

Neil feeling pretty

Day 4 - Tokyo

2006-07-10T23:23:00.000-07:00

Today I got to meet Neil's other half, Mariko. I have heard so much about her and now I put a face to the name that I have been hearing so much about. But first we had to eat so we had brunch at Coco Curry by the train station. You can choose how spicy your curry can be with grades of spiciness ranging from 1-10(one being the least spicy). I wanted a grade 7 curry and Neil looked at me in disbelief so i settled for a 6. Its a different kind of heat, more like pepper rather than chilli. The curry really warmed up my belly and was pretty hard to eat quickly(we were rushing to meet Mariko at Maihama station) but was good.

Tiny salad had an oishi dressing

Mine had vegetables in it cos I was getting constipated

Neil told me on the train to Disney(yes we spent the day frolicking in cutesy American Imperialism that the natives here love so much) that I should call her Mariko-chan in case she decided to call me Raji-san.

cutesy monorail

our first ride was on a tram to get to another section of the park

strange but true...Gyoza in a bun

The Little Mermaid section of the park was annoying, tho Mariko loved it

Neil and I prefered rides like Journey to the Centre of the Earth and the Indiana Jones one. Note the morons in the front row

chocorat popkorn

Me and the Engrish boy

There were no fireworks due to the windy weather but had a tacky show abt a sea monster and a water princess. i didn't get it

We had Korean bbq for dinner... tasty tho there were some unusual cuts of beef....

tiny sticks of Meji 'aisu kuriimu' for dessert

We said goodbye to Mariko after dinner at the train station(we were travelling in opposite directions). Neil created a bit of a scene when he licked the window of the train carriage when Mariko got in. Mariko cracked up but the man sitting next to her was kinda freaked out. We headed back to the shoebox, but not before stopping by for some beer and snacks to sustain us while we pack for for our trip to Osaka tmr.

Day 3 - Tokyo

2006-07-09T23:56:00.000-07:00

Today we got up close to noon. I had a hangover. Neil is coughing like he needs a new lung. Another glorious morning wasted. This is starting to feel more like a holiday. We did nothing today but shop and eat, just like the day before. Neil started the day with a curry sausage bun that he bought from the convenience store the night before.

I ate mine last night in a fit of munchies that I got from all that excessive drinking.

We decided to do some shopping around Ginza but had to have lunch first so we choose this restaurant that was below the arches of the elevated track of the Yamanote Line.

This place served everything that I have been craving for-noodles and unagi.

Before

After
Neil took a video of me slurping my soba but I can't be arsed to upload it at this point. I don't normally make a lot of noise when I eat noodles but I I tried to take the piss by making a lot of noise. Not easy to do if you have been smoking like a chimney the night before.

I noticed how the natives try to incorporate dessert into a meal, even if it was a heavy one. This scoop of ice-cream was the size of a fishball.

We walked around the posh shopping district of Ginza when we finally ended up in Bic Camera, which is a chain of electronic shops that sells almost every kind of gadget imaginable. The 2 hours that we spent roaming the many floors of the geek consumerist paradise was really uncomfortable as the air-conditioning was set to a ridiculously high temperature of about 28degrees. Damm Kyoto Protocol.

No, I did not throw away money here

We also went to a huge Muji store. You can have a Muji overdose there if you are the kind who seeks a zen/minimalist lifestyle. They sell Muji everything. There was even a Muji showflat. (Sorry no pix)

We had dinner at Sapporo Lion Beer hall, smack in the centre of Ginza. Apparently its the 1st beer hall in Japan and has been around since the 1930s. I can't remember what beer I drank but the food was excellent.

Yummy plastic displays

Salad dressing had a poached egg yolk in it. mmmmm...

Fucking oishi beef stew. Strange that they put pasta in it.

When we got back to Baraki Nakayama, I felt like we should stay out a bit longer as I wasn't prepared to go back into the shoebox straight away. So Neil suggested an Izakaya next to the train station where we can get some beer and grub that served basashi. Thats horse sashimi.

Squid achar with kelp

Basashi...the turf club reject didn't agree with me

Chicken balls on a stick

Cool wallpaper

Vending machines galore

Day 2 - Tokyo

2006-07-08T11:47:00.000-07:00

Neil took a week off work so we could hang out whilst I was there. Today we headed to Shinjuku for a spot of shopping but first we had to have some food since we didn't even have breakfast. Walking around the maze of shops, we found a restaurant serving Indonesian food. I cant remember why we ate there but I think Neil wanted something non Japanese for a change. Neil had the nasi goreng and I went for the bee hoon goreng. It was alright but I not really satisfying.

We then went to GAP, Uniqlo, Disc Union, the international Design Centre, a quaint little sex shop run by a sweet old lady(we got free mystery gifts...turned out to be pantyhose) and Tokyo Hands(sorry no pix, compact flash card buggered up). After all that heavy duty shopping, I started to get hungry(the bee hoon goreng brunch didn't really fill me up)so we had Japanese curry rice in a little shop in the basement food hall connected to the subway station.

It was not really good as the katsu used was not freshly made. Neil told me that he will take me to Coco Curry which is like a chain of curry rice restaurants with decent curry rice.

Back at Baraki Nakayama, we went to the convenience store for more beer, food and nail polish(Neil's insisted on getting our toenails done)

Bonding over nail lacquer.

Not really my colour.

We wondered earlier why we got the panty hose from the sex shop lady(we were expecting condoms)... were they ment for us to give to our female ladyfriends? But knowing how kinky the natives get, we thought otherwise and put them to use. After putting it over our heads trying to look like moronic bank robbers, Neil decided to take advantage of my drunken state and put them over my legs.

It feels quite nice. Really.

Day 1 - Tokyo

2006-07-07T23:47:00.000-07:00

Arriving in Tokyo with no sleep the night before and little sleep on the airplane, I was not particularly hungry, especially after having to eat not-so-nice airline food. I hopped onto an airport bus(no one takes taxis from the airport here, its ridiculously expensive) to meet Neil at Tokyo station. It was about 5pm when we met so he took me to an izakaya called Tofuro in Kyobashi, near Ginza .

As we stepped into the cavernous interior, my mouth began to water as I smelled the smoky air. Behind the bar, there was a charcoal grill where various things on a stick were grilled. With a bottle of Asahi Super Dry to get me going, I ordered a deep fried tuna thingy, some meat on a stick and a grilled anchovy rice ball(sorry I was too lazy to write down names).

I have a new love for partially cooked tuna, this was damm nice lah. Hell it didn't even taste like fish. Went well with the finely shredded leeks and onions that came on the side.

The grilled chicken rolls were freshly prepared, and we had the ones wrapped in beancurd skin and another 2 topped with the paste of some kind of fish roe. Too good!

More of a rice pyramid than a rice ball, but was warm and tasty.

I didn't want to order anything else as I wanted to have dinner later, so we left for Neil's apartment which is not in Tokyo but Baraki Nakayama, in Chiba prefecture, about 50minutes away by train from Ginza. Packing ourselves into the crowded subway, I got a taste of commuting during rush-hour on Tokyo's infamously packed trains. It was not that unpleasant but it seems that the Japanese have got no regard for personal space (Neil told me that if you get pushed, just push back). Arriving in the Baraki Nakayama station, we are greeted with noise coming from not one but 2 Pachinko palours. The ten minute walk in the cool air to Neil's flat was an insight to what suburbia in Japan is like.....boring.

Upon entering the apartment, I was just shocked by its sheer miniscule size .Neil did refer to it before as a shoebox, but standing in it just felt weird initially. I inspected the space for a minute, wondering how I was going to live in this tiny space with a chain-smoking, flatulent englishman. I guess I have to fight fire with fire...chain-smoke and get gassy myself.

The fart meister himself.

Showering is quite difficult. The bathroom feels like a port-a-loo. It is 1.2mx1.2m and holds the tub, WC and washbasin.The tub is short and narrow so I had to face the wall not the shower head while i bathed. Obviously not designed for plus-sized non-natives like Neil and I.

You can take a shit and brush yr teeth at the same time since everything is just next to each other.

After catching up with Neil over beer and sake, I started to feel comfortable in the shoebox but mebbe it was just the alcohol doing its magic. And as usual with excessive alcohol consumption, I started to get the munchies so Neil took me to the convenience store for some food. And we came back with food and more drinks. We cleared out the space between the bed and his desk and laid out a towel and had a little pignick on the floor. I had the curry rice, and Neil had a bento and we shared a Gyoza platter. Quite yummy for convenience food I must say.

$101 dollar burger

2006-04-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

Sandra got me to style a burger from Uber Burger for a photoshoot. After which I ate half of it. It sucked. I hate liver and the foi gras in the patty was pure grossness. It was too rich and creamy. I have had foi gras before and it tasted yummy but some how this didn't agree with me. The truffle bun was delicious tho.

The slippery patty and its toppings had to be secured with toothpics after toppling down a few times. I had to dry the excess dressing that was on the salad leaves with tissue. Not one of my best attempts at food styling but I think it looked pretty alright.

Rotten Coconut

2006-04-15T18:13:00.000-07:00

My parents have a knack of letting things rot. And this didn't even make it into the fridge! I think its time i clean out the fridge anyway...

Tulang@office

2006-04-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

So now you know where all those medical dramas get their body parts from.

The scene of crime unit was already there.

We don't yet if Mugi survived the effects of snorting marrow.

Soak ....

Suck!

Nasi Rawan @Simei

2006-04-12T07:20:00.000-07:00

This is the 3rd time I am having nasi rawan. The 1st time was probably 5 years ago at the cafateria of my old office. I asked Maznah who runs the Muslim food stall there what that black coloured gravy with bits of meat was, but she wouldn't tell me and insisted that I just try it. So I did. The gravy was nice but the bits of meat tasted a bit gamey and looked funny. Like there were silvery triangular bits on the meat. I remember being a bit grossed out after eating a full piece....I didn't finish my lunch and bought 2 curry puffs and ate that instead. I asked Maznah what part of the cow/sheep was it that she used in making the dish and she said, "tounge". I remember feeling a bit nauseaous.(I am a bit of a pussy when it comes to eating spare parts).

The 2nd time was probably 2 years later when Herda brought some home made nasi rawan to the office. I had still no idea what nasi rawan was still but when I had the packet of rice with bergedil, sambal goreng and killer sambal belachan. She explained that it was buak keluak that was used in it and that was the ingredient that gave the gravy its black colour.

This time when I had it it didn't have that much of a kick and there was the mysterious part of the carcass looking at me again... If anyone can clarify what bodypart this is, do leave a comment.

Dendeng

2006-04-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

Bryan brought back some dendeng from Indonesia. Its very different from the local version, which is sweet and greasy. The only similarity I found was that they both contain cumin.
This tasted a bit gamey and had the texture of cardbord.

Claypot Lice

2006-03-31T23:08:00.000-08:00

This is a backdated entry from just before Chinese New Year this year when I was in Chinatownto take pictures with my new camera when I decided to have a quick bite at the hawker centre at Chinatown Complex. This used to be an old luchtime haunt when I was in National Service. My quick bite turned into a full heavy meal when I decided to have somthing that I never really got a chance to have during my NS days... claypot rice from a particular stall that only opened during dinner.

20 minutes later, my single portion claypot rice arrived, topped with chicken, lap cheong and some mysterious yummy black bits of meat that I suspect was some kind of preserved meat... almost had the texture of jerky. So after drizzling sesame oil and dary soya sauce followed by a quick toss, I tucked into the piping hot rice and chicken. It was quite perfect. The chicken and rice were not over and under cooked. The best part of having this, I was told, is the bottom of the clay pot where you scrape off the crispy bits of rice...i never really was a fan of this, cos they just stick to my teeth.

All the preserved meats hanging on display in some of the CNY stalls downstairs, I cannot help but feel a bit squeamish, especially just after eating stuff like that in my claypot rice. Sure was tasty though.

Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice
Blk 335, Smith St, #02-128, Chinatown Complex.
Open from 4pm-10pm, Closed on Thurs.

Weird ass bolognese

2006-03-03T02:23:00.000-08:00

Of all the strange concoctions that my father and brother capable of coming up with, this is by far the strangest. Who would have though of adding yong tau fu pieces to bolognese sauce? I must say that it was quite good.

Bye Bye Baby Belling

2006-02-20T08:14:00.000-08:00

Lying in my balcony for almost 2 months since Christmas, she is finally going home.

Promotion Treat

2006-02-10T21:55:00.000-08:00

Those who got a promotion(and a big fat raise) bought makan for the rest of the office today. A buffet was set up on the rooftop of the building were the usual buffet fare like fried rice and satay to the more 'unusual' things like lobster thermidor, peking duck prawn & scallop mornay.

And as sick as most of us were of yusheng, our former admin assistant brought along some that was probably the best I had this whole year, complete with jellyfish and ikan parang(instead of salmon)

There was so much food left over that some of us started mucking around with it.

Samar Sign

2006-02-06T18:57:00.000-08:00

Seems like the people at Samar are doing the Danes a favour by denying them with their mediocre service and not so good food.

Staircase landing lo-hei

2006-01-31T04:37:00.000-08:00

Shan had a staircase landing cookout this Lunar New Year. Its just next to her unit and its fairly spaceious and realatively quiet so it was perfect for a party. This first time she had one of these parties was back in 2003 on her birthday(I remember it so well cos her family's former domestic helper who made these incrdible hamburger beef patties that till today I still have very fond memories of).

Melissa flipping burgers

The main item for the party were Ramly burgers patties that Shan bought from JB (I found out later that they were ment for a suprise birthday party for me but didn't happen cos I had a reservist recall on the day, no thanks to operation North Star)

I brought along my new deep-frier to make onion rings

Ok here is how you make the perfect Ramly burger(though not entirely authentic, but sure is good)

Step 1:Grill some patties

Step 2:Grill some buns

Step 3:Add BBQ sauce and mayo

Step 4:Slap on some caramelised onions and cucumber

Step 5:Top with a fried egg

Step 6:Top with the other half of the bun and take a picture with it

Step 7:Take a bite!

When the time came to toss the Yu Sheng, some of us chanted all the good luck chants and wishes like "good health, more proseprity" towards the end of the toss there were some unconventional requests like "bigger breast, more sex, new car".

There was some gambling...
Some party games...

A lot of tobacco...
And those that didn't play mahjong went bowling. Sombody call the fashion police!

Christmas came really early this year...

2006-01-27T04:25:00.000-08:00

Walking into the kitchen tonight I saw the most surreal thing on top of the fridge.

Fusion Tapas

2006-01-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

After a pretty good blind date yesterday I ended up with the rest of the gang at The Wine Connection at Robertson Walk. They were earlier at a wedding that had served them insufficient food so after a bit of wine everyone was beginning to have the munchies. We had a cheese platter but that was for barely enough for us so we asked for another but they said that they have ran out of cheese so I got one of the jars of antipasto that they sold. It was of grilled peppers soaked in olive oil. It would be perfect to have with bread. Sadly they had ran out of bread too so I headed to a nearby booth that sold snacks and bought some calbee prawn crackers. They didn't really soak up the olive oil so I walked down to 7-11 to get some bread. On the way back I picked up some prata. The prata wasn't very absorbent either as it was a little greasy but it tasted pretty interesting with the peppers.

We later went to Home where there was a Poptart gig going on. It was good but I can't help feeling old in that crowd. Some skinny guys were bodysurfing. I wonder how long I could be held up for before everyone buckles under my weight. The night ended with beer being spilt on Shan (they have pretty absorbent curtains there), me screaming out New Order's 'Regret', singing along to Catatonia's 'Road Rage' in the car and a massive headache from too much smoking.

Boil the dog

2006-01-19T22:58:00.000-08:00

Rainbow Roti Jala

2006-01-15T01:44:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted to make roti jala and my wish finally came true when Syareena suggested making it for my birthday party. Preparations started 2 days before on Thursday night when I went to get groceries from Mustafas at 12 am after work. Close by Mustafa's I met Arthur and Chris who were having beers at a coffeeshop before shopping for stuff for their Bollywood-themed office party. But before I could get started on my shopping Arthur dragged us along to the basement to buy a tumble drier as the recent wet weather has been making it impossible to get clothes completely dry. I was hoping on getting home soon to start preparations so I could start cooking before work the next day but that didn't happen because we ended up having dim sum and beer at a nearby coffeeshop till about 3.30am. So I took half a day off the next day to cook some of the curries to go with the roti jala. I was pooped by the time I was done cooking the chickpea masala, chicken curry and paneer with peppers, and the kitchen was in a very bad state. But I had to leave for the office so I caught a cab to the office. In the cab I scratched my chin and could immediately smell my fingers that reeked of the copious amount of garlic and onions that I had to peel and chop. It was really bad. And work was a bitch cos of the friday rush with sub editors breathing down my neck. I didn't manage to clean the kitchen when i got back and did most of the cleaning the next morning.

The first time I had roti jala at Syareena's house, it came in a rainbow of colours. Now almost 9 years later she is at it again-going overboard with food colouring. First timers at making roti jala were Sheila and Rehan, who got into the technicalities and figured out the the technique for near perfect roti jala. Amran however seemed like a roti jala natural. I started making martinis with my Mustafa's bought cocktail shaker and just two drinks immediately turned Syareena into a generally funny but sardonic jester spewing somewhat crude jokes that should have been kept far from the dinner table. The chicken curry was a hit, though i didn't get any squeals of extacy from anyone regarding the chickpea curry or the fish curry. Oh well, you win some u lose some.

We finally made it out of the house for Velvet at about 11 plus. After having countless martinis at home and 1 can of beer in the car, I still didn't feel particularly tanked up. The jugs of watered down bourbon coke that I got at Velvet didn't help either but I got pretty sloshed from more beer and martinis. I think I have turned Herda into a monster. I dared her to pinch the butt of a bouncer who had his back to us. She did it without any hesitation, but what was even stranger was the reaction of the bouncer. I think he took a while to react. Mebbe he thought I did it. He took a step away from us. A minute later he was a meter further. A little while later he was gone. Perhaps he had to cry in the little boys room.

When I was done drinking for the night, Sheila's friend Tommy bought me a jog of vodka spritzer which I tried very hard to finish out of courtesy especially because i barely even knew the guy for 15 minutes and here he is buying me a drink. What ever was in the drink, it got me pretty wasted and in the cab back I was suprised at how slurred my speech was when I was giving the cab driver directions...(I found out later that it was a double vodka spritzer. i am having a pretty bad hangover now btw)

I think I can compartmentalise almost everyone from this party...., Rehan and Sheila the roti jala technicians, Rama and Farah the martini engineers, Syareena the in house jester(fuelled by a steady flow of Martinis of course), Amran the wonderful helper, Herda the groper, Chris the unassuming dishwasher, Arthur the 'mood setter'. Mebbe the next party there will be a reversal of roles or somthing.

Cooking with a five year old

2006-01-03T20:09:00.000-08:00

My sister who is in Singapore to visit brought along her husband and their offspring, Sahari. He likes to get involved in grown up things sometimes so I roped him in to help me cook dinner. He wasn't much help but I took the day off from being the kitchen nazi and was nice to the little critter as he was actually quite sweet by wanting to assist me. He was the official food taster, pasta stirrer and chicken baster. He kept saying "mmmm... smells good, I can't wait to eat it" and "is the chicken done yet?". It was just too cute.

The artist with his brush

Not done to perfection, there was actually quite a lot of blood next to the bone.

Pity they are going back soon. I wonder if I would be able to make Sahari kitchen diva junior if I had more time to train him.

First meal of the year

2006-01-01T16:55:00.000-08:00

My mother who is away right now insisted that I to go to the temple first thing in the morning today as its my Hindu birthday according to the Hindu calendar. Getting out of bed with a slight hangover, I showered then took a cab down to the Kaliamman temple in Serangoon Road. I was hoping to finish praying as soon as I could so that I could have breakfast at Komala Vilas, but to my horror saw the temple packed with fellow worshippers. Perhaps I wasn't the only birthday boy.

After almost an hour in the crowded temple I head towards the side where temple volunteers were serving lemon rice and spiced buttermilk.

I was hoping to have brunch at nearby Komala Vilas for a greasy masala thosai but this was a healthier and immediate alternative. And since it was from the temple I guess it was good to have a "holy" meal first thing in the year. I was really hungry and the carbs were just what I needed for my hangover. It was perfect-nicely spiced, not too oily or tart and loaded with crunchy nuts and dhal.

My belly was satisfied, but not my greed...left the temple and walked down to Komala Vilas and ordered a masala thoasai to go...then I saw the stack of Indian sweets at the counter. I remember being in India on New Year's day years back when I walked into an Indian candy shop to buy a little gift box back to Singapore. The locals were buying everything by the kilogram... it was scary to think how they were going to ingest all that sugar. I don't usually buy sweetmeats but since its New Year's day I thought I might as well get a ball of ladoo and a few slices of barfi for the fun of it.

Last meal of the year

2005-12-31T23:28:00.000-08:00

I didn't want to get drunk in a crowded place anywhere in town where u might end up kissing and hugging complete strangers after the countdown....then fight for a cab with the same morons that you earlier had just wished good tidings to. I settled on staying home to cook myself dinner and enjoy a bottle of wine. But Arthur called and suggested going over to his place instead and decided to go after giving it some thought.

Upon arrival I could hear 70's disco blasting from inside the house. And the disco ball was out. I was in for a long night....but at least it wasn't karaoke....We had bubbly and cashew nuts with Chaka Khan, Donnie and Marie, Gloria Gaynor, Karen Young, Andy Gibb, Nicolette Larson and many other obscure, bell-bottomed and big haired individuals.

Even the dogs stick their tongues out at the general distaste of the music.

We went for dinner at the nearby restaurant which serves very decent Cantonese zhe char. We had long beans with miced meat, beansprouts with salted fish, sweet and sour pork, deep fried groupa with a soya sauce gravy and roasted chicken.

Picked beansprouts-what a waste of time and flavour

After dinner we hobbled our bloated selves back to the apartment and drank more champagne. Arthur got back to mixing his disco records. William laid back on the chaise and I lounged on the sofa fending off sleep by playing with the dogs.

Close to midnight, William was fast asleep while Arthur was DJ-ing with great fervor. I poured myself another glass of bubbly. It was a nice, low-key way to welcome the New Year, though I wasn't drunk. Arthur seemed sleepy so I called for a cab before it was too late to get one(I had an early day the next day anyway). I went home and tried to get all that disco music out of my head by blasting my favorite Pizzicato Five album and finishing half a bottle of wine at the same time before dozing off on the ottoman to loony Japanese tunes...

X'mas

2005-12-26T21:03:00.000-08:00

OK I am not Christian and do not celebrate Christmas but I did celebrated the food associated with the religious holiday last night. I managed to get the house clean in time before the guests arrived (I started cleaning the house 5 days before the party. The house was a total mess...Its hard cleaning up after a slob of a brother who has no regard for cleanliness or order. Falling sick days before the party from the lack of sleep didn't help either. Nor did handling the pre-holiday rush at work and having to plan the office party make things any easier. But I lived to see the day.

I was up early on Christmas day, half panicking and wondering if the whole thing would be a disaster. Syareena and Rehan were the first to arrive with Syareena's mum's oven and ingredients for the tiramisu that they prepared at my place. Apart from the turkey I also prepared chocolate truffles, though I hadn't had enough time to shape and coat them in cocoa powder(but have Sheila to thank for helping me with that). Herda came next and assisted me in making the turkey dressing and also prepared some pretty salmon rolls with cream cheese and coriander.

There were starters of a topshell salsa with nachos which I think went well with almost everyone followed by Herda's salmon rolls. I think i tried to do to much in one night....cleaning, cooking, lighting tea lights, checking on the food, mulling wine... but did get by with a little help from everyone. Guhan helped set the table though there was a slight crisis when we realised we were short on cutlery. We did get some from digging the drawers and found some airline cutlery that my dad is famous for nicking off flights. Then there was a temporary chair crisis but that too was quickly rectified. Arthur dressed the table and it really looked like quite a chi-chi affair whilst ironically drinking from plastic cups.

But I think things turned out pretty well.... the turkey was moist and flavourful and Syareena's cornbread, Syereen's full cream milk mash, Shan's shepherd's pie and Rehan's tiramisu were all a hit. I was never a fan of tiramisu, but what they whipped up was not like any that I have had before. It usually tasted too strong of alcohol or runny but theirs seemed perfect. Fan Fan brought some freshly made strawberry sauce that she intended to serve with a bottle of low-cost champagne but was instead used as an excellent substitute for cranberry sauce. I could not really taste all the food on my plate. There was just too much and I was really tired. But I could tell that it all tasted home made and good. Playful banter and laughs dotted dinner time conversation though I was pretty tired from cutting the turkey. After dinner we sat around and had tiramisu and contreau. I must say that the meal was pretty much a success. I wonder if I have achieved Martha Stewart status yet....

Further into the night Syareena saw what looked like a dead cat in the middle of the road. Fan Fan and Shan went down to investigate and when they came back, Fan Fan concluded that it was "a piece of hard object". Go figure.

Myth busters at work.

Funeral Food

2005-12-17T04:15:00.000-08:00

Shan's grandma passed away yesterday. I wanted to go yesterday but was advised by Shan to come today instead as the food would be better. I am not big on eating at wakes or funerals but I thought for the sake of this blog it would be interesting. It was almost 11.30pm when I arrived and it was pretty quiet. Found Shan manning the donation register book though I was expecting to see her manning the mahjong table instead.

The food was buffet style: psuedo pineapple rice, coconutty chicken curry that i dare not try, stir fried mixed veg, sweet and sour pork chops and greasy nor hiang. I was still fairly full from a late dinner in the office but gave the food a go. The pineapple rice was cold and had gone a bit hard from being under the burners too long and the rest of the dishes were ok but cold... We did stuff our face with kuachi and peanuts which i washed down with grass power, a wheat grass drink.

Before we left Shan showed us the paper effigies that were to be burnt and it was pretty intricate. Shown in the picture is the opening to the paper house complete with table, chairs and painting.(i found out later that it was damaged when the wind blew some flying chairs onto it)

Meat thermometer

2005-12-15T22:45:00.000-08:00

Ok there is really no turning back now. I better make that turkey no matter what. I just blew 30 bucks on a meat thermometer. I will need to make a roast for Deepavali and a rack of lamb for Onam if I want to get any mileage out of it.

Baster

2005-12-14T21:37:00.000-08:00

I bought a baster today for my attempt at making a turkey on X'mas. Guess if I don't use it I can give it to a lesbian who wants to conceive.

Fish Pie

2005-11-30T23:57:00.000-08:00

Its been almost 2 weeks since the surgery and am feeling bored at home. I decided to put together a fish pie as I had the ingridents and its not spicy and easy to eat. It's a recipe that my aunt verbally described me some time ago and i decided to give it a go.

I didn't really enjoyed it the day it was made, but tasted better the second day onwards. Actually I tend not to enjoy the food that I cook, especially immediately after cooking it. Somehow being tired from slaving in the kitchen affects my sense of taste.

Hari Raya Makan@Herda's

2005-11-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

Having just been discharged from the hospital, I went home but was not able to get any restful sleep as the aches I had all over was bothering me. By 7pm I was hungry again and don't think I can have porridge for a third meal in a row. So with nothing to eat at home, I head over to Herda's for Hari Raya dinner. Wondering what I will be able to eat as I had trouble swallowing and was told to stay away from spicy food, I just told myself that I would have some of the least spicy dishes.

Mee siam has been a staple at Herda's during previous Hari Rayas but this year there was nasi minyak, dalcha, ayam masak merak and prawn sambal. Bummer. I got myself some rice and dalcha, but a minute later threw caution to the wind and took a piece of ayam masak merah. Then another. And some prawn sambal. And more rice. Swallowing food this time was not too hard for some reason and was I really chugging it down. Perhaps I was subconsciously making up for the terribly bland food that I had the past 24 hours, though it was more likely to be pure gluttony. The spicy dishes didn't bother me.... not until later of course. Sitting on the sofa after the meal, the pain got so intense that I regretted not bringing my pain-killers with me. Of course I was laughed at while I grimanced in pain. Which made me laugh and laughing hurt like hell. I think I was laughing at Shan who was laughing at me grimace. All I could do was to sip iced water to soothe the pain...and even that hurt.

Hospital Food

2005-11-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

I got carted out of the operation theatre at 2.30pm feeling groggy from the anesthesia. I tried to sleep but the nurse kept coming in every hour to take my blood pressure. My throat felt dry and gums sore from what I think were clamps that were used to keep my mouth open during surgery. At 5.30pm I was irritable and very hungry, having not eaten since 10.30pm the night before. Dinner came at about 6.30pm. On the tray that came with the grub was a printed slip of paper that said "therapeutic diet". The nurse did tell me before the operation that eating and drinking is supposed to help my heal faster so you can say that I was undergoing food therapy.

On the menu was porridge with minced meat, minced vegetable and soup. My throat was pretty sore and felt weird. The meal came with ice cream-2 cups of Magnolia chocolate and vanilla swirl. Its one of the perks of getting your tonsils removed. Woo hoo!

Next morning I had oats. Half a bowl took me an hour and a half to finish. Swallowing was difficult.

Lunch was more somehow easier to eat and didn't take as long to finish. The meal arrived before I was to get discharged. It was porridge with a finely minced vegetable slop, minced meat with tofu and herbal soup.

Open house at Herda's.....It's only a 10min walk away from the hospital but I don't know if I can or should. The ayam masak merah was calling but I was pretty full from lunch and needed to get some decent rest so I just took a cab back home.

Hari Raya Makan@Rehan's

2005-11-12T16:56:00.000-08:00

Next up was Raya lunch at Rehan's. His mum's food is to die for though this year's makan was a bit different from previous years as she prepared soto. The sambal for the soto was a killer and we were all perspiring as we spooned the spiced up broth with lontong, bits of succulent chicken and bean sprouts into our mouths...

There was also the mandatory sambal goreng that is one of the best that I have had and hati that I have a great aversion to.

Shan was very intrigued by some purple biscuits.

and some strange reason I was given a rude gesture for helping wash the dishes.

ICB Food

2005-11-11T23:33:00.000-08:00

Ice Cold Beer is probably my most favourite watering hole but I have to say the best thing about ICB is the food. I actually know people who don't drink that just go there for the grub. If I ever quit my drinking habit, then this is one bar that I will still come back to. The pizzas are thin crusted though I am sure they use tortilla skins as the bas. And the chicken wings are just too good. Its actually shrimp paste chicken that you can order at any zhe char place but the wings here are always done to perfection.

Hari Raya@the Sengari's

2005-11-06T16:24:00.000-08:00

Shan and I arrived a bit too early at the Sengari household. Syereen was in the kitchen preparing vegetables for sayur lodeh whilst Syareena was vacuming. Their mum immediately delegated the role of begerdil maker to moi

Shan joined me a while later and we then squabbled over the size of our balls....

.....while Mrs Ibu fussed above the stove.

Syareena's mum bought some "ketupat". The girls tell me that they look a bit like a certain variety of feminine hygene products. Apparently you just boil the the packs in water and voila....

Their dad made lepat that is made with glutinous rice, peanuts, black eye peas and grated coconut wrapped in a coconut leaf. Good with serunding and sambal goreng satay(below).

Herda and Rehan arrived a bit later and we sat down to the spread that was finally ready...

Quail egg sambal, sambal goreng, sayur lodeh, sambal satay...mmmmmm

Begerdil and paru!

Ayam Masak Merah!

We realised that lepat really sticks to the plate

and Rehan had a bite of our electric blue murukku... it looks more like electricial wiring.

The right way to drink berry flavoured tea. Note the extended pinky.

Shan made this brilliant observaton.....this is a bar of chocolate? Scroll down and find out.

Hansel and Gretal would break their pretty little teeth if they attempted to eat through this...

Hari Raya@the Majid's

2005-11-03T17:18:00.000-08:00

The Majid's were my neighbours from my old neighbourhood in Telok Kurau who moved away when I was about five. A five year old is probably how the elders best remember me...the chubby toddler who would romp around the neighbourhood naked (gimme a break I was one or two during my naturalist phase). For the past 4 years they would tease me about things like these but this year's visit did not have any of that. Maybe its their failing memories. Anyway here is the queen teaser herself Mrs Majid in her very garang no-nonsense kitchen operation.

You got to love those charcoal stoves. They have to be the epitome of a hip kitchen.

Of course I had to have the ketupat...home made summore. Mrs Majid is Peranakan so some of the dishes I think have a Peranakan twist like the ayam masak kicap which had a lot of ginger and onions, the rendang had slices of dried chilli in it and a sweet plum achar which I have never come across in Malay cuisine...

There was also ayam masak merah and sayur lodeh and serunding and sambal sotong and sambal goreng and nasi minyak and 2 types of achar loaded with garlic and shallots.... I could just go on and but I have to include a special mention about Amran's cookies... pity I didn't take any pictures of them or get to try them all but I was hooked with his macadamia and white chocolate cookies. The only problem I have every year is that there is just too much variety...Its hard not to let the flavours collide, especially in one sitting but its still so gooooood. Oishiiii!

Deepavali Delight

2005-11-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

This is probably the most bo-chap Deepavali that I have ever had. With my parents out of town and nothing festive to eat, I took the mandatory oil bath(I feel very supple now) and went to the coffeeshop for a plate of chicken rice. I did do some Raya cooking at the Sengari household though. The girls had ambitious plans to make many kuehs but we only got around to making murukku in a rainbow of ghastly colours.

But first they had to bathe the cat.

the proud mother beaming down on her little...

The Murukku was really dangerous to make. The hot oil splattered violently everytime we put in a new batch. Yet I lived to tell this tale, but will just let the boils from the scalds I got to do the talking.

pretzel shaped murukku are all the rage this festive season

We stopped when it got close to the time to break fast. Syareena's mum made kacang phool and beehoon soup, but first we had to deliver some kacang phool to their aunt's place and to pick up some eggs to make suji cake(that we didn't make).

Enak sekali!

After dininer we were barely able to get off our fannies to get back to slaving in front of the hot oil for our edible art. But the girls who I suspect were deprived of playdoh as children soldiered on to make more innovative designs.

not sure if this was supposed to be a fallopian tube, a green wig or something else

I think this can be made into bling-bling

At the end of it all I was tired, greasy and very burnt. If we ever do this again, I think we will be needing these.

Geylang

2005-10-27T01:22:00.000-07:00

We finally got our act together and made it to Geylang Serai for this year's Hari Raya bazaar though it was not the best of days to be there. 15 minutes into our indulgent foray into the food funland, the heavens turned on its faucets and it started to piss down on us. Luckily for us we didn't need to risk ourselves from getting drenched in our pursuit of gluttony as there was a pretty big variety of food under the tent we were stuck in.

The first thing we had was roti bomb(top). I have never tried this before but its like a compact prata and made with a lot of margarine so its quite tasty. It's really artery clogging but damm nice...

We also shared a sloppy Joe, note the steak tartar in the centre

Vadas and chewy fish kerepok

Syareena demonstrating an assassination technique using a toothpick she picked up during her days as a bond girl.

The Ayam Percik was excellent.

The stall from which we got the dengdeng from had a pretty gritty texture and not as spiced as the one we had last year. Weird thing is that every year the dengdeng looks more and more like ba kwa.

We also had chendol, vadas and putu piring(hands were too greasy to take pictures at that point). We were getting pretty full by then but Diana didn't let up and got these rib sticking delights....

Char Kway stuffed with fish paste and deep fried and topped with loads of mayo. über delish!

We were about to cross over to the non-food section of the bazaar when Diana found a stall that sold deep fried everything.

She was fixated with the deep fried crab that they had. She got one and just as she took a bite into it, we advised her to eat it later as maneuvering a crab at the foot of the staircase of an overhead bridge was quite leceh.

Note the crab leg sticking out of the bag. It had scratched someone and a while later in the midst of the hustle and bustle, the bag holding mr crab fell on the floor.... :(

Over at the non-food section, we saw an array of cool things like a giant songkok, tudunged dolls and some cool toys...

Poor girl probably has a tumor in her head from using the handphone too much

I got myself this fucking cute Doraemon Uno card set

Shan doing the tourist thing - fan in one hand and coconut in another.

Dogsitting

2005-10-23T17:24:00.000-07:00

DAY 1
This is the 3rd time I am house sitting for my friend Arthur and I ask myself why I actually put myself through the agony of picking up other people's pet poo. Situated in the middle of nowhere with an empty refrigerator and only cans of organic dog food, the only consolation was that the place where he is staying now has a pool. But it was pissing down today and I can't even get the water heater to work. I am a miserable wreck with 2 needy dogs to feed and entertain. Took Bruce and Buffy down for a walk as soon as I could find their leashes. I don't think I will ever make it as a professional dog walker cos I can't even control 2 little dogs during their walk. But then I forget this is Singapore and the maids walk the dogs here.

Possum anyone?

Presentation is everything...

After feeding the dogs, I managed to get online(dail-up connection!) and chatted for a bit. Didn't know what to eat so Syereen suggested a few places that deliver. One of them was golden pillow which she mentioned a few times before so I thought I should give it a try. The lady who took my order sounded like she was in a warzone. She said the delivery would take an hour and a half, judging from my location. I could sense that she was just trying to get me to cancel my order as I was a bit out of the way of their regular delivery route. I was not very hungry so I told her I could wait and she reluctantly agreed.

It actually arrived in less than an hour and came delivered in a box that held a squarish loaf of bread. I was expecting a bun dripping with curry but as I tore into the bun I found a plastic bag that held the curry. Novel idea but wouldn't the plastic bag release toxins when its baked? The curry was incredibly lousy. No, actually it was shit. Chinese curries seem to be made up of a standard set of spices and lots of coconut milk. Sometimes it's actually nice. But not this.

Peeeewwww, pui, puke!

But I was quite hungry by then and had almost half the giant bun and curry, feeling quite grossed-out after. Aiya, I am not a fussy eater, just a bitchy one.

DAY 2

Met Shan at Holland Village to get some lunch and groceries today. We first went to some of the chi chi shops selling designer food at Chip Bee gardens and sniggered at the things they sold. One of them was Da Paulo Gastronomia where we actually spent money in.
Shan got some lemon frosted cupcakes (which we wolfed down immediately after stepping out of the shop), while I bought a lamb shank, a stuffed portabello mushroom that cost 12 friggin dollars and a very fine slab of chocolate truffle.

We went back to the apartment, swam and fed the doggies, then ourselves with a bags of chips and our gourmet purchases.

The lamb shank was not bad though not hearty and a bit bland, while the 12 dollar portabello mushroom(I swear I didn't know that it would cost so much) tasted like shitake but smokier-would do very well if it were sliced and tossed with pasta.

This is worth 6 packets of chicken rice

We had no space left in us for dessert so we went to the balcony to have an after dinner drink while keeping Bruce happy. Fan Fan came over at about 12am and we watched Orange County and Margaret Cho on DVD....

It was almost 4am when the girls left. I felt a major headache coming on and needed to crash. Buffy though had other plans, wanting to jump in bed with me. I could handle that as we slept in the same bed before -just need to endure the sound of her licking herself in complete darkness and silence. Just as I was about to doze off, Buffy started to make hurling sounds. Think she was really going to hurl, I shot out of bed to turn on the light to find her nose dripping wet, probably because she directly under the air-conditioning unit. I put her on the floor and turned off the air-conditioning but she would still occasionally bark at the slightest noise she would hear. At that point I was feeling very highly strung so I got out of bed and scoured through the medicine cabinet hoping to find some Xanax(for me and the dog) but I settled for a Panadol Extra. I finally got to sleep at about 6am, after putting Buffy out of the room.

DAY 3
I had an appointment today at 1pm and got up at 11am after less than 5 hours of unrestful sleep. When I got back, I could tell that Buffy was obviously miserable. She has been missing the litter tray and didn't even touch her morning biscuit treat so I took the dogs for a walk(one at a time) then went for a swim.

Buffy is getting quite smelly. I am not going to shower her. She becomes a monster after a bath as I found out on previous dog sitting sessions and I don't think I deserve anymore hostility from her. The dogs went ballistic when they saw me munching on an apple. I bit off small bits for them but they kept begging for more.Explains their bowel regularity.

Buffy's behavior is freaking me out a little. I hope its just the weather. She seems to be hiding in strange corners of the house and sometimes barks and growls at nothing in particular. She is also terrified by the sound of thunder and the smelly mutt will want to jump on my lap for security. Bruce and his constant whining whilst he is stuck in the balcony(separated cos buffy is not friendly towards other dogs)is really getting to me...Its so hard to please everyone.

I so deserve this

Buka Puasa vol. 3 cum shopping trip @ Mustafa's

2005-10-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

Herda called me yesterday and asked if I wanted to join her her shop for toiletries at Mustafas. By the time we met it was almost time to buka puasa.She felt like having vegetarian, so we went to Anadabhavan's just across from Mustafas. It was pretty full so we thought it had to be good, though now I realise that I got sucked into the "crowded must be good" mentality. The food was pretty lame, or maybe it was what I had ordered...

Veggieburgers were invented by Indians

Cardboard kebabs with sulphur coated onions

I had a vada pau and vegetarian kebab while Herda had a cheese naan. Vada pau I think is a Northern Indian street food and is basically a fried potato pattie burger topped with different kinds of chutneys. Herda's naan was pretty mediocre but the vegetarian kebab was downright weird. Just like having mystery meat in spam, this had mystery vegetable. I made the mistake of eating the raw onion that came on the side. It was probably the most pungent tasting raw onion that I have ever had. Similar to a wasabi hit, but this hit lingered for a while.

We crossed over to Mustafa's and thronged through its stacks and stacks of everything and nothing. They expanded two more floors above the original three floors and now carry everything from Henckels knives(think Rolls Royce of knives and cutlery) to obsecure brands of ghee from Coimbatore. I can just spend a whole day looking at all the barang-barang there.
They even carry books and magazines now, like Indian editions of Cosmopolitan, India Today, Stardust(some Bollywood film mag).

There is also weird and wonderful things that we came across....

Pig lotion??

Pukimon flavoured toothpaste, delish!

Doremon toothbrush? Too fucking cute!

Honey flavoured toothpaste, mebbe it can be used as a spread on toast. Ok I admit i do have a fetish for oral care!

Another Japanese invention-scissors to trim and style facial hair.

I might need this.

and this!

So after about more that 2 hours of mindless consumerism and the desperate need to break wind(those damm raw onions I had earlier), we stepped out of Mustafa's to the bright lights of the Tourism Board's efforts to make Singapore an exotic yet consumeristic destination for visitors. But hey they got me.... I didn't really need to buy anything (the kitchen cabinets are overflowing with things from previous shopping trips to Mustafa's) but did buy some neem soap, papadums(Taj Mahal brand rocks!), fresh dates and nata de coco. Retail therapy has never been more practical.

Buka puasa vol. 2

2005-10-12T11:23:00.000-07:00

Went to Arab street to "buka puasa" again. Was hoping to have some of the buka puasa fare from the stalls but most of the shops were already packing up, so we decided on going to Samar. Samar is a cozy middle eastern restaurant at the end of Kandahar street, though the food as we found out, really sucked...

Cardboard!

Cardboard!

Nice but too little!

We had ordered Bamia, Lamb Shank, Roast Chicken, Shab Shouka(note this is the correct spelling. Refer to previous post here, where I didn't even know the origins of the dish). The lamb shank served on rice was tough and dry and so was the chicken. I have eaten cardboard with better texture. The saving grace was the Bamia(lamb and okra stew, despite the small portion served in a little ramekin) and Shab Shouka was nice but kinda bland(perhaps the local variation is more suited to our our tempered tastebuds). The cuts of meat used in them were kinda gritty though...

Tulang queen!

We left still feeling hungry and headed to the nearest Starbucks for a sugar fix. I needed an artery clogging Beard Papa cream puff with my iced mocha to make me feel better over a disappointing meal. I have yet to have my Ramadan chendol fix from Arab street. Lemme know if you know of any place that has good chendol.

ps-In the menu there is a picture of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas. And apparently they don't serve coke. Go figure.

Cheap cheap

2005-10-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

After my yoga lesson today I went to have brunch at one of the hawker centers in Toa Payoh before heading into the office. I bought a $1.50 pack of chicken rice(save myself the trouble of getting dinner later on -I don't want to eat at the cockroach noodles shop next to my office either!)and ordered a bowl of lor mee to have there. It was pretty average tasting but the portions and topping were generous, only $2... though I think the auntie forgot to add vinegar. Sitting at the same table as me was a 50 something year old Chinese man who had a big bottle of carlsberg and another of guiness, eating a plate of nasi lemak. He started talking to me in what could be Malay but I couldn't really make out what he was saying... its been a while since I had a crazy person talk to me(he seemed mildly deranged). I can't say that I miss it but it can be somtimes entertaining-they tell the most amazing stories..... I ta-powed some you char kwey and otah-otah and made them into these heaty little sandwiches when i got back to the office...

Buka puasa vol. 1

2005-10-09T02:30:00.000-07:00

I have decided a few days earlier to join my Muslim friends while they break their fast so as to see what culinary delights they consume when they break their fast. I did get a surpise call this morning from catfucker to go to her place to join in the buka puasa at her home. Not that I was fasting or anything but she invited me over cos her mother made mee bandung. I may have tried it once or twice in my life but all I recall is that its yellow noodles that comes with a bright red gravy.

But anyway she did come by my place to pick me up and we went shopping for more food... Ina tipped me off about a place in Tampines(block 940) that sells buka puasa fare from the late afternoon that had quite a variety. As we got out of the car, the wafting aroma from the stalls stirred my innermost animalistic emotion... the kind that would make me want to pounce on sardine epok-epok. Catfucker couldn't contain herself either. She was hopping all over the place. I wonder how it would feel if to be fasting and had to endure the smells coming from all that food...

Ramlee burger!

the nasi briyani smelled divine

and had my first taste of air Katira

We got all we needed and rushed back to her flat to blanch the noodles and vegetables for the mee bandung and prepare the rest of the food and drink before iftar. This was to be my first buka puasa - after 4 hours of not eating. As we sat ourselves down at the table with all the food laid out, I realized that I wasn't particularly hungry. But I soldiered on and slowly enjoyed the mee bandung.

and home made otah...

and later came across a fire breathing cat

Muthu's Curry

2005-10-04T23:45:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I ended up at Muthu's curry yesterday after not being able to decide on where to eat last night. That place is just not the same anymore. Almost everything about it is different. Even the location. It underwent a whole new image overhaul and has zen inspired decor with cheesy new age music(they were playing Enya) Why can't they play some classical Indian music instead? The food is not as spicy(target markets are mainly the local Chinese and tourists, anyway which Indian with half a brain would pay good money to eat a fish head when you can get more fish and less head for cheaper). The chicken masala almost tasted like it was a nothern Indian dish. I remember my father bringing home chicken masala when I was a kid and it would be arse burningly spicy and the tumeric from the masala would stain your hands yellow, even after washing. But those days are gone.

Masala tea came with a cinnamon stick stirrer. So chi chi!

I can't say that the food was bad. It was still good. Just didn't have a big enough kick for me. I did have a beer with the meal and it somehow did balanced out with all that mild heat. I have had Erdinger with a pretty spicy nasi padang once and that didn't go down too well somehow. We also had fried mutton(though was more like mutton masala), fried fish and fish cutlets. Kevin seemed particularly fond of the cutlets. I think that the only thing that tasted the same from last time was probably the gravies that came with the meal. I dunno if I should feel happy or sad. I can't stand this. Everyone is selling out.

Branding seems too important these days.

Giant Sotong

2005-09-29T23:45:00.001-07:00

Imagine how many pots of sambal sotong you can make if you caught one of these giant suckers.

note to self: go deep sea fishing on next holiday

Dan Ryan's, 13 years on...

2005-09-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

Spaz's dad wanted to have a small dinner gathering before his departure tomorrow and decided to have it at Dan Ryan's bar and grill along Tanglin Road. It was a terribly nostalgic dining experience for me. I loved the dark interior(not dark now though, the music(jazz circa 1930) and maybe even the food. The last time I was there was in 1993 with my colleagues from Haagen Dazs(yes I scooped ice-cream part time whilst I was in school). I strangely am able to recall what we ordered that night in 1993 - pecan pie, a caesar salad and nachos-that was the first time I tasted nachos. Do remember that those were the days before doritos were easily available in Singapore. Oh and I also had my first taste of bourbon coke. With Wild Turkey. I quite liked it then. Oh those carefree days of underaged drinking....

Ok fast forward to the present(and reality). The meal we had was ok. Between the 7 of us,we ordered starters consisting of nachos, buffalo wings, calamari rings and a caesar salad and for the main course we swapped around a steak, ribs and seafood platter.Everything was passed around so it was a like a sampler meal of sorts. Most of it was good except for the seafood platter that was generally overcooked and too heavily breaded. But I don't know about the steak though. I am not able to appreciate eating a slab of meat without it being really marinated in anything. It was bland and just tasted beefy I guess. After all that food, beer and wine, I must confess that I was pretty gassy at the end of it all.

The last time I made a mess like this was when I was five

Another mystery find!

2005-09-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

I don't need to dig into cereal boxes to find mystery gifts. Chantal came over and offered me some pakoras(deep fried veg fritters) that she bought from the canteen. Before swallowing the doughy bit I had chewed on, I could feel something hard that I thought could have been the stem of a curry leaf or whole piece of fennel. Only upon further inspection thru mastication I picked it out and found this.

Mebbe I should buy 4D or something.

2005-09-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

It's when you really anticipate something when you don't really enjoy yourself. I went to Spaz's farewell bash with a stuffed nose and blase attitude and it turned out to be a quite a blast.... the host was literally humping some of the guests, especially those who crashed the party.

Here is some vile chutney made out of wasabi, mint and yoghurt that Spaz and Isabel made. I fed it to the people I didn't know at the dining table who were hoarding the booze

some disgruntled neighbors that were sore about not being invited decided to leave their mark with some bird flu seeds

Risky business

2005-09-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

I was too friggin busy the whole of yesterday that I didn't have time to get dinner. I toyed with the idea of getting some grub from cleaner pastures but settled for Roach Central(Aroma coffee shop), located just outside my office. I ordered my all time favorite zhe char dish of fish-slices-with-bitter-gourd-and-black-bean-sauce-on-rice. Upon opening the takeaway packet back at my desk, I realised that ordering it was a big mistake. How the fuck was I going to tell a roach from the bits of fermented black bean used in the sauce? I threw caution to the wind. The phone rang and I got back to multi-tasking. Eat, talk, email, colour correct, crop, bark back at boss, eat, choke, slam fone...

Where's Roachy?

Carol(the first hapless Aroma victim who found a roach in her noodles)came by to ask me if I wanted to anything from MacDonalds and I decided to indulge in an apple pie and ice cream sundae. Put the two together and u get this....

Onam makan

2005-09-15T23:05:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of Onam. And no, its not the Indian new year. I invited Spaz over for dinner today 'cos he is one of the few I know that can appreciate a Kerala vegetarian meal. He has been coming over on and off the past few years and gives my mum such joy seeing him wipe off every bit of food off the banana leaf. I have given up asking anyone else as they usually squirm at the technicolour palate of food and intimidating number of side dishes laid out on the banana leaf. Oh and the fact that the meal is vegetarian. No mutton curry. No broiled chicken wings. No fish molee.

This Onam was a pretty low key affair this year because of my gran's passing away earlier in the year, but the spread of food was almost the same as most years....I won't bother explaining the individual dishes but I would say the meal is kinda like a degustation smogasbord that you have with your fingers. It may look like a load of slop to some but it sure taste good. I think if I had a choice on a meal that I would be stuck having for the rest of my life, this would be it....

Dessert on the same banana leaf: payasam mashed with a banana and papadum-delish!

Mac Virgin

2005-09-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

I spent most of yesterday hanging out with Spaz. He is leaving the country for greener pastures in less than 2 weeks so I thought that I should spend some time with him. He got himself a new ibook and after finding a scratch on it (barely 2 days into the purchase), he whipped out a bottle of car wax and started buffing. I am not entirely sure it its good your computer but the scratch did almost disappear...

This is AC the dog. I think she has issues. She is generally timid but not when she is taken for a walk. She will then turn into this frisky bitch in heat, constantly peeing(or marking her spot). She hates being photographed and if you are lucky you might see her getting humped by Bear, her sister.

If only they made prozac for pets

We had dinner at Scotts Picnic and headed to ICB for beer.... here are some pix taken under the influence of alcohol...

In Loving Memory

2005-09-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

Cesar
Purchased: October 1999
Died: September 11th 2001

Furry and frisky
happy to be running in his wheel
Always stuffing his cheeks
with kacang and kwachi

Thought to be a He
but was actually a She
The guy at the pet shop
was trying to cheat me

To be put down on such a fateful date
was never intended
As the news only came
just after the injection

Take care my friend
in your journey
To find liberation from Samsra
sooner or later

Cravings

2005-09-09T03:54:00.000-07:00

Its almost 4am and I suddenly have a craving for durian crepes. I am not a durian freak, but I do love durian puffs and crepes. Another thing i have been craving for is freeze dried durian. Its crunchy, creamy and not overIy pungent. Don't think you can get it here but it is available in Bangkok. So if any of you are going to Bangkok, buy for me, ok? Can get from MBK shopping centre. ;p

Anyway its getting late. Time to titon. Check out this puddy tat. It will surely take your mind off any kind of craving.

Weird ass cup of tea

2005-09-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

My boss asked me if I would like a cup of tea and this is what she brought me.

Apparently its some kind of flower tied together with some tea leaves. Tasted like jasmine tea but not so sickeningly floral. Quite nice actually.

Marine Parade Char Kway Teow

2005-09-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

No hum!

I had to endure horrible organ lessons at Yamaha music school as a kid. My parents forced me to do it(no this is not a cry for help), I simply hated missing the weekend morning cartoons.... it did feel like child abuse then. But one of the consolation was lunch at the hawker center nearby that had excellent western food, chicken porridge and char kway teow. I had a vague memory of splattering a new shirt that my mum bought for me to wear on my birthday with char kway teow gravy. The char kway teow here is pretty wet and sloppy, and every mouthful is slightly pungent from the generous amount of garlic, balanced with the sweetness of the black sauce.... its damm shiok lah.

Pizza Cookout part deux

2005-09-04T23:50:00.000-07:00

Today was damm tiring man. Went to Syereena's for a pizza cookout after yoga (we learnt postures to relieve constipation today) only to find her still sluggish from a late night out. As we lazed and pondered on what pizza to make, Syareena wanted to make bread and butter pudding too. After half and an hour of slacking, we finally got off our asses and got to making the dough from scratch. Rehan called suggesting that we have the cookout at his friend Amin's batchleor pad. Syareena and I were both easy with the suggestion but the problem was that he didn't have an oven. Someone suggested taking the oven over there. And we did(Syareena's parents are away). The oven has sentimental value to Syareena's mum. Last time we made pizza in it, she said that her late mother had given it to her 10 years ago.

It ain't heavy...its Syareena's mum's Baby Belling

I was tired, hungry and sweaty. The lunch cookout was turning out to be a dinner cookout. And I still had to make dessert. Tho it was not that bad cos' Shan arrived and I now had her and Syareena as personal slaves. Shan called me a control freak while Syareena called me a kitchen Nazi. Perhaps I am not used to having to cook with women. Cooking with men is generally easier cos they are usually clueless abt what to do and just follow instructions.

The kitchen Nazi watching over his slave

Shan holding up the dough as if it were a limbless child(you have to go out drinking with her to get understand)

We didn't leave till about 5.30pm. When we got there, we wondered how we were to work in a pretty small kitchen. There was barely any couter space. And I had to deal with Arthur who was dropping by for a while. He got pretty drunk in no time and started belting out his greatest hits much to the pleasure of Shan.

Arthur venting his angst thru making music

The pizza base spoilt the the evening for us. It was hard and tasted pretty raw. Think we cooked it too long and we let the dough rise too much....Next time we are using tortilla skins as bizza bases like they do at Ice Cold Beer.

Don't cry over bad pizza

Made pizza toast instead(L to R: meat lovers, BBQ and 4 cheese pizza toast)

The bread and butter pudding was a slight disaster. Miss Sengari refused to use a water bath to place the dish holding the pudding in and we left it in the oven too long too so it got pretty dry by the time we got it out...but no one had any space for it in their bellies anyway.

Nice but overcooked

Me and Amin titoning after makaning

We watched a pretty silly but funny teen flick and finally left at abt 12.15am. I wanted to shower and hit the sack asap but the mysterious smell that has been lingering in my room for the past 3 days just got stronger. Kinda smelled like belachan. I sniffed around and pulled the sofa forward and found behind it a dead decomposing gecko. Thank goodness for the Dettol spray(kinda like lysol)

Yummy chicak

Taste just like Toddy!

2005-09-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

Parents got back from India this morning and they bought an adventurous mix of alcohol with their duty free allowance. Dewar's whiskey, passion fruit brandy, two bottles of expensive jacob's creek(39 bucks!) and 2 sampler bottles of sparkling rose wine. Got back from the office today and found one of the sparkling wine bottles open with some left and retro champagne glasses on the kitchen couter. They had a wine tasting without me! I poured the rest for myself, took a sip and thought that it tasted like monet & chandon.... then my mum said "nice colour" referring to the drink, but then she actually ment "nice kallu". Kallu means toddy in Malayalam. Now who needs champagne when u can have the luscious fermenting sap of a flowering branch of a coconut tree. You know what drink to bring if u come over and want to earn brownie points with my mother.

Aroma Surprise

2005-08-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

Being unable to go for a paella party(pronounced "pah-EH-yah")at Roberto's(Rehan's new Spanish fren)as I had to work, I settled to tapau a pack of Hokkien mee from Aroma coffee shop next to the office. The hokkien mee was mediocre and bland but the lousy noodles didn't really bother me as I was damm hungry. As I was spooning the last mouthfuls of gravy into my mouth, I found, to my surprise(and horror)a bug in it. Though most of you might find this disgusting I have to say that I was quite relieved. It could have been worse. My colleague Carol found a baby roach in her sang mian, also purchased from Aroma coffee shop. She too found the Rentokil escapee in her noodles as she was almost done with the meal. Think its some strange law of nature, like how a piece of toast always falls buttered side down on the floor.

by Photobucket.com">

note to self- pack own meals from home from now on

NDP pizza party

2005-08-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was at Mustafa's with the Sengari sisters. Never go to Mustafa's with women. It was such a garrulous affair. One sister was sick, moaning and wanting to make it quick, but when she sees some thing she likes, she would say ".....want to get for me for my birthday?" The other one was a kid in a candy store. The actual reason for them going was to buy stuff for their trip to Redang the next day and also to get ingredients for a pizza lunch that they were doing the next day, inspired by a pizza cookbook that they bought.

We made the dough from scratch(yeast and letting it rise in a warm place) so I guess that had to count for something....(when Shan found out that we had a pizza making experiment, she was pretty upset that she was left out thinking it was a party). The funny thing abt the Sengari sisters is seeing them break into a little dance (not with each other) all of a sudden when a favorite techno beat comes blasting out of their computer while their mother just looks on at her vivacious offspring...

I didn't eat much of the pizza thought, cos their Ibu cooked a feast of sambal goreng, sambal tumis with with fish roe and lauk singgang. If I had a choice between eating food that I cooked and eating someone else mother's cooking, of course I eat the mother's cooking lah. You can't go wrong with tried and tested recipes that have been thru the cold war, John Lennon's assination, the fall of the Berlin wall and Sept 11.
She also made bubur kacahang hijau with durian that Syereen tapaued and which I ate chilled the next day. Beats Ben & Jerry's anyday.

Midnight drive with Kak and Shelia

2005-06-18T00:26:00.000-07:00

Met Syereen and her friend Sheila after work for ice cream at Swensens. I found out a few days later that Shelia and I were in the same primary school and even in the same Malay class in primary 6! So freaky! She said that she remembered me, saying that I was a quite boy.... I wasn't generally quiet but I was a mouse in Malay class 'cos Chikgu Ramlah scared the shit out of me. She had a temper and would really pinch us really hard if we slacked. Long gone are the golden days of abuse in the classroom. Anyway Sheila and I clicked almost immediately. We drove to Mount Faber then to Changi Village for a spot of trannie watching and teh tarik. Quiet night out but was enjoyable.

guess who....

Pig organ mee swa nite

2005-06-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

After effects of a lolly from the Willy Wonka factory

Shan I think is more of a foodie than me. While at ICB she had actually made prior plans to have mee swa at a hawker center in Bedok North with Diana and Anna. I don't think I actually do that. But then I might have unconsciously done it before.

Rehan forcing himself on poor ole me

Brains and all...

Despite of not being a fan of mee swa, I decided to order it as it came highly recommended by Shan and Anna. It was not as slimy as my vague memory while having it a child, though I think the liver slices in them put me off it till now. I ordered mine minus the spare parts. The gravy was nicely spiced and rich. Quite yummy. Diana's bowl had brain slices in it. I don't think she ate them but I think Syareena and Rehan were a bit taken aback by the kind of things u can find in a bowl of noodles there. Rehan was getting queasy looking at the mee sua and the risk of getting splashed with babi broth kinda scared him, judging from his body language. Syareena and Rehan on the other hand had roti jon and sab suka. What is sab suka you might ask? I have not heard of it before but it was pretty interesting. Most people who I described it to mistook it for kacang pol, but it was basically a spicy mince meat bolognese type sauce topped with a mata lembu and served with french bread.

Sab suka

BBQ cum slideshow

2005-05-11T01:17:00.000-07:00

We had an office party at Alan's new place with a BBQ (www.bbqwholesale.com - not bad and its halal), after which we proceded up to his flat to attempt to trash it. But just settled with laughing at Alan's slide show pix of Desmond Foo after his near fatal bike accident in Nepal.

Claypot Lice

2005-04-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

I don't encourage having claypot rice if you don't intend to have it in a claypot. Terence tapaued this for me and though it was cooked in a claypot and transferred to and wrapped in a palm leaf stem (very authentic), it just was not that shiok. I associate claypot rice with cruchy burnt bits of rice, drenched in sweet black sauce and being bloody hot to the touch. This tapaued version was a bit undercooked (with fast turnover, you just don't have the luxury of mixing in oil, black sauce, spring onions and coriander leaves then covering the pot and letting it set...)
But its famous so here is the address

Traditional (Charcoal) Claypot Chicken Rice
Blk 75 #01-330
Toa Payoh Lorong 5
Singapore 310075

Fucked-up Fridge

2005-04-26T01:30:00.000-07:00

Its days like this when i wonder if i am adopted. Coming back home after a shit day in the office to find a fridge that is spilling out with food is not fun. I bet I would have a plesant looking fridge interior if I had my own place. We actually have two fridges. The other is a small in my mother's 'vegetarian' fridge in which she keeps all 'non-pariah' items.

But dont judge me and call me an anal neat freak. No i do not want my mother to be like Bree Van De Kamp from Desperate Housewives, but an easy access and not overflowing fridge would be nice. We just have too much. Some of it still warm for the zhe-char place, while other items have been there since last year. I have to blame my dad too. He buys food everyday from wherever he is and the ever-growing collection of food just never stops....

Herda's Birthday@Attica

2005-04-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

After the usual planning by moi that amounts to naught, Birthay girl Herdawati decided on Attica as she hadn't been there before. Upon entering we were greeted by bad dancing by foreign talent in the club followed by mannequinism by posers in courtyard, we decided to check out Attica Too. It turned out to be a complete waste of money to pay extra to go there. Bad music, bad decor, sleazy crowd.

Herda expressing disgust after leaving Attica Two

So we went back down to Attica to join the expats groove to cheesy club tunes. We left not too long after as Rehan and birthday girl were feeling tired but not after about 20 minutes of posing by cat-fucker and me as we realised we actually might be able to pass off as chi-chi Indian expats.

The best part of the evening was going to Spize in River Valley to makan. CF had roti-jon special, Herda and abang shared a maggi goreng pattaya and I had a mutton chop. The roti jon was not bad, greasy and smothered in some sauce, while i have to say that the maggi goreng pattaya was quite good and could qualify as comfort food as it doesn't require much chewing. My mutton chop was a bit of a disappointment (though I am not a mutton chop connoisseur). The bits of meat were tough and overly tart(though balanced out with a huge pile of fries) and the mata lembu was a bit runny.

That's 378 more hours on the cross-trainer.

Whites only?

2005-04-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

WTF??!! Remnant of colonial times?

tulang@2am

2005-04-21T02:10:00.000-07:00

Why in Sam hill did my father buy tulang tonight.... He has never bought it before and I do not see any reason why he should be buying it as he should know that the sauce is sweet(he hates sweet food). Well I have probably had this kind of tulang once or twice before so I decided on indulging for the sake of research.

Standing in the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning in my underwear(I took off my shirt halfway through the marrow extracting ritual as it got quite messy). It felt very cannibalistic munching and sucking on those bones. I made marrow sandwiches with some toasted bread... yum... And 'spoilt my teeth'(my mother thinks chewing on red meat is bad for your gnashers)biting off bits of meat and cartilage. The sauce, despite being sweet, was nicely spiced with hints of ginger, star anise and cinnamon.

Hannibal Lecter would be so proud!

This is the price I had to pay for my gluttony - stains on my new shirt, which came off with Dynamo. Just followed what advice followed in their catchphrase: rub a little on the stain and pour the rest in the wash ; )

Carrot Cake Taugae

2005-04-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

Feeling peckish so decided on a pre-dinner nibble. Walked out of to Aroma coffee shop and had decided to try out the new carrot cake stall that added taugae to their carrot cake! Its not oily and the taugae was nicely charred and not wilted or mushy.

Will try the black version next time.

Pig Trotter Mee Poh

2005-04-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

I almost cried when I was at the foodcourt at Meridian Hotel in Orchard. They had the pig trotter noodles similar to the kind i had in Bangkok! The lady scooped out a fresh leg from the cauldron of soya-sauce and spices, placed it on a chopping board and started choping tender bits of meat to place on the noodles. When i thought she was done chopping, she started cutting off bits of skin off the leg! I politely declined the porcine fat and she topped up my bowl with more meat instead....

The dish was topped with kiam-chai and half a hard boiled egg which added a nice touch to the meal. I must say that this was better than what i had in bkk. The broth was richer, and that alone made quite a big difference.

Bangkok

2005-04-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Day 1

Ian Wright sat next to me on the plane

After a 2 hour you-won't-get-jack-shit-from-us flight from Shingapore, I took the airport bus to Sukhumwit to get to Suk 11, a backpackers hostel on soi 11 that I had intended to stay in. But it was full so headed for soi 13 and settled for The Miami.
Melros Place minus the beautiful people(top), my funky room @ The Miami(bottom)

Retro booths(top), friendly bar staff

It is very retro with a 50's styled diner and a pool in the centre that made the place look a bit like Melrose Place. The room looked pretty worn and the bed was lumpy, though it was clean and had air-conditoning. I must say its a pretty down and out place that had seen better days(apparently it was popular with GIs when they were in Bangkok during the Vietnam war).

The place kinda of depressed me so i dumped my stuff and headed out for lunch. The last thing that I ate was a bowl of piping hot porridge from the Changi Airport cafeteria that scalded my mouth. So that's almost almost 5 hours without sustinance. I walked under the hot sun exploring roadside stalls but decided that i was not ready for street fare just yet. So I walked towards Siam square and where i remembered a food court, but ended up in a posh Zen-inspired, Marche-like food court. It had a pretty global selection but i decided on the local fare.

I had a pork red curry with steamed fish cake and papaya salad and watermelon smoothie. The curry had chillies floating in it that looked like peas but were not too firey. I was surrounded by expats who were feeding their offspring pizzas and other kiddie staples and locals stuffing their faces with naan and pasta. It was a pretty good meal in a chi chi setting. And all for just 189 Baht.

I decided to pamper myself with a massage in a day spa place. I choose an aroma therapy massage that was ok but felt that the massuse could have put more pressure while massaging.

Day 2
I got up too late to do an early morning Chatuchak visit that I had planned for so that i could beat the crowds and the heat. The uncomfortable bed and poor air-conditioning at The Miami was to blame for that.

The best pisang goreng in the world!

Bland char siew noodles, needs lard!

So after breakfast of pisang goreng and char siew noodles. I made my way to the mother of all markets. The heat at Chatuchak was simply unbearable. The spread out market the size of god-knows-how-many football fields had low-rise canopies that shaded its tenants from the sun, which in turn also traps heat generated by hot and flustered shoppers.

Yes, you can even get pussy at Chatuchak.

I made a mental note to myself to search for the duck briyani food stall that i ate at on my last trip but didnt bother as i was still full from a late breakfast and was snacking on other stuff.

Thai fish cakes(top) and crab snacks(below)

Three t-shirts, a bag of crab snax, and countless fruit smoothies later, I found myself back in the food section near the entrance of Chatuchak itching for somthing exotic to devour. But I was such a pussy(I am not Anthony Bourdain) and had the local satay with sticky rice, which I ta-paued and took it back to my room at The Miami to eat.

It was pretty sweet, like teriyaki sauce, but after picking out the loads of skin that was skewered between the flesh, I headed out for more sustinance and had a bowl of young tau fu followed by some beef noodles.

Yums

I thought i died and gone to msg heaven

DAY 3

Not everything in Bangkok comes in mini sizes

I did pretty much nothing today. Got up late, had breakfast of mini char kway and han cheem peng with piping hot coffee that was served in a plastic cup that was impossible to hold, all from cheap and good roadside stalls. I walked over to Suk 11 to see if they had rooms. And they did so i troded back to The Miami to get my stuff.I got a mild case of the shits not long after, which i think was the doing of the coffee. So after a few shits, i packed my stuff, bid farewell to the grotty Miami and moved over to Suk11. The room I got there was small, clean and basic but the air-conditioning was fucked. So I went down 4 flights of stairs and asked for another room. While the young in keeper went about sorting my room, I decided on having lunch in their quaint little cafe.

Cosy Suk 11(top) and Suk 11 cafe meal(bottom)

The food was alritght but i think it was more of a novelty eating there, as prices were a bit higher and they served the dishes in little tiffin carriers. The minced pork with basil on rice was a bit oily but edible, but the wontons were just wanton. After the meal I went to my newly allocated room, which was not yet cleaned. But I didn't want to go down 4 slights of stairs to complain so i just cleaned it myself. While transfering some of my unpacked luggage, I picked up a ziplock bag containing my shaving razor. It was weighed down by a bottled of sunblock(that i didn't use) and the razor sliced thru the plastic and a generous piece of skin, which bled for a good few minutes.

Delish!

After saying my cheebais and shit-fuck arse holes, i did my laundry with a heavily bandaged finger and later went on to sleep in cool air-conditioning. Got up a while later and headed to Patpong to get a massage(legit one of course) and dinner. I was recommended Ruen-Nuad massage and yoga in Thanon Convent, which was in a quaint wooden house behind a fancy restaurant. I had a tradational Thai massage that cost me abt $350 Bhat. As I climbed the stairs and entered the massage cubicles, I could hear a Japanese tourist heave sighs and grunts of esctacy, almost like that that made during coitus. Alas i didn't make sounds like that but felt very good after the massage.I also tipped the massues and left walking upright and refreshed.

I stumbled across a gem of a food cart back at the beginning of Thanon Convent. It was basically a noodles stall, but it had stewed pig trotters too. I pointed to the vendor my desire to have a combination of kway teow and stewed pork which she delightfully dished up and came with a generous portion of kang kong.

As I ate my noodles with great fervor, i noticed a trannie who had just finished eating her meal. I was sweating like a pig while the trainnie didn't even break into a sweat. She was coolly gazing in front of her. Perhaps its a higher state of conciousness that trannies can achieve to prevent perspiring so that their heavy make-up won't run. By the time I had finished my noodles, my face and scalp was dripping wet.

DAY 4
I got up at 6.30am. Almost every Singaporean male would have been there as part of their national service training in the army, but not me as my posting in NS did not involve wearing green. So as i boarded the slow train with a copy of The Nation in hand, I noticed a group of locals and their pet puppy. The Thais love taking pets with them on trips.

This puppy was probably passed around the group of travellers more than the village whore.

After a slow 4 hour train journey, I went to a local guest house for lunch after which I rented a bike and rode around the town to get to the River Kwai bridge. It was bloody hot.

The infamous bridge seem from the war museum

The first floor of the war museum near the bridge. This display shows weapons used by the Japanese.

Mural on the 2nd floor of the war museum showing Miss Thailands from 1932 to present. Go figure.

The bus journey back was a killer. Almost as long as the train ride, the "air-conditioned" bus was was like a sauna to me. I dunno how the locals stay cool without breaking into a sweat. My brow was consistently wet from the non-stop perspiration. After getting off the sauna on wheels, i headed to the nearby coffeeshop for what i was craving for all day. Minced chicken with basil on rice, topped with a crispy on the edge mata lembu. But what i ended up with was chicken fried rice.... The tuk tuk ride back to Suk 11 reminded me that Songkran is just a day away.

Revellers on the street and on the back of their pickup trucks were already wetting the city.

DAY 5
Today is Songkran. Little did I know that it was not just a nation-wide wet t-shirt contest but also the Thai New Year. So after a boring breakfast of tea and toast at Suk 11 with annoying Americans who would not shut up, I headed out to the Siam Suqare to see if there was any decent shopping to be done. But not before one of the staff at Suk 11 smeared my cheeks with a cooling white paste, kinda like bedak sejuk, part of the new year getup. I didnt get too wet walking down the soiu to get to the BTS station, and headed down to Siam Square for a spot of shopping. Most of the shops there were closed so i headed across the road to the bigger malls. After abt 2 hours of mindless consumerism, I had a pretty simple lunch at an MBK foodcourt that consisted of a papaya salad , soup and rice and veg stir-fry with fried fish fillets(below).About the same price as the meal I had in The Food Loft but not as nice....

After deciding not to get my back waxed(it's cheap at MBK)I decided to head down to Patpong to buy some dvds before my depature but none of the roadside vendors were around as the place was flooded with crazed new year revellers. Almost everyone had a bucket, bottle or super soaker.

High rise water sports!

After taking some pictures and getting very wet, I headed back to Suk 11 to pick up my stuff and head to the airport. I walked over to the bus-stop to catch the airport bus. A guy next to me was in a friendly New Year mood. We made small talk. A woman carrying a bottle of water walked down the street towards the bus-stop. She looked tired but happy after a day of wet revelry. As she wished each person sitting at the bus-stop a Happy New Year in Thai, she also poured a token amount of water on their shoulder. When she came to me, she hesitated. I smiled at her, she wished me New Year greetings, wet my shoulder and went on her way. Perhaps Songkran also signifies cleansing and starting anew. Well I dunno really, but i was begining to like staying wet in this unbearable heat.

I waited about half an hour for the airport bus. I checked if i had enough Baht for a cab. I did, so I flagged one down. The guy wanted 300Baht, I said 200. He 300 and he will pay toll. I say 200 and i will pay toll. He agreed. I got in and he asked for the cash upfront so he can pay for the toll. After i handed him the cash he said he won't go by the highway. The bastard said that he dlive vely fas, no jam. I kept my cool. I wondered if he was going to take me somewhere so i could be robbed of every baht. He didn't. And true to his word, wearrived to the airport pretty quick. The arsehole even made friendly small talk with me, asking if i was married or had kids. Guessed he sensed that I was putting a hex on him. Perhaps its highly inauspicious being hexed on Songkran.

It was less than an hour before the flight was to depart. I headed to the check in counter. There were no passengers. I froze. Was I too late? I put my bags thru the x-ray and walked over to the counter. The counter staff smiled. I smiled back in relief. Checked in my stuff and ran up to the restaurants to grab a bite. I ordered a take-away pad thai fettuccini to eat on the plane. After I picked up the food and hurried though immigration and walked a great distance to get to the waiting lounge. As I in arrived in the waiting lounge, an announcement was aired, saying that the flight was delayed. So i plonked myself down and ate my fusion meal. The meal was interesting. It had a combination of sweet, nutty, salty and sour. The fettuccini was al-dente and very satisfying(below)

Half and hour later the plane was ready for boarding. The plane was half full and my reqest at the check-in counter for a seat at an emergency exit in the middle of the aircraft(more leg room) turned out to be a seat at the very rear. I didn't really mind anymore as i had all 3 seats to myself. And I also met Irene who is a friend of Shan's who now works with the local frillless airline. She just started bitching to me in Singlish abt stuff and I did the same, and strangely it all felt very comforting.

10 things I must do/eat the next time i go back to BKK:
1. Sticky rice with mango
2. Those plastic-looking edibile minature vegatables
3. Pineapple rice(if it even exists there)
4. Non-touristy seafood
5. Trannie noodles!!!!!
6. Get my back waxed
7. Get at least one massage every other day
8. Have at least one exotic meal that I haven't tried before every other day
9. Pack everything in ziploc bags if i go during Songkran
10. Avoid taking taxis to the airport

Gorkha Grill

2005-04-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

I was invited to dine with the fabulous Amran and his boisterous friends Anuja and Rita and Rita's hubby Peter at Gorkha Grill, a little Nepalese and Nothern Indian restaurant along Smith Street in the heart of Chinatown. I was a bit late for the meal and barged in half way through the starters of momo(meat dumplings),that were fried rather than the usual steamed variety. The dumplings were lightly spiced but a bit doughy(its a good thing only a few were ordered). As for main dishes, we had the standard Northern Indian fare of butter chicken, paneer, aloo gobi and naan. The butter chicken was excellent and had a hint of sweetness and tartness while the Paneer and Aloo Gobi were both pretty decent. We had butter and garlic naan that were somehow light and not too doughy or filling.

Rita indulging...

But the highlight of the meal came from a side dish of deep-fried thinly sliced okra that was seasoned with some kind of spices. The crisp thin slivers practically disintergrate instantly upon entry into your mouth. I think one of the seasonings used is powdered mango that is used a lot in Northern Indian cooking. Anuja and Amran had masal tea to top off the meal which was yummy on the whole but bad on the arteries.
Amran and Anuja doing a post meal dance

House of Peranakan Food

2005-04-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

My new makan kaki Sandra and I agreed on hanging out in the eastern part of the Island as soon as her family moved back from living in the west. In this first instalment of our eastern epicurean adventure, we headed for The House of Peranakan Food in Katong as we discussed having Peranakan food on numerous occasions. I must say in all my years of living just a stone's throw away from the restaurant, neither my family nor I were curious about the food served there. In fact the only time i have had Peranakan food in a restaurant was only on one occasion in Malacca.

After getting ourselves seated in the almost empty restaurant, we decided on having Bankwang Kepeting(thats like meatball soup), sambal-stuffed fried fish, kang kong with sambal and ayam buah keluak. The food arrived fairly quickly so i guess most of it was pre-prepared, in particular the soup and the ayam buah keluak.

The soup was flavourful, with some quite yummy meat dumplings, the ayam buah keluak was not similar to my first esperience of having it. This was quite dry and not as pasty nor fragrant as my first time(but that was home cooked
I must say the meal was quite a tasty and delicate affair.
My tastebuds were tickeled but can't really say much about the ayam buah keluak because i have had the dish only once before.

Kang kong sambal was cooked to perfection and had crunchy bits of squid.

The fish was really crisp. Sandra mentioned that u need to get the oil at a nice and hot temperature to get it nice and crisp. Very true. I suddenly recalled from ages ago, a bunch of clueless female classmates who couldnt fry decent hashbrowns. Hot oil is your friend, not a foe.

makan@mine

2005-03-26T23:05:00.000-08:00

My parents hosted dinner for some relatives after my gran's funeral. Mum was slaving in the kitchen since the early afternoon. She did prawn curry, some strange new chicken curry, fried fish, chicken wings(that i seasoned).Really good meal, despite the monumental effort

Everyone tried out the 'drumsticks' that were in the prawn curry. No not the chicken variety nor musical noise making thingy but the vegetable. Very ex-aah-tic!

Then everyone did the best thing to do after a meal

Uber-hip person spotted at Ice Cold Beer

2005-03-25T22:10:00.000-08:00

Probably a delegate from the Singapore Fashion Festival drowning himself in biru after coming across all the fashion faux pas in the city state