Last day of the year

It's the last day of 2010, I can't believe how fast this year has been.
And the best part about it is that I'll have this blog to remember it by.
Here's to another brilliant year 2011!
Happy new year one and all... Eat, drink and be merry... responsibly *grin*

Secret Garden

I know this is bad, but what can you do when you have time off from work but to catch up on your dramas!

Secret Garden is probably one of the best Korean dramas for this year, and the drama team is ending the year on a good note. Nothing since Boys Over Flowers came out back in 2008 has made me swoon. Not over the actors so much as the interesting storyline.

The story is about a rich dude (shopping centre president) and a poor girl (stunt woman). Aren't they all like that? Scriptwriters have given the rich dude some really good lines and the actor has managed to pull off on the acting. Also love the scary mother, as you would have, I haven't seen a drama where the super rich family has a mother and father who would be so kind to the uncultured, poor and not so pretty girlfriend (yeah, where would the drama be in that?)

The leading man is Hyun Bin. Tall, dark and handsome he used to be, but he has recently lost a lot of weight on his face and is looking rather haggard in this drama. I preferred his look when he was doing World's Within. Don't know who the leading actress is but her facial expressions are really good, especially when a soul switch happens between the both of them!

And instead of recycling a grand mansion, they have managed to find a place with sprawling gardens and a couple of beautiful studio houses. Love the wall to ceiling bay windows, open concept interior design and a quaint lake at the back of the house. How do I get me one of those?!

The shoe queen

I didn't think it would be possible or that I'd actually do it, but I've managed to buy six pairs of shoes today, all for the equivalent price of a discounted branded shoe!

I've been looking around for a comfortable pair of work shoes for the longest time and it's been rather difficult because for one, I haven't been wearing closed shoes for the longest time (living in this humid country just doesn't warrant walking around with shoes that don't air very well) and two, the choices of comfortable shoes here don't really exist for the price I'm willing to pay. So I was resigned to the fact that I might have to opt for some branded shoes, you know, the ones that cost at least a thousand dollars for a pair. Walking into the various boutiques and looking through their designs didn't even pique me. Let's face it, the fashion was a litte on the boring side (read suitable for older people).

So I chugged back to Nine West (my absolute favourite shop from when I first discovered it in Australia) and managed to find five pairs to my delight! These ones should last me for the year, ya?

ps. I need a new shoe cabinet!

Grilled meats for dinner

The hubs and I had yummy Korean food again tonight.
Hangari Galbi located on the 8th floor of Orchard Central.
This time we tried the unmarinated short ribs done medium *yum*
Unfortunately, the bulgogi chicken didn't come out the way we expected it to. We thought it was going to be marinated in the bulgogi sauce then grilled. But it came out like a watery stirfried dish.
But we would definitely go back as it has become one of our favourite Korean restaurants. We just know what to order the next time we're there *grin*

Weather Indicator

I don't know if I've written about the weather before. Contrary to what everyone says, it is an interesting topic.

When I was younger and living in Malaysia, we didn't really pay attention to the weather forecast because it would be either sunny or rainy or sunny with light rain, typical forecasts for tropical islands. Then we moved to Australia, and I started to pay attention to the weather forecasts because it was going to be close to 4 seasons a year. Where we stayed, it was more like Winter for 9 months and Summer for 3 which was not a lot different from Malaysia but at least the temperature varied quite a bit. Anyways, I moved back to the tropical island area, this time to Singapore and didn't bother about the forecasts again. Just never leave the house without a brolly.

So when the hubs was posted to Europe recently, the weather suddenly became interesting again. What more with the iPhone weather app, pretty pictures have been formed and are keeping me amused especially since it's Winter and snowing at the moment.

Travel Chaos Part 4

People are still stranded in Europe and I'm glad I'm not one of them and neither is the hubs.
It would've been really bad to have to spend Chrissy at the airport, cold, hungry and thoroughly depressed.

Ho, ho, ho and all that jazz

So Merry Chrissy everyone... and all that jazz.

What does Chrissy mean to me this year...

The holiday season
It's just another holiday, as I'm working again, and this year Chrissy so happens to fall on a Saturday, I get another day added to my annual leave. Which means I can take it at any time I want to which is better than proclaiming Monday a holiday and closing the office.

Log cakes
Well, I have to admit, I don't really fancy log cakes, especially ones in the black forest flavour, which seems to be the flavoured-log-shaped cake underneath all that icing theme this year. Which means I haven't bought any log cakes this year (nor any other year, for that matter)

Travel time
This year, the onset of Chrissy has brought travel chaos to the world. Nothing as exciting as the Iceland volcano, but chaos nonetheless. It has been snowing heavily over UK and Europe, filling runways with too much snow and depleting the various airport's de-icing supplies. Visitors and locals have been scrambling to the various operating airports trying to get flights out or back to their home in time for Chrissy. A lesson, remember never to fly during or near a holiday season, anything could happen to ruin it.

Family meals
This year, the hubs and I decided another home-cooked meal of Shabu-Shabu. I'll bet all the restaurants are milking this for all it's worth, nothing spells money supply as the holiday season does. What more, a full restaurant means having to wait for your food, plus with a hectic kitchen the quality of your meal might fall... heavily.

And that's what Chrissy means to me this year... and I'm happily waiting for more!

It's Chrissy eve and I'm still at work

No, I'm not blogging from work, although, with the number of people left in the office, which I can count with one hand and the amount of work which I have to do (which is none), I could. But no, that's just not on.

Meanwhile, unlike every other office in this area, everyone's left at around one o'clock, or earlier, which was a couple of hours before I had the above thought. Even the hubs' workplace has an official half day of work.

So should I just sneak out? Who's going to know? The phones are not ringing off the hook... and it's also because the people who usually call are not at their office. And we can always work from home...

Travel Chaos Part 3

The hubs is back!
In one piece!
Unaffected by the travel chaos!
Thank you guardian angel!
*widest grin*

Travel Chaos Part 2

The hubs is back tomorrow... if everything goes as planned. I should go to sleep soon as I'm weirdly tired, but I can't. I think it's the accumulated interrupted sleep I've been having for the past week.

Meanwhile, the hubs has said that he'll give me his blow by blow on whether he's able to get onto his connecting flights! Counting the time difference, he's not due to board his international flight till 4am tomorrow. I've read articles where planes were canceled even when the passengers were in the boarding area.

I hate it when there's chaos when you're travelling.

Travel Chaos

Oh, no... I knew something like this would happen. The hubs is due back in a couple of days time. He's actually flying off sometime tomorrow. But as luck would have it, it's snowing heavily in Europe.

Flights into and out of Heathrow and Charles de Gaulle have been canceled as it was just too unsafe to continue. People have been stranded not only at the airports, but in local areas as roads are too slippery and trains have also been unable to continue as scheduled. Luckily the oceans haven't frozen over. I think we would be in serious trouble if that happens.

Mary stayed out all night

So at some point in time, you kind of wonder how people who write dramas come out with the titles. I've been searching for a new show to watch and this one (also known as Marry Me, Mary) is currently showing on the telly. I think the one above doesn't make sense. So what if Mary stayed out all night... did something happen? Well, one episode into the show and I'm wondering if it did... she met someone, literally knocked into him... and so the story begins.

All I can say about this show now is that the actors are still adorable! And that's more than enough for me to keep watching. And what more, they're showing 2 episodes a day, which is 4 episodes a week. At least we won't have to wait long to find out what's going to happen next (or what happens at the end)!

Sunday blues

I can't believe the weekend has come and gone!
Didn't accomplish much this weekend
Was supposed to clean the house but it's not all that messy...
The laundry pile looks 4 weeks worth...
*grin*
I love living without the possibility of guests coming to visit

Meanwhile, gotta get up for work tomorrow...

Coffee House

So it's the weekend, and what would you do over the weekend but to catch up on the telly dramas which you've missed out on during the week. I'm glad we have a digital recorder... something we got recently where we can record shows (sort of like when we used to have the VCR, only we store the recorded shows on a hard drive) that we're not around to see. So I'm supposed to be catching up but what do I do instead? I went out and bought the above.

The show's about a novel writer and his life. That's just the gist of it. Now all the scriptwriters and actors have to do is to make it into an interesting 18 episode drama... making it interesting so that people would actually sit through all 18 episodes and not just 1 and 18 which is what I'm fond of doing. Sometimes, I wonder why there are so many episodes in between, especially when the show's not interesting.

Can't say that the actors are interesting to look at, so hopefully the storyline will do it for me.

Christmas and Log Cakes

I'm not sure when we (as people who have lived in Asia since birth) started adopting the presence of a (or a few) log cake to have during Christmas. Sure it's not a holiday we generally celebrate, but with the heavy western influence from the telly and even companies who set up shop here, it's not something we can ignore. Christmas trees, presents, Santa, carols, ho-ho-ho and all that jazz.

BUT... it never seems out of place when we try to fuse Asian taste buds with western food. Yeah, never out of place until they tried adding durian (the king of fruits, extremely smelly to some and a fruit that I love to eat) to everything! I've seen durian flavoured mooncakes, durian eclairs, durian filled crepes and even durian jam!

But a durian log cake??? I can't even imagine and I don't even want to taste it.

Food Blog : Kentucky Fried Chicken

Dinner today (and for the next 3 meals) will be fried chicken. Ever since Popeye's came to Singapore, I haven't been eating Kentucky's, only because I don't have a particular branch I go to (the taste is all different at the various branches) and they usually don't cook their chicken through. I hate eating chicken with red bits.

Anyways, I'm starting to get lazy, having to decide what to eat for dinner every night, whether to have it in the city before I get back or not. So today, I ordered Kentucky's, enough to feed 4-5 people. I'm not planning on leaving the house for meals over the weekend!

The best part of this was that it was extremely delicious! Can't be the fact that I haven't had it in a long time... it has to be the outlet. I wonder which branch this came from...

Biggest Loser Asia 2

I can't believe this show.
More so the pictures that they publish!
People were not meant to lose weight that quickly.
It's horrific and doesn't actually make me want to lose weight anytime soon.
Skin gets all saggy and you have a gazillion stretch marks!
Urgh...
*shudder*
Gross...

Faberge Eggs

I've never really understood the importance or value of a Faberge egg, so Google it I did and this is what I've learnt from Wiki.

There are only 42 imperial eggs left in this world...
It's a Russian thing.
Being egg-shaped, they used to be presents during Easter.
Tiny ones that could be worn as a pendant.
They are made of small gemstones coated with enamel and probably gold.
Very, very pretty little things.
There's no hope in me owning one *grin*
(I didn't need wiki to tell me the last one!)

Food Blog : Viet Cafe

There are a few branches of this chain of restaurant and I decided to try out the Battery Road one, under the Standard Chartered Bank building. Ordered the seafood vermicelli platter. It was quite awful. Their only saving grace, the lightly fried fish drowned with lemongrass batter (if you hate lemongrass I don't suggest you have it) and the cold roll. Doesn't look like I'll be going back anytime soon.

Seafood Vermicelli Platter

Haunted Hotels

This must be an interesting fact. I've lived in Singapore for the past ten or so years and I haven't heard of this before.

The Raffles Hotel Singapore has been cited to be a 5 or 6 star luxury hotel. Rooms start from $400 and go up to the thousands. They still maintain the image of concierges from when they were first established and the building itself is a hundred and twenty years old. Their Long Bar is well known for having peanut shells strewn all over the floor. For a luxury hotel, they allow patrons to mess the place up by throwing peanut shells all over the floor.

So how come it's haunted? Apparently, at the end of the Japanese occupation of Singapore (Aug, 1945), some officers decided to fall onto their ceremonial swords after learning that the British were going to win their invasion. So the spirits of the officers roam the hallways, or so they say. But that's not going to stop me from hanging out at the hotel... it's one I have yet to do.

Food Blog : Streaky Bacon

Love the smell of grilled bacon... need I say more?

I love my convection oven, which also has a grill function. Makes cleaning up so much easier. What cleaning up? Just throw the aluminum foil away after.

On the lowest rack, 5 minutes on one side, 4.5 minutes on the other. Blot with paper towels and serve warm.

Grilled Streaky Bacon

Housewarmed

It's been 10 years since we moved into this place and we're still loving the location, facilities, the resort feel and the house itself. Happy anniversary, home!

Bobby Chinn

I'm not sure if I've said this before but Bobby Chinn would be the only food presenter I would willingly watch... alongside his female counterpart, Kylie Kwong. He's a mix kid of Vietnamese and Egyptian parentage, which also helps with his looks and exotic quotient. Being born in New Zealand, having grown up in the UK and the US has made him who he is today.

Bobby just exudes charisma and he knows how to bring this across/through the telly. And he has the wackiest sense of humour... something that's so in need of a tele-presenter *grin* I find myself always grinning while watching his shows and it's not so much for the kind of food that he cooks, but for the interaction he has with the people he meets and his viewers.

Food Blog : Chick Peas

Chick peas (or Garbanzo beans) are just the best snacks. You get them raw, soak them for 12 hours in salted water, boil them in salted water on slow fire for a half hour and voila!

There are many brands, some need to be soaked longer, cooked longer and some just don't come out right. I get mine from the health food section of the supermarket. The packet reads Bob's Red Mill Premium Quality Garbanzo Beans. It's a little expensive for a packet, but it lasts a long while. I've tried the local ones, they're not as sweet or too powdery, which just causes me to cough.

In Asia, you can easily get them from the peanut seller (kacang putih man, usually an Indian in a sarong), who are a pretty rare sight these days. I think there's only one left in Singapore, in the Orchard Cineleisure.

A cup of raw Chick Peas

Muffin Waist

What in the world is a muffin waist?
Did I fall asleep while they invented this line?

Apparently it means a fat waist.
I think spare tyre is more apt, don't you?

I can't imagine a muffin on someone's waist, can you?

Fugu

Puffer fish.
Usually eaten raw.
Usually eaten in Japan.
Apparently tastes like rubber band.

It's poisonous if you accidentally cut the sac that contains the poison while preparing the fish.
Many people have keeled over because of this.
So, if you're sure you want to try this, head on to Japan.

Osaka is known to have the most restaurants which serves fugu, but if you're in Tokyo, head on down to Usukifugu Yamada-ya in the suburb of Shibuya. It's a tiny restaurant, as with most great restaurants in Japan, cozy is the word and there are only 23 seats.

Bicycle Tours

After having tried cycling in Brugge, it was interesting while surfing the web to find some cycle tours throughout Europe and some of Asia. I came by one that goes from Vienna to Budapest. It's a relaxing ride over 6 days and looking at google maps, it's not that bad...

So... how about that for a holiday plan?

Hello Kittyland

What will they come up with next? Hello Kittyland is a theme park. Apparently there's one in Tokyo, who would have thought Sanrio would eventually come up with one *grin*

Anyways, the theme park is only for the super die-hard fans of the cat. Most of the rides are kiddish, even the adults might not enjoy it, after having to queue for it.

Maybe people just go there to get an overdose of Hello Kitty, memorabilia galore!!! I remember fans going absolutely wild when Macca's decided to have collectible Hello Kitty's with their value meals, queuing up overnight just to be able to buy a pair or two of the figurines. And the worst part of it all... there were 12 to collect, 2 a week... a long month and a half!

Mischievous Kiss

Not knowing what the reviews were, I started watching this Korean drama... and it's only because of the perv factor that's a huge part of the show, the lead actor, Kim Hyun Joong. The first time he appeared in a Korean drama was for Boys Over Flowers where he acted cool and calm. Not much different from this show's portrayal either, but he's so bloody cute!

Alright, so the first few episodes were alright. It's about this duh girl who's in her final year of high school and she's in the last class, together with her best friends, with no ambition to do anything after high school. The only thing is that she's had this crush on this dude for the entire time she's been in high school (talk about an unwavering crush), which for Koreans is three years. He on the other hand, breezes through exams like the answers just stare at him, scoring full marks at every exam. One day they finally meet and after going through some interesting and funny times, I hear they end up together. Well, it wouldn't be a fairy tale if they didn't, would it? I think the directors and script writers have all decided that happy endings are much, much better than sad ones. I can't remember watching an extremely sad drama, or even a lightly sad one. Aren't I lucky?

Waffles

When in Belgium, one must always, always have a piece (or two) of waffle! They are easily found and sold everywhere. Most of them (probably for the locals) have upped their game and added fruits or syrup or ice cream. But the more simple the waffle is, the yummier it is.

I decided to try this one while having a walk along Mariastraat. It's roughly made, and the guy behind the counter wanted to know if I wanted it warmed. For sure! Warm waffles are just the yummiest! Then he dusts it with some light sugar powder and voila! Belgian waffle.

Street waffle, Brugge

My first waffle in Brugge. It was probably a bad idea to order one from the restaurant the hubs and I were having lunch in, but I couldn't resist. I ordered one with Chocolate sauce. When it came out, I was a little taken aback. Firstly, because I've never seen waffles served like this (as in the shape). Secondly, it was like really, really deep fried. The pastry was crispy and not becoming of a waffle. The texture of a waffle is somehow a little cake-ish, right? Anyways, I didn't finish this one.

Restaurant waffle, Brugge

Then when we were in Brussels, just next to the Menneken Pis, there was this waffle shop. Surprisingly none of them looked appetising enough for me to buy one *grin* Maybe it so reminded me of my restaurant waffle that I was reluctant to try it or that we had to eat it while standing.

Array of waffles, Brussels

Geeks Galore

I married a computer geek.
A really cute computer geek.
Enough said *grin*

Article taken from the Digital Life, The Straits Times

Catching up with work

I'm almost all caught up with my work!
What am I going to do after that?
Should I slow my pace?
Can't believe how stressful last week was!
Zoomed by really quickly too.
And this week will zoom by too because I have work to do!
Sad as that sounds, sometimes I wish it wasn't true.

Working from Home

I can't believe I haven't tried this out earlier!

Managed to get the plumber to fix the water heater this afternoon and actually managed to get some work done at home! Luckily everything at work is web based.

After my work was done, I turned off the computer and headed to the hall. The feeling was so amazing! No commute and you're working from the comforts of your home. I wonder if I could make this a regular thing *grin*

Water Heater

Not another thing to fix???
I think it's coming from the water heater...
Can't get up to the ceiling to turn off the water supply, not that it'll help...
*sigh*

Trail of water

Leaks

It looks like I'll have to call the plumber! Why do all the basins' piping break at the same time?
This is the worst one, the other two are only cracked near the bottom tub.

Exploded corroded piping

I wanna go home!

It's Friday night and I wanna go home!
.
.
.
.
.
Boarding the train, *yay*

Food Blog : Soup Spoon

Still missing the Belgian soups, I decided to give this place a try. I think I did give them a try when they first opened a branch in Raffles City, when the basement was newly expanded... what 3 years ago? And never stepped foot in it again... I wonder why...

Anyways, today they were serving pumpkin soup. The dish comes with a free iced lemon tea which is a little wasted on me as I don't drink it and I noticed that they have free flow of bread while eating. But I had already decided to go with the puff pastry, as I haven't had that in eons.

The soup was thick, different from the ones I've been drinking, the flavour was so-so and by the end of it I was suitably full. The black sesame seeds sprinkled on top of the puff pastry made an interesting taste.

Pumpkin Soup with Puff Pastry

Aging Brother

My older brother turns something-something today... It's not that I don't know what the something-something is, I've decided not to think about the age thing.

While I was filling up some form in Belgium, I think it was the tax refund one, I was asked for my age, in number, not my date of birth. Why would anyone want to ask that? I could just put any number. With the date of birth, you can't really cheat, can you? Anyways, I had to think about it. You know, when I was younger, I could tell you my age in a split second. But nowadays... it's pretty difficult. Could be that when you do get to my age, you don't want to be reminded that you've already spent sooooo many years on this planet and you haven't done enough.

Anyways, Happy Birthday big bro... many, many more to come!

Tired

Can't believe how much work I have to catch up with. I just got back and it would be the first time since I started working that I stayed back till the air-condition turned off! Gotta go to bed...

Back to work

First day back at work, came back to over 400 emails all 'must read' and un-chuck-able and it's a mad-house!
If there wasn't a roadshow across 4 countries to get up to speed with and monitor, I think it would've been the best time to go away! *grin*
Probably will be staying back at work tomorrow... later than today!

Hotel Blog : Apollo Arthotel Brugge

Spent 14 days here, the longest I've ever spent in a hotel. There should be heaps to write about this place, we'll see how I go.

Firstly, location, location, location. It's not in the best location, but I'm glad it's where it is. Slightly away from the city center, it's surrounded by farm and grassland. A cozy spot to be in. I liked that there are no other buildings around... makes it secluded. Only the sheep, ducks and some cows for company.

Getting to the bus stop that takes you into the city is a lovely tree-lined walk. There is a small castle on the right surrounded by a tiny moat and the hotel is on the left. The white building that is seen in the picture looks to be a dorm of sorts.

Another found gem is The Frites Salon located nearby. They sell the best fries in Brugge, especially yummy when doggie-bagged and eaten soggy! They also have some yummy fried chicken wings.

Alright, the hotel itself is rated 4 stars. In Europe that's pretty good. The rooms are of an ok size, not sure about the rest of the levels but we got the top floor, which means a slanted roof on one part of the room. The toilet and bathroom was in working order with no pet moss, which is a lot coming from an European hotel. The one I stayed in while in Paris is not getting as good a review as this one is.

Staff at the hotel were all friendly and the food was fantastic, especially the breakfast spread. After eating 14 hearty breakfasts, I'm missing it already. Didn't think I'd be able to eat the same food everyday, but that's how good their spread is! It also looked like they baked their own bread. They were all yummy!

Part of the amazing breakfast spread

Outside the Louvre

Continuing the Paris is huge theme... my walkabout took me to the area where the Musee du Louvre is. Again, there was a queue to get in, so as I've already been in to see the Mona Lisa (that's the only painting that people come to see, right?) I decided to take a walk around it instead and managed to get a couple of good shots, pity about the sky...

A pano shot

The glass pyramid

Lines

The queue to get in

Paris is...

... HUGE!

This shouldn't shock me anymore as it's not the first time I've been to this city, but I think with all the walking that I've done over the past couple of weeks, my legs are starting to feel the strain. But then again, maybe the city is really, really HUGE!

Here is the Notre Dame with a dismal sky. It was threatening rain the whole day, but stayed cloudy, which is a good thing, walking around in the slush of autumn is no fun. I think I was planning a rather near impossible route from the Notre Dame to the Lourve to the Arc! Not actually entering the places, it should take you half a day to walk the entire length, keeping in mind that the sun sets at 5 in the evening at the moment and I have to take a half hour train back to the airport hotel.

My walk started at 3 in the afternoon and there was a super long queue of people wanting to climb the Notre Dame's tower, so I didn't do that (although it would be such a waste to not do it when you have the time. Maybe I'll need to spend a couple of weeks in Paris!) I went into the cathedral instead and I have to admit, it's HUMONGOUS! Plus I haven't been to the ones in Rome, so it was almost a culture shock. It didn't help that there were thousands of people within the cathedral!

Front facade

Inside the Cathedral

I think they purposely dim the lights within the cathedral. As with all cathedrals, tripods are not allowed, flash photography is not going to help you in places this big so you'll just have to be extremely steady with your camera and pretend that you're the tripod. Not an easy feat.

De Halve Maan

This is the only Brewery left in the city. A working brewery. The hour long tour was very, very informative and kept me on my toes. Only because we were warned that we'd have to get through over 250 steps for the duration of the tour. Half of them probably upwards, which didn't seem like a lot but the brewery is old. Old, old old, it's been around since 1856. The interesting part of the steps were ones that were so narrow that you'd have to climb down backwards. Some of the people on the tour didn't want to listen and tried to go down sideways... not a good idea.

Meanwhile, I learnt that beers with the 'triple' label is the best, although it has the largest percentage of alcohol among the beers. After the tour, everyone gets a glass of beer. If you wanted to have the triple, you could request for it. Beer is sooooooooooooo cheap in Brugge. This one comes straight from the barrel and probably cost them 50c.

Bruges Zot

Cheap beer

While wandering around in a supermarket, beer aisle. It's less than one euro a can. Amazing isn't it? Sometimes when people say that beer is cheaper than water, it's so true.

Belfry

The Belfry is old. Old, old, old. What more, it's a medieval bell tower.
It was built in 1240. That's like more than 700 years ago.

You can climb all the way to nearly the top of the tower... all 365 steps up. And it's a narrow, one person at a time kind of climb because the stairwell is old. No one thought that 'tourist' would be climbing up... yeah, I'll bet not everyone who lived in Brugge in the 13th century wanted to climb the bell tower. Only the bell boy/man would do that.

So I decided to give it a try. What's 365 steps? I've done a few of them towers before...


Up, up and away... Don't you just love the simplicity of the diagram. It didn't hit me right away, but the diagram is very, very accurate. The steps spiral up on a thin pole unlike other bell towers I've been to, and this doesn't allow two-way traffic! Well, I made it all the way up with about 4 breath stops *grin* The good thing is that I'm not the only one who did that.

Up at the top is a huge music box, you know the kind that plays music while pins are being plucked with a revolving cylindrical steel barrel. I was hoping that it would work... it usually rings every fifteen minutes, but just my luck, it was being maintained the day I climbed it. I can only imagine the vibrations and the loudness of the ringing because while I was climbing up, one of the big brass bells started to ring and it was LOUD!

Nothing much to see up at the top as two-thirds of it was under maintenance. Anyways, the coming down was pretty easy... it always is, isn't it?

Photo Blog : Misty Sheep

Winter is starting to settle in over here in Brugge. Is it early this year?

This morning there was a blanket of mist all over the place.
This picture was taken right outside the hotel.
There's a paddock with sheep.
Glad that they're being kept warm with their fluffy curly wurly coat.

Misty Sheep

Photo Blog : Calm Waters

Calm waters make for a great reflection, especially when the sky is clear and blue and there's no wind!

The old city of Brugge is surrounded by water, I guess at some point in time, it was a little island separated from the main land... fortress-like. Of course there are living creatures who enjoy the water besides the boats. But luckily for me, they sleep during the cold early mornings too.

Below is the most photographed spot in Brugge, De Rozenhoedkaai (Quai of the Rosary). On Sunny days, you can spot artists, photographers and find bus loads of tourist here. It's the end of the canal tours, which is also one reason the water's so calm.

De Rozenhoedkaai (Quai of the Rosary)

More of the Rozenhoedkaai

Manneken Pis

When in Brussels, you must visit the pissing statue.
That's what everyone tells you and so you do.
I didn't really know what to expect.
Didn't do any research on it.
The statue is tiny.
It wasn't dressed in any national costume.
The area around the statue was small.
There was just sooooo many people trying to catch a glimpse of it!

Manneken Pis

Food Blog : Meridien 3

There is a cosy restaurant within the Markt Square that shares its space with a Haagen Dazs counter. It looks as though it would be a really expensive restaurant, but their menu is pretty alright. The ground floor seating area has a great view of the Belfry, and the hubs and I were lucky enough to get that seat by the window. So he had the rack of lamb and I got the grilled cod. Extremely yummy on a bed of celery with a butter sauce but there was just so much of the cod. The lamb was yummy too, but again, there was just so much of it. Sometimes, generous servings just doesn't help *grin*

Rack of Lamb

Grilled Cod

Food Blog : Belgian Mussels

When in Belgium, one should have all things Belgian. I have to say that the food here is amazing. The hubs and I finally decided to have the mussels yesterday and they were extremely yummy.

We had to wait an hour for our dish because they get them fresh from the market/ocean. We had them in white wine and in one pot, there were just over 60 mussels. Most of the other guests ordered a pot each, but I'm not much of a mussels person, so the hubs and I shared one... Like most dishes here, it comes with a side serve of Belgian fries *yummy*

Mussels in white wine from Petite Maison

Photo Blog : Windmills

There are only 4 original windmills left in Brugge. Two of them are still working, but with modern machines, I think they're just there for the tourists. Didn't get to enter any of them, but they are huge!

Windmill

Photo Blog : Lamp Posts

Another rare find in old cities is (if they maintain/kept them) lamp posts.
The older they are, the more intricate the design.
How come modern lamp posts are not as intriguing?
Excuse the gray sky... it's Winter!

Photo Blog : Shadowplay

I love taking pictures of my shadow. It's not something that everyone does, but I have a few; over grass, over fields of flowers, on pavements, on stone walls, everywhere and anytime the sun is shining. I just find it fascinating... strange person that I am.

As we're nearing Winter on this side of the world, it was a rare occasion to find the sun shining bright enough to take a shadow picture, not to mention the timing... other people's shadow walking into the frame. For this one, I had a beanie on *grin* it was cold, but the sun was shining.

On the pavement of Brugge

Food Blog : Spaghetti Bolognaise

One common dish on most of the restaurants' menu in the city of Brugge is Spaghetti Bolognaise. I'm not sure why... maybe it's a comfort food of sorts, and cheap.

But the way it is cooked and presented is different from what I'm used to. For one, the first one I ordered came like this. Heaps of vermicelli pasta, heaps of sauce (with too much tomato bits) and heaps of Parmesan! It looked like half the cheese! It was strangely yummy, but I already had a bowl of pumpkin soup and just couldn't finish it. There was just soooo much, especially with the pile of Parmesan.

Bistro Bar

Then I started looking around for others and I'm glad I stopped by this restaurant located in the Crown Plaza Brugge Hotel. The portion was just nice and the sauce was yummy too. They used zucchini as a filler in the sauce and it was strangely yummy. I licked this platter clean!

Lind Restaurant

Photo Blog : Stained Glass

I love looking at original stained glass. I could just look and look at them like how people stop in front of great masterpieces and just stare, wondering what the artist was trying to evoke.

So, what goes on in my mind while I look at a stained glass? Well, nothing special or mind blowing, just in awe as to what it would have taken them to make such beautiful vivid renditions! You can tell the ones that were done in the 16th Century and the ones in the 20th by the vividness of the colours. And up close, they look painted.

Considering how the future is supposed to be more technologically advanced, it's surprising that the replaced pieces are very one dimensional.

Stained glass rendition in the St Salvatorskerk, Brugge, Belgium

The Independent Traveller

I'd like to say that I'm a pretty independent traveller and I can't tell you if there are any courses or trainings to go through to become one. If you arm yourself with enough information about the place you're visiting so that you don't look lost when you arrive, you'll be fine. These days with the world wide web, it's amazing what you could find.

So after a delayed departure from Singapore, a long flight for which I didn't get to sleep as I only got two seats to myself (and this is where height does have a disadvantage!), I arrived into Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport. A quick trip into the city at an expensive €8.70 by subway and I arrived at the extremely busy train station of Gare du Nord. As I've never been on the Thalys (a high speed train operator) I decided to give it a try. The tickets are a little expensive, but it takes you an hour and 20 minutes to get from Paris to Brussels. The ride was smooth... no different from the TGVs or AVEs or Shinkansens. I think I'll try another way back. I love that I don't have a tight schedule to follow!

From Brussels, I still had to catch the slow going train (read normal) to Brugge. Luckily they run every half hour. Was met with some light spitting rain, you know the kind that doesn't feel like it's raining if you're brisk walking but it actually is if you're standing still? The makeshift taxi stand (without any indication that it's a taxi stand) took a long while to fill.

The hotel which will be my home for two weeks is just a little away from the city centre. It's a cosy hotel of 4 floors. Surrounding it, green grass, autumn ravaged trees, some ducks and sheep!

Brugge... a lovely city in Belgium. Did you know that the WHOLE historic center (which will probably take you 4-5 days to finish) is a world heritage site? Google it! Anyways, that's just my kind of holiday destination. I love looking at old buildings, walking on cobbled streets and wondering aimlessly around imagining what life would have been like in the middle ages. I should have bought a pedometer. I know I'm going to do heaps of walking *grins* But now the lack of sleep on the flight is starting to take a toll on me and the bed beckons.

Operational Requirements

Well, I'm still at the airport... waiting to board my ride across the globe and it's being grounded due to operational requirements. That's a new term for me, and something that doesn't cause panic to all and sundry. I mean, doesn't "operational requirement" sound like a routine check up which the plane must undergo and couldn't previously as it was doing too many miles? Well, that's what it sounds like to me.

This particular operational requirement has hit all the A380 planes, you know, the double decker bus that flies? Yeah, that one. And this is only because something happened to one earlier yesterday morning and thanks to that, 5 flights are being delayed at the moment. The particular flight that I'm on will officially be 3 hours delayed if the engineers are to be believed. I don't think my travel insurance covers this...

BUT I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry, right? So engineers, please take your time and check every nook and crany so that the operational requirement is met. I wouldn't like to have my vacation disrupted, k?

Travelling Extremely Light

I think I'm forgetting to pack something. I'm heading off to a place where the temperature will range from 6-17 degrees celcius and my luggage is only 11kgs heavy, of which 2kgs is probably the tripod. What am I forgetting?

Oh, well, I guess I'll just find out when I arrive, eh? *grin*

"Essence of Chicken"

There are just sooooo many things I can say about the title, but I won't. Instead, I'll just ponder on this.

Why does the "essence of chicken" taste so much better when warmed at exactly 6 minutes from just boiled water in a bowl? I've always drunk it this way, slightly warmed up. I've tried drinking it straight from the bottle... *shakes head* just not the same.

"Essence of Chicken"

Food Blog : Sakae Sushi

Sakae Sushi here in Singapore is one of the few places where you can find the sushi-train-counter-thingie. They are also known for their all-you-can-eat buffet from 3-6pm which is pretty good, considering. The only thing is that you're only allowed one of the expensive plates for this buffet. But then again I could eat gyoza after gyoza after gyoza...

Anyways, I had dinner there tonight and look at this interesting dish! It looks pleasingly yummy, doesn't it? There were 2 other combinations which I didn't like, some scallop thing, some salmon thing.

This has rice piled on the bottom, egg on the sides, a little fake crab, a bit of prawn, some fish eggs and a little piece of lettuce. It's the oddest colourful combination. The Inari is sweet and everything else just compliments it.

Inari with prawn and fake crab meat

Food Blog : New York New York

This particular chain has been around for a few years, but before this year, the hubs and I never stepped into it. I don't know why... could be the deco (it's done out American style, pool table, license plates and everything else that screams hard rock cafe?) or that the menu looked messy.

But sometime this year we ventured in and was pleasantly surprised that their dishes are not too bad... depending on which branch you go to. We're usually in the Jurong Point one. Tried the West Coast one, was sorely disappointed.

So far, we've tried the entree platter, spaghetti vongole baked in parchment paper, the chicken flat sandwiches and cappuccino mushroom soup. I'm sure there are others, but I can't for the life of me remember.

So, here's one of their famous dishes... Deep-fried chicken thigh coated with bread crumbs topped with sliced mushrooms and melted mozzarella cheese (I can't remember what they call it but the Australian in me is screaming chicken parmigiana) *yummy yum yum* The chicken is not over-fried and the cheese keeps it warm! I ended up lapping the plate. Can't have this entire dish if I ordered the soup too *grin*

Chicken Parmigiana with mushroom and melted cheese

The Inevitable

The inevitable has finally happened
Of course, you say, it was inevitable
[That sounds vaguely like a line from the 'Matrix']
But... but... but...
But this inevitable occurrence has been a year in the making!
The hubs has finally been sent to a small town in Europe for work for a few weeks
*sigh*
That leaves me with time all... to... my...self...
I would normally be OK with that, but we've been living together for so long
We've got a routine, you know
He'd wake me in the morning
[Because he leaves earlier for work]
We'd have dinner together
Come back at the end of the day and I'll tell him about my day
Great listener he is
[He usually doesn't gossip about his work day]
See, routine
Now that he's not around
[Because of the time-zone thing]
Who am I going to whinge to?
Oh, wait!
Email!!
I'll have to email him!
*grin*
Hmm... kind of reminds me of when we were dating
Have we come full circle?
I was living in Australia and he in Singapore
And even with the measly time difference, there were heaps of emails bing-bonging
Not to mention the expensive phone calls as Skype hadn't been invented yet
But have no fear
Have passport will travel!

Short dramas

When I first started to watch Korean Dramas, I was applauding their use of different casts for one and the length of their episodes. They are usually 62 minutes long with only one advertisement break. Good stuff!

On top of the normal 62-minute episodes, the dramas are usually only 16 episodes long which I've taken as a 'just nice' length. Too long and you'll start to lose the plot as however cute the actors and actresses are, you tend to want the drama to move on to the end.

As I was saying, they also have 35-minute mini episodes which could go on for over a hundred and fifty episodes long. Even in normal drama length, that's pretty long, isn't it? These mini episodes portray the drama in everyone's point of view for nearly everyday of their lives.

I'm currently watching one called Happiness in the Wind which is nearly approaching the end. I think there are 175 episodes long and it's about episode 163. I need to fast forward these last bits as it's starting to become a little draggy. Maybe it's because I'm not really interested in knowing what happens to every other person's daily life but I'll have to wait it out. Maybe someone on the internet has just put up scenes with just the lead actor and actress?

Catch Ups

It has been a great year this year... I know, it hasn't really ended as yet, but it has been an odd year for me in terms of catching up with old friends. Ever since I moved over to Singapore, I've been the one going back to catch up with them. This year, all of them came over to visit Singapore, all at different times of the year, which was probably a pretty good idea coz when we gather together for a catch up, we might not get an equal opportunity to do a proper catch up.

Thanks girls, for making Singapore a stop in your holiday... I guess it's my turn next year, huh?

Thirteen Toes

Recently, I decided to try a french manicure on my toes and it turned out ok... if you look at it from far *grin* my hands are not so steady, unlike the manicurists.

Anyways, I was pointing this out to the hubs and he wondered if I could paint an octave of piano keys on my toes. He thought I only needed ten toes for that but there are thirteen keys in an octave, eight white five black.

So... if I had thirteen toes, would that look funny? Would anyone even know that I have an octave on my toes if I painted them black and white?

Three of Three

The real day
Lovely Spring day
The sun was shinning
The birds were chirping
A slight wind was blowing
I couldn't ask for a nicer day

It started off with church
Then teas, money and jewellery
A short luncheon with the best company
A trip around town and a tree lined street for some pictures
No rest for the weary
Cozy dinner reception with the best entertainment

And that was my wedding day 8 years ago, yesterday
Happy times...
It still is!

Food Blog : Clifford @ The Fullerton Bay Hotel

Recently opened, this five-star hotel, The Fullerton Bay, houses only 100 rooms (read exclusive), an AMAZING poolside bar (and when they say poolside, the bar surrounds the pool), one other indoor bar and this restaurant. The hubs and I couldn't decide what to have for our anniversary dinner and decided on this. Can't say that we're sorely disappointed, there were some nice bits to the meal.

Before I go into the food bits, let me start on the service crew. 80% of them can't take a simple order. 100% of the 80% are unable to recommend from the menu. Doesn't this just set the mood. But the both of us were too into the fact that we're hungry and needed to be fed straightaway to get up and leave. Besides, there were only 2 other tables... not much of a scene, huh?

With Western fusion food on the menu, it wasn't difficult to decide what to eat. The hubs had the lamb and I the beef. We had a bowl of mushroom soup each and shared a platter of lobster and scallops carpaccio. A free flow of two different kinds of bread had me going. I took the white one which was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and the hubs had the multigrain one. With the butter came a shredded duck dip. It tasted almost like tuna, but had a little ducky-ness to it. Apparently this restaurant is famous for this duck dip and it's offered free flowing with the bread. Warm white bread, heaps of butter, slab of duck dip. Yummy combination!

Right! The entree. Scallops were from Hokkaido, raw and thinly sliced. I'm not one who's into raw food but this one just melted in my mouth. The lobster was done al dente and it tasted like lobster, nothing extra special. The soup was interesting. It definitely didn't come out of a can... very creamy and slightly bitter from the different mushrooms used to make it. The 'ravioli' that was in the soup was a total let down. The skin tasted like won-ton and I wasn't sure what the filling was. The hubs liked the soup, go figure.

The lamb main was alright. It was a lot of meat. The mini samosas were average too. We didn't even notice the bed of ratatouille till after the dishes were taken away from us.

My beef was supposed to be a wagyu one. These days, I can't tell the difference. It was alright. Nothing to rave about. The fries were coated in something before being deep-fried, making it crispy and the metal pot was a little warm to the touch.


For dessert, I had the creme brulee which wasn't yummy (caramelised sugar at the top needed a hammer to break), but the mini madeleines that came on the side were. The hubs had some espresso with rum and lemon peel. At the end, the espresso was on the house... only because they forgot to charge us for it. So much for five-star service.

I'd probably go back just to eat bread with butter and duck dip... maybe they'll change their main menu with the season.

Food Blog : Ku Ra

I love how Singapore is so multicultural that you can find almost any food from around the world here. Having said that, tonight's dinner was probably screaming for us not to try it. Maybe we'll go back in 6 months time...

Ku Ra, a Sapporo (Japan) Ramen little cafe, has probably been opened for a week, maybe shorter. They are part of the Ajisen chain of Japanese eats. Their official opening day is this Thursday. Menus are still soft laminated, probably waiting for the 'real' (read official) menus to arrive on Thursday. It was heartwarming to discover that the tiny cafe was full of people.

The hubs ordered the white miso which was pretty close to what we remember from the ramen we had in Hokkaido. He lapped the bowl clean!

I tried their Shoyu and was sorely disappointed. The soup was too salty, making the noodles salty too and when I asked for a bowl of warm/hot water, the waitress smiled and asked if the soup was too salty! She brought me some plain broth instead, but that wasn't enough. I had to add some of my room temperature water into the soup and in the end, I didn't even drink the soup. The Cha Su was alright though, right amount of fat and moist meat.

One interesting thing they had on the menu was fried chicken soft bone. What they've done is to roughly chop the soft bone, found where the bulk of the breast meat of a chicken is, into 1" sticks, dip in a light tempura (little too salty) flour and deep fried. What gets served is an interesting crunchy snack!

The Gyoza was nothing to tell home about, the hubs says it's too 'Chinese' tasting.

Da Moon

After a week of haze and blurred visibility, it rained really heavily over the weekend and tonight, clear skies. It's things like these that makes you appreciate the amazing skylines that Singapore has to offer.

Da Moon

Jewellery Pieces

Bvlgari makes really, really great jewellery pieces. I'm not going to compare it to the other jewellery houses, because it wouldn't be nice... every jewellery house has its own design and way of making it.

So, Bvlgari... about nine years ago, I bought my first piece of the B.zero1 range, a 3 tier ring. I still wear it from time to time, and I still love it. Actually I love all my pieces. After purchasing that ring, I was supposed to get the matching pendant for Chrissy, but never got around to it. I think it's just too huge a piece to be wearing everyday... I don't like changing my pendant all that often.

Over the years the jewel house has unveiled some new designs, they have even designed some interesting earring studs stops (check out the Griffe Diamanti range), but nothing has been more iconic to them than the B.zero1 range. To date, I have a total of three pieces from them and am lusting after another one for Chrissy *grin*

Hazy days

The haze is back in Singapore. At this time of year, almost every year, Indonesia burns their forest to clear them. With the wind and everything, it has brought the smoke over to our skies. The haze is different when compared to smog. Smog smells distinctly of burnt petrol fumes. Haze smells of faint regular burned non-biodegradable things...

As this burning happened some ways away... walking out of a building into the open, the air smells faintly burnt... like something has burned far, far away and the wind has brought the smell over. It's not suffocatingly thick, this haze, I think the atmospheric reading has been less than a hundred psi. It's amazing what our noses pick up.

I remember back in the late 90s, people had to wear masks because the haze was so thick! Schools were closing and outdoor sport activities were postponed. Luckily for us, it will rain nearly every other day, even for a little while, just to wash the air a little. Hopefully with all the weird weather that's going on around the world, the haze won't get too thick.

Here's a photo of a part of the central business district at dusk with the haze. I'll have to see if I can get a 'normal' day picture to compare.

Hazy skyline at dusk

Food Blog : Ichiban Boshi

It's been a while since we patronised this place. They are part of the Fiesta chain of Japanese food. This particular branch makes fresh soba. There's even an authentically looking Japanese dude showing everyone who walks by his skills in making the noodles.


Unfortunately, the noodles needed to be cooked a little longer. Other than that, everything else was good. The sauce wasn't too salty and after you've finished, you're supposed to mix the broth which the noodles were cooked in with the leftover sauce and drink it as a soup. Yummy!

We also ordered a side of ika tempura and this branch makes it not too salty.

The Coffee Club's Ice Blended Chocolate

There must have been something wrong with the dinner we ate tonight at Shoteppan. It was our second time at this particular cook-your-own-teppanyaki place (except we usually get them to cook it for us, it's allowed, I'm not paying money to cook my own dinner!)

Anyways, they must've lathered the MSG coz we were feeling rather thirsty about a half hour after the meal. Not only that, but the ventilation at the place didn't work too well and our clothes, hair and my lovely handbag was just permeating oiliness.

So the hubs decides to have something to wash the MSG from our mouths and chanced upon this place. I think it's the first time I've actually gotten anything from them. I'm usually the Coffee Bean or Starbucks chocolate drink kind of person.

The description of the drink had me and when the drink came...

This would be the most insanely awesome blended ice chocolate drink I've ever tasted.
Firstly it's a mixture of dark chocolate, milk chocolate and milk. The ice was so finely blended that it didn't taste like there was ice in the drink. And you know that they use real chocolate chunks to blend the drink because there were still tiny specks of it while you're drinking, like sediments. But yummy sediments *grin*

ps. It's twenty ten, twenty ten (20.10.2010) today...

Two of Three

The hubs and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary tonight. Eight years ago, we celebrated this day with a 9 course yummy dinner with our friends and relatives... all 450 of them. That's like a lot of people between the both of us, isn't it? Did we know everyone? Surprisingly, more or less *grin*

We weren't picky as to who attended our wedding dinner, as long as our friends and immediate relatives came. And came they did. I remember hiring a couple of buses to cart guests to the venue and back to a meeting point. The food was yummy (all my favourite!), company was boisterous and the hubs and I had a blast!

The best part about Chinese weddings is that you usually get money as a present. I didn't get to count the amount of money we received, but it was enough to pay for dinner after everyone left and had maybe a couple of hundred left over. That's considered a good thing *grin*

Last year, our anniversary dinner was particularly bad. I can't remember the details (you'd want to forget these kind of things) but the hubs tells me that we decided to have steamboat at home and for some reason the base wasn't heating the pot right. Which meant we were sitting at the dining table for maybe a couple of hours, slow cooking all our food. Baddd...

This year, we decided to eat out, seeing that it's a Tuesday night. We ended up at one of our favourite restaurants, No Signboard. Their dishes have never failed to fill us. We even take guests there, when they can't decide what to eat.

BUT the experience was a little of a let down today. Just as we were starting on our crab, I noticed that one of the claws looked like it had fungus growing... you know, when crabs get injured, their flesh turns bad and black... which means that that part of their body was starting to rot. We had the dish re-served, which was a bad idea coz they took another half hour to cook it. By the time the dish arrived, we were kind of full, the earlier dish of drunken prawns (I miss drinking herbal soups!) and claypot tofu had settled. But we took our time eating it and it was yummy! I don't know if the kitchen decided to give us the freshest crab, but the flesh was so sweet, even with the chili sauce which it was cooked in. AND you have to order the fried buns that go so well with the sauce, I could just eat the buns and sauce and not worry about the crab.

So, that's two out of three. We haven't decided where to go for our third one yet...

Spoilt for choice

I can't believe how spot on the saying 'spoilt for choice' is.
It's only Monday today, and I'm thinking of having the same dish for lunch for the week!
With the crazy weather we've been having, haze plus rain, it has put a dampener on my lust to explore.
So let's see what lunch delights bring... tomorrow!

Catch up weekend

I'm trying to clear the hard disk of all my recorded Korean dramas throughout the week, but am failing miserably. I should really stop typing now and go back to finishing my fox drama, which ended maybe a couple of weeks ago? Yeah... watch the telly, girl!

Corelle Ware Part 2

Now that the USD is at its all time low against the SGD, I decided to surf the internet to have a look at how much Corelle plates and bowls would cost me, if I were living in the US. Baddddd decision.

I can't believe the prices! It's like a 70% discount from what we have to pay here and they have ALL sorts of designs. Like 10 times more than what we get here. My all time favourite has been the Plum series, but all my plates and bowls are the Winter White ones. Somehow white just makes everything clean and expensive. But I have a few Plum pieces.

After browsing the World Kitchen website, my new found favourite is the Cherry Blossom. A set of 16 costs only USD50!!! Now, how long do you think it'll take for them to bring this design over to Singapore?!

Homecooking

The hubs is out at a wine party with his workmates today and I get to cook one of my favourite pasta dishes.

Prawns on a bed of Spaghetti cooked in olive oil and finely diced garlic

Sao Joao Festival

Every country, no nearly every city has their own festival. Singapore celebrates a number of festivals, mostly cultural based like the Mid Autumn Festival, Deepavali, Thaipusam and Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Porto, a little town in Portugal, has one of the liveliest festival, the Sao Joao Festival. It's a celebration of the Saint John the Baptist. Held near the end of June, the annual party actually goes on for more than 12 hours, starting the evening before. Everyone comes from everywhere within the city and gathers at the town center to just celebrate. Massive street party! The thing that grabbed my eye about this festival is the fact that if you find someone gorgeous, hit them over the head with a plastic hammer! And here we thought walking around the neighbourhood with lanterns is weird...

Food Blog : Aoba

Aoba is known for its Hokkaido Ramen and it was one of the few Ramen places in Singapore where the bowl of soupy noodles reminded me of the Ramen I had while I was in Hokkaido.

Anyways, these days, everything's starting to taste a little too salty for me, plus I wasn't feeling like a bowl of noodles yesterday, so I ordered a bowl of Cha Su on rice instead. Didn't have much expectations but the Cha Su turned out to be extremely yummy! The Cha Su serving was generous, the pork itself moist and tender and a little salty on its own but with rice... mmm... Mind you, I also ordered a plate of squid tempura (whcih wasn't very nice), a plate of pan fried gyoza (which was yummy, served with vinegar) and a plate of yakitori asparagus wrapped with bacon.

It was too much food so we had to doggie bag some of it and I had porridge tonight. The Cha Su really, really goes well with porridge. I wonder if I'll be able to just doggie bag the pork bits, come back and have it with porridge the next time!

Cha Su Don