Calling all chocolate lovers, will the real chocolate lover, please stand up! June 30, 2007

This is not as nice as Yumi Yoghart (did i spell that right) but this used to be my breakkie almost everyday in my previous job. Yes, I moved again…hopefully this time round, I’ll be there for a longer period of time 🙂 Oh yeah, as I was saying…breakfast. I haven’t really been eating breakfast properly since I came to my new workplace but I am quite certain I’ll be doing it more regularly since I’m meeting Avril for breakfast more regularly…whoo! 🙂

I’m too lazy to update nowadays. Everytime I come home I’m just so beat! 😛 Anyway will update more soon I guess….

Oh oh..before that…I should recommend you this place to goin the Esplanade…It’s called Max Brenner. It’s just next to V-Tea Room. The Chocolate Truffle Cake here is EXCELLENT. It’s a must-try for all chocolate lovers because the cake really just MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH, and no..it’s not M&Ms 🙂 Of course it’s not like Koko Black in Australia (check out the “An Afterthought” entry i wrote… hahaha and yes, I was still slightly more pudgy and I was wearing braces), BUUUUTTTT….it’s better than nothing… 🙂

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar
The Esplanade
#01-06/08
Tel: 6235 9556

Authentic… SIIII GOOOIIII! May 1, 2007

The other day after gym (like almost a month ago hahaha!), a few of us decided to try the former MD’s recommendation. We were going for drinks one night and we happened to pass by this really small dingy looking place (it was dark lah). He then started to rave about the Japanese Ramen this place offered. As I was saying, so yeah, we decided to try out this place.

By the time we got there, there was a queue already. And among the people waiting, at least half of the lot were Japanese. I was feeling really optimistic.

Our dish that we shared – Gyoza (S$6). Like most restaurants (other than places like Sakae Sushi), they cook it on the spot. The Gyoza was very tasty and crispy. Yum. We had to wait a little while for our main dish(es) because of the crowd. I did mention on that day that the place was a little too small but I guess that’s how the management wants it to be, which it good lah, to a certain extent. And I have heard that you cannot specify what you don’t want or want more because the cook would take offence – and I guess he would only serve what he wants to serve. Cocky.

Tokusen Miso (the ramen with the original flavour – S$12.50). Well… The soup was very flavoursome, a little too salty for my liking but I must say that the noodles are so, according to Avril’s words, “springy” – It really is and I love such noodles. And I heard they constantly brew and rebrew the same stock over and over again (which kinda made me lose a little of my appetite), but that’s how and why the stock or well soup tastes so distinctly miso-y, thick and full of aroma.

The Chillimiso for some reason is slightly cheaper (S$12.00) which puzzles me because chilli is a spice and shouldn’t more spice/ingredients mean that we should be charged more? *shrug* Anyway I prefer this dish to the first bowl of noodles I was talkin about because of the fact that…….. it’s spicy 🙂 Hahahah…. The spiciness combined with the full body of flavours is just sooooo good.

Ahhh…the Miso Tsukemen (S$11.50) is… unique. I know a word cannot sum it up but really, it’s just different because the noodles are cold and the soup is hot (hope I got this right becase this isn’t exactly my dish) so what happens is you dip the cold noodles into the piping hot miso-ish soup and according to my friend, it gives a certain juxtaposition and good feeling to the whole experience of eating that dish. Unique… that’s all I can say. 🙂

Basically we tried most of what’s on the menu. There are, if I remember correctly, 4 main dishes and we tried 3 of them. It wasn’t too bad and apparantly this place is very authentic. Maybe I’ve eaten too much of the shait noodles/ramen that I’m so used to this. But I will go there again because it’s just a nice experience. In fact, I will be going down today with Karen. 🙂

Miharu Sapporo Ramen
76 Robertson Quay #01-11
The Gallery Hotel Singapore 238254

Remember…if you’re there early, and are queueing, please write your name down on the waiting list – you don’t want to wait in the queue for nothing. 🙂

Meetups, makeups? April 26, 2007

Okay… i know that title was so random but oh well… As mentioned earlier, the Nittan babes always meet up. Even before I left, we often had dinners.

Like a few days before my departure of the company, the gals gave me a treat for my birthday at Chakun. And I must mention this – the food at this place is actually quite good, for the price! I always enjoy myself when I go there.

Us – Before dinner was served.

I’m not really a fried rice person but this was actually quite yummy.

This is one of their signature dishes and one of my FAVOURITES!!! 🙂 I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeee duck!

When it comes to Hor Fun, you’ll see me happily eating it. You can call me a WHORE-fun 😉

We wiped up pretty much everything – we were satisfied customers 🙂 After that we just went over to coffee club to chill and chit chat.

Chakun
Market Street Carpark, 146 Market Street
#01-02/03
Tel: 6438-3510

Hmmm yeah..we did a couple more meetups but well…the camera whore (me, me, me!) didn’t bring her camera 😛 Oh well….

Children can be cute but…

I really rather not have any. Every camp I go re-emphasises one very simple fact – that I don’t really want to have kids. I mean kids are fun and quintessentially innocent (at least more pure than well, adults) but… nah, I can’t really imagine having more kids around 24/7… Look at my bro – he’s 11 and I feel like wringing him in the neck almost everyday.

Yeah…I’ve been doing camps and now I look like… I’m…. Malay. I mean it’s not that I don’t like Malays or anything but I’m CHinese and I want to, well… look CHinese. Oh well 🙂

I had quite good Chinese Food at Tower Club – thank you to that special someone for the treat. It was quite stressful but I enjoyed the food nonetheless. The service was good and the food was better! Did I also mention the view? We had quite a good view of Singapore’s Citiscape and it was the first time being in the Tower Club when it was pissing outside. We were actually treated to the delightful display of occasional flashes of lightnight. 🙂

Tower Club – The Chinese Dining Room
9 Raffles Place Republic Plaza Tower 1
#62 -64 Penthouse Singapore 048619

Go on…look for a member and try the food in that particular Dining Room 😉 It’s probably the same standard as Li Bai at Sheraton Towers – same concept (fine dining) and well the service is impeccable.

Sheraton Towers Singapore
39 Scotts Road
Singapore 228230
Tel: 65 6839 5623

Eat and be merry April 20, 2007

For the past few weeks since I’ve been out of a job (yes I’m still jobless), I have been meeting up with my girls. Last week (Friday), we met up to celebrate our dear Juls’ birthday. It wasn’t too expensive but hey…it’s the COMPANY that counts 😉 We ate at Botak Jones and it really wasn’t too bad.

Caesar Salad ($5.00) – it was too creamy for my liking. But all of us wiped it out quickly because we were s-t-a-r-v-ing.

We were so hungry because we queued for almost 1/2 an hour. Ulgh. I.dun.like.queueing.

Steak with brown gravy ($14.00) – This was Juls’ choice which was good. I love steak but I wanted to try everything… so I ordered something else. Anyway the steak was tender and flavoursome. YUM

Cajun Chicken ($7.00) – I never knew chicken breasts could taste so good and juicy. This was Gerri’s choice, it’s a pity she didnt finish her food because I DID!!! 🙂

Rosemary Lamb Chops ($11) – This was my choice, and yes I LURVVEEEEEE and absolutely adore red meat. The lamb literally melts in your mouth because of the fats but hey…we’ve only one life each. *shrug*

Fish & Chips ($10 – large portion) – Avril ordered this and we decided to get a bigger portion to try out the fish. This was…normal. I’ve nothing to add about it. I’d rather eat the Fish & Chips at Big Fish along Siglap.

Yeah this place wasn’t too bad I must say. We HAD to wait for another 1/2 an hour for the food. I’m not too sure whether I want to queue for my food. But I HAD TO try it because well… it’s an experience and since some of my friends were talking about this place. I give it a 7/10 (since it’s relatively cheaper than restaurants).

Botak Jones (Clementi)
Blk 325 Clementi Ave 5
Tel: 67741225

We then headed to TCC HV for a cuppa each, where we started talking and talking…about everything and anything. It’s always nice to meet up with the gals, esp Gerri 😉

Just yesterday (Thurs), we met up with a couple more for drinks and dinner. It was a good time once again and I am lookin forward to meetign them again. I realised I’ve been spending quite a lot of time with the Nittan babes… what to do, we’re like super close. Last Sunday, before I went into camp (yes I’m like a blackie now), Christy came to my place and we had dinner together before meeting a special someone. It was also a good time to meet up with people whom you haven’t met in a while. For more photos, click here.

And after all these weeks, I can gladly say that I’m over being pissed and disappointed at my Managers in the previous company. I am really happy to be out of the shithole only because most of the managers have

1) no idea what they’re doing – even simple things like assuming. They have constantly assumed that I’ve done this and that and have accused me SEVERAL times of things I haven’t done. Haven’t they heard, to assume is making an ASS out of U and ME?

2) lied to me about ALOT of things – really…things about lying that my big boss hates me and wants me out of the company when in actual fact he wanted to lock me (and the 2 other gals namely Gerri and Juls) in and ONLY MERELY said that I was a little laid-back and needed pushing. EVEN IF this were a misunderstanding, how is it possible to have misunderstood so much from me needing a little pushing to the big boss (from Tokyo) wanting me out of the company? AND did they really think we would leave quietly and not find out from others about the truth?

3) isses about control (and lack the confidence in themselves) – after I tendered my resignation, the two managers pulled me and juls into the meeting room and threw their weight around (actually it’s only ONE manager who decided to be an ass), telling both of us ON A WEDNESDAY (when our last supposed day is FRIDAY) that the “higher management” were not happy that so many juniors were leaving so our so-called resignation was “pending”. And only when I clarified things with the Managing Director (MD) did I realise that that particular arsehole (PA) was just playing games with our minds.

4) no respect for the company – when Juls and I told that PA that we wanted to tell/confess to the MD that we lied not because we wanted our jobs back but only because he’s the boss and deserves to know, he told us that “it’s already over, why make the boss angry again?” and the worst thing that he sprouted out (and this is the crunch of it) was “ANYWAY, honesty is not the issue anymore”. If you have no respect for even the boss,….

5) no professionalism – from wanting to screw up their own clients to other things that I’d rather not talk about. I really cannot be bothered anymore.

Seriously…if more than 1/2 the batch of trainees left, it really spells and means that it’s really not the employees of the company, or at least the employees working at a Junior level. I’m just glad and I’m sure I’m speaking for all the people who left that we’re glad we’re out of the company. Initially I was really sad that things turned out this way especially because I KNEW that all the trainees wanted to make our company work out, but oh well… *shrug* If you have managers who constantly lie to cover their own asses, who are selfish enough to do whatever’s being listed above and managers who have no respect whatsoever for his subordinates, well…this company will fail, again.

I rest my case 🙂

The day I became a Zuo Bo-er April 13, 2007

I’m still finding the right word/phrase in English for a Zuo Bo-er. I thought of “Vagrant”, “Lost Soul” but I reckon the right word that encapsulates the meaning of a Zuo Bo-er would be a bum. *shrug*

Anyway 31st of March was my day of freedom and well, what better thing to do than…watchin the Phantom of the Opera. 🙂 I went with Gerri, her boy and their friends. Maybe I had to high an expectation for it but I walked out feeling dissatisfied. Of course I must say that the female lead’s voice is very good and she could really sing and at some points of time, made my hair stand; however most of the time I guess it felt like they were merely going through the motion of the musical. Perhaps they’ve been already so used to performing that it’s just another-*groan* performance. Perhaps.

After the performance, the 4 of us (just the girls) decided to go to P.S Cafe (in Demsey) but unfortunately it was closed. So Mr Ah-Mad-aka-Gerri’s-boyfriend (Pat), dropped us off at Oosh, where we had a drink and snacks. Yes, it was my first and only time before the official launch (where the stupid waiter had to reveal to me…he couldn’t *GASP* take photos)

Cajun Calamari (S$8) was one of our dishes. It wasn’t too bad. The curry sauce that accompanied it could be more spicy. This curry sauce is…well…very western (ie sweet).

ahhh… the Seafood Mania Pizza (S$18) was good. And I must add that… all the Pizzas are actually good. I tried two others the other day at the launch. Yummmm.

The Tofu Fritters (S$7) were just…tofu. What else can I say about tofu? The sauce was a combination of sweet thai chilli sauce and peanut (satay) sauce. Alright…but I wouldn’t waste my money on it again. I could do this at home!

This was my favourite – Smoked Duck Salad (S$10). It’s like heaven. It could be because of my love for duck but my incline towards this salad’s not only because of the duck. The sauce was light and tangy – very suitable for Salads. AND it’s a sweet, sourish tinge to the sauce which gives you some sorta lift when you eat it. 🙂 And yeah…among the “recommendations” that were given to us (we tried all 4 namely the Pluck Me (mojitos), High on Grass, Oosh Carat and Oosh Me), the High on Grass came up tops – all 4 of us thought it was the best cocktail.

We had fun!

And on the 11th of April (just a few days ago), I went for Oosh’s official launch. There were SOOOOOOO many people there and I only managed to see only 1 star (if he’s even counted). But the food was good, the music brought me back to my mambo days, and it was a really good place to just chill (and chick/hunk-watch I might add)

The guy who brought me in – thanks Jon for inviting me! 🙂

Photos taken with Jon’s Colleagues.

Classic “but…buttttt….” helpless RENZI expression hahaha… I wanted to take a photo with Jon’s Colleague but her friend appeared from nowhere and started to talk to her…oh well (nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I’m gonna eat some words)

One of the only “celebrities” I saw – HARDY, the Singapore Idol 2? 😦 damn it…to me he’s not even considered a celebrity…Anyway the guy on the extreme left is supposedly an actor, he’s on Channel 5 now (After Hours). *shrug* Oh oh..I did see Ix Shen and his other half but that’s about it…Damn it!

Yeah…we got a very interesting goodie bag – yeah, looks innocent but among the 3 that I received, there’s this body wash called “re-charge black pepper body wash” – how wierd is that??

hehhee anyway Oosh is quite a good place to chill because you can practically find a setting that you like – there’s an al fresco portion of the restaurant, there’s a bar, a cellar room, a japanese outlet… 🙂 The food’s not bad…the drinks are unique…BUT The owner, Richard Goh (if I remember correctly), is a little wierd, maybe when I was talkin to him he was really high but yeah I’ve heard stories about him so yeah. Well….come before it closes down… I give it…another….5 mths 😛 hahahahah

Oosh
22 Dempsey Road
Singapore 249679
Tel: 6475 0002

For more photos click here.

Must try, won’t die! April 5, 2007

Damn it… had to make that rhyme. 😛

Well, since I became jobless (officially unemployed), I’ve been going for suppers almost everyday. Gosh, I’m going to gain weight if this continues. Anyway yesterday after camping at Maccas for a good 1 hour (and waiting for another hour for Joe and Jon before that), we decided to go for our second round of supper. *groan* beat that…second SUPPER. Gosh… Sigh…

Supper was quite worth it. I didn’t manage to take any phoos though. I mean, the crispy yam thingie is different from those conventional shops – it’s actual bite-size and you won’t actually feel sick from eating the sweet, salty delicacy. It’s crispy on the outside and goey on the inside. YUM! Oh! And another thing to mention is its chee cheong fun (CCF). The CCF is quite unique, compared to the normal CCFs you find in those HK restaurants – the sauce has a good salty flavoursome taste to it with just the right amount of thickness. And the home-made sweet chilli sauce (provided on the side) provides a good compliment to it. YUMMMMMMMMYYYY!!! Another reason why you should go try this place is because it’s quite affordable. Oh oh…anddd anddddddd it’s in the heart of Geylang, so if you’re STILL hungry and are craving for a second, or even third round of supper, you can always skip around the other odd-numbered streets to grab some more to eat 😉

Go try it… especially at night, since the weather in SIngapore can get a little warm during the day.

126 Eating House
No 126 Sims Ave
Singapore 387449

Go…! Try it!

March 27, 2007

Something you should try out… the OR LUAT in Gluttons Bay. It’s one of the best…according to most people I know. Hahahha…Okay, confession, I don’t eat the Oysters (personal preference here) but hey, I mean even the Omelette itself is crispy, and it promptly melts in your mouth once you bite into it. The bonus is the spicy chilli sauce with a sour tinge. YUMMY! One thing you HAVE to try before you die. Go!!!

Makansutra Gluttons Bay
01-15 Esplanade Mall
daily 6pm to 3am.
Tel: 6336 7025

Well I had that, plus the Prawn Mee and Fried Kuay Teow. I guess I over estimated Mark’s and my eating abilities. But hey, we enjoyed the food 😉 Even Mark, an Australian, LOVES it. What can I say?

Soooo..try it!

Rex Satay is a MUST TRY! March 26, 2007

Quite some time back, a week (if I’m not wrong) before CNY, I met up with Weiliang for dinner before catching up with the rest of the gang in the Airport. I told him he HAD to try the Rex’s Satay because I heard a lot about it (through the TCS 5 programme Lost and Found etc). We ended up ordering twice because the satays were really good. They were so tender and every time you bite into a stick of satay, the meat oozes out the goodness of fat and marinated sweetness. Yummmm….

You have to try this!!!

Rex Satay
(Rasa Sentosa)
Changi Airport T2 Staff Canteen

No pictures again March 22, 2007

*Wail* I can’t believe I haven’t actually been bringing my camera around. I guess I’ve been a little too lazy.

I want to recommend two places today.

First is Salma Catering. This place is located in the hearts of the CBD area and it’s one of the greatest Muslim eateries in Singapore. It has good nasi padang AND has one of the best Iced Teas!!!! The Iced Tea is a must try! It’s thick and has just the right sweetness that would definitely top up a satisfying meal. Come on, even JS who HATES drinking milk tea, love this!

Salma Catering Cafe
141 Market Street
#01-00 Singapore 048944
Tel: 6324 0352

The next one’s one of my favourite HK cafes. One of the reasons is because of proximity. Hehehe… I can even crawl back home. More and more HK cafes are sprouting out and well, this cafe is better than alot that I’ve tried (better than the one in Siglap…bleah..that one really sucks). And after eating a sumptious meal, you can even adjourn to eat prawn mee next door! Anyway I went with Psuedo BF for dinner yesterday and we had a great time chatting, catching up. Oh, and one more advantage abour this place is it opens till 5am! Well…go eat for yourself…I’m too lazy to type already…sniff and I have no friggin photos!!!

Hong Kong Cafe Pte Ltd
378 East Coast Road
Singapore 428985
Tel : 6440 3808