Buttering Up!

As Julia Child once said, which Julie Powell followed, "one can never have too much butter". I fully agree with this statement! I am a strong advocate of butter. I find food with butter tastes much better - bread, toast, etc. Even food cooked in butter tastes better than food cooked in oil!

Unfortunately, my parents are the practical and healthy kinds, so I grow up not having much butter. We use margarine on bread and cook food in sunflower oil. Hence, whenever there is butter, it is very well-treasured amongst my family members, especially me!

I have always wanted to try using butter to cook something, but since my house is severely lacking of butter, I have no choice but to cook using oil. So when we ran out of oil while cooking breakfast for the participants on Sunday, I suggested butter.

And butter we used. We used butter to cook eggs, sausages, hash browns. We even used butter to spread on bread and toast. And I was right - the food really tastes better using butter as compared to just normal oil!

I am swearing on butter now! If my mum refuses, I will just buy my own butter to do my own cooking! And I am going to use butter to cook and spread on my bread henceforth!

In Search Of Cavana

Cavana - the halal version of Carona, the popular chicken rice well-liked by young and old. The chicken rice comes in a set of two chicken wings, or two barbecued wings. I fell in love with it when I first ate it, way back more than ten years back already.

Through the years, whenever I came across a Carona / Cavana stall, I would always go in to eat the chicken rice. However, I have not had the chance to eat it in the past couple of years or so. Perhaps because now I am more attuned to "higher class" stuff, like fine dining and wine and dine. But that does not mean I have forgotten nor stopped appreciating the simple things in life too!

A few months back, I suddenly had the craving to try Carona chicken rice again. Initially, I thought one of the shopping malls near my home still sells it, but when I went there, the stall was no longer there.

Few weeks back, a close friend told me she managed to find one at a shopping mall, very far from my place. Seems that the few outlets they still have are in quite out-of-the-way areas, in the more of the heartlanders neighbourhood mall, rather than major shopping malls. Seems like it is so hard to find the stalls lately, and if I want to eat, I have to travel so far!

But one of the shopping malls happened to be near the retreat centre I went to. So on Friday, my dear and I went to that shopping mall for lunch at the Cavana stall there, before we did our grocery shopping en route to the retreat house.

Besides a very rude counter staff, the chicken rice, fried chicken and barbecued chicken wings still taste the same as before - delicious! I am so glad I finally got my craving satisfied, albeit overdue! Hopefully I will have the opportunity to go there and eat again!

Another Fantastic Weekend!

I was away the whole weekend to help out at the CHOICE retreat. This was my second attempt at housekeeping, and things are better this time round. Perhaps because I was working with different people, so the working style is different and not as tiring.

Luckily it was a public holiday on Friday, so we managed to have some time to buy groceries. This time round, we gave a personalised menu, so we had to ensure we prepared enough of everything. Even though we were busy grocery shopping and getting ingredients and lugging everything back to the retreat house, overall it was all worth it as the participants were grateful and appreciative!

There were more people this time round, twenty-seven in total. Of course, some dropped out throughout the weekend. But whoever that was left, seeing them enjoy themselves beat all the tiredness and stress! I can hardly wait for another weekend, hopefully I can finally get the chance to be a presenter this time round!

A Step Into The Past?

There is an area in a cosy corner of the island that used to be a colonial barracks. This area, and another rather prominent one that also used to be colonial barracks, has now been turned into a series of eating places. Incidentally the area is near my current office, within walking distance, if one does not mind the sun.

My youngest brother is back from Australia, so today my dear and I brought him there to eat. We chose this place Colbar for two reasons - one, it is rather popular among foreigners and local celebrities, and two, it is owned by one of my distant relatives and I have always like the design of that place.

Going to that eatery is like stepping thirty or fourty years into time. One never sees those kind of walls, floors and tiles anymore! It is just like a little wooden house that is painted up into a quaint eatery!

The eatery is not originally there. I remember it was further out the area, facing a football field. When our government wanted to get rid of the field and build a highway to link other highways (what's new?), the eatery was affected. But our government recognised it as a "remnants of the past", so thought of building the new highway around the eatery.

However, in the end, it was impossible to build the highway around, and since the highway had to be built, the eatery had to move. Hence, they actually took every wood, panelling and tile, shifted a bit further into the area away from the highway, and rebuilt the whole eatery tile for tile, wood for wood, to where it stands today.

Entrance of Colbar

The place specialises in Western fare, as well as local fare. I ordered bacon sandwich, my brother ordered hor fun and my dear ordered fried rice. We also had root beer and ice cream. There is even a shelf for books donated by customers, which I took back four. Being a place that caters to the Caucasian crowd, the books are of pretty high standard, like Somerset Maugham and P.D. James, even James Hilton, none of those local cheesy books!

Definitely this is a place I like to go again! Now I just have to see if any of my colleagues is willing to go there for lunch, after all, it takes just five minutes or so to reach that place from my office if one drives!

Bacon Sandwich

Hor Fun

Fried Rice

The entrance and exit (have not seen this kind of doors for ages!)

Weighing machine near the entrance (definitely a relic from the past!)

Part of the layout of the eatery

Interior of the eatery

The ceiling
(the fan was actually spinning but the photo came out looking like it was stationary)

Dividers dividing the eating area and the counter

The tables and chairs

The counter (see the television and the bottles?)

Makansutra's Glutton's Bay

Last Sunday before the musical we went to the food centre behind Esplanade for dinner. Since we reached there early, we walked around the sea area before proceeding to the food centre called Makansutra's Glutton's Bay. Perfect for people like me - makan means eat, sutra means manual, and Glutton's Bay is self-explanatory. :-p

The construction of the integrated resort

The three towers of the soon-to-finish Marina Sands Integrated Resort

View of the Central Business District

One end of the Central Business District (see all the skyscrapers?)

Since we were still full, we just ordered the famous barbecue wings to share. The food centre has lots of stalls and lots of food, like sambal stingray, noodles, desserts, drinks, satay, etc. Really a food paradise!

The barbecue chicken wings

The sign at the end

Since the Christmas lights are out, I also took a few pictures of the decoration around the area. One of these days I must explore the entire Orchard Road by night to capture the Christmas lights!

CHOICE November 2009

I am housekeeping again for the CHOICE November weekend this weekend. This time round, there will be three newcomers, and we have yet to meet due to everyone's busy schedules. After the last round of housekeeping which I learnt a bit more of the logistics and operations, I think I can more or less know what is going on. Now we only have to help the newbies, which include my dear!

Yesterday was the routine pre-weekend mass. The last time when I was housekeeping for August, I did not attend the pre-weekend mass as my then-course started the same day. So this time round, I made it a point to go. In the end, only he and I were the only housekeepers there together with the presenters, as the rest all could not make it.

Apparently this would be a big weekend due to the number of participants, and still on-going at this time! Hopefully it would be another great weekend!

The Great Food Project!

I am not a food guru. Neither am I a flogger (aka food blogger), unlike so many of my fellow men. But I do have a gluttonous streak in me. Unlike those who eat to live, I live to eat. Which explains why I am having issues with my weight right now and need to cut down on the kind of food intake I have.

I enjoy all kinds of food, from hawker fare to local flavours to cosy corners to quaint shops to fine dining. It has always been a wish that one day, I can just explore the whole island, looking for great food and eating my fill.

I think I have a rather high standard when it comes to food. But then again, since when do I not have a high standard in whatever I do? High in my eyes, very high in some other's eyes, but perhaps just mediocre in yet other's eyes. It all depends on perception I guess.

The dear is also a glutton. He loves good food. So we do have a ball of a time sourcing for good places to eat and explore. It is amazing the number of nice places one can find, if only one bothers to look, in every nook and cranny here! Maybe that is why it is always known as a food haven here!

So we have embarked on a project - find four hundred food places of all kinds of cuisine and go there one by one. Perhaps within three years (optimistically) we can actually finish exploring everywhere?

This is what we have come up with so far. Perhaps some of you may have gone to those places, in which case I do appreciate feedback to know if it is worth going! Those in italics are places we have already gone together!

American
Billy Bombers
Brewerkz
Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill
Kenny Roger's Roasters
Equinox Restaurant*
Fishermen's Wharf
Flaming Grill
Gordon Grill
Harbour Grill & Oyster Bar
Hard Rock Cafe
Hog's Breath Cafe
Hooter's
Jack's Place
Lawry's The Prime Ribs
Long Bar Steakhouse
Morton's of Chicago
New York, New York
N.Y.D.C.
Olio Dome
Rocks Urban Grill & Bar
Stuart Anderson's Black Angus
T.G.I. Friday's (Yeah! This is coming back!)
The Ship Restaurant & Bar
Tony Roma's
Town Restaurant*

Australian
Aston's Prime
Aston's Specialities
BROTH
Graze
Jones The Grocer
Max Brenner Chocolate Bar
Outback Steakhouse
Pierside Kitchen
Phin's Steakhouse
The Prime Society
Tin Hill Wine Bistro & Bar

Belgian
Brussel Sprouts
The Mussel Pot

Boardgaming Cafes
Pitstop Cafe
Settler's Cafe

Chinese
Bosses (Black Society)
Club Chinois
Crystal Jade Golden Palace
Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao
Dian Xiao Er
Din Tai Fung
Golden Peony Chinese Restaurant
Hua Ting
Imperial Treasure
Jade
Jiang Nan Chun
Lao Beijing Restaurant*
Lei Garden
Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant
Majestic Restaurant
Metropole Herbal Restaurant
Minjiang*
My Choice Chinese Cuisine
My Humble Place
One On The Bund
Peach Garden
Por Kee Eating House
Prima Tower Revolving Restaurant
Pu Tien Restaurant*
Sha Tin Kitchen
Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant
Silk Road Of The Sea & Bar
Swa Garden Restaurant
Tian Fu Teahouse*
Village Wok Restaurant
Wah Lok
Yan Ting Restaurant
Yunnan Garden Restaurant

Chill Out Joints
Axis Bar & Lounge*
Bar 84
Black Coffee Dessert Bar
Camps @ House
Cafe Iguana
Cafe Rosso
Crossroads Bar
Dempsey Hut
Eskimo Bar
Giraffe Restaurant & Bar
Hermitage
Intermezzo Bar*
Introbar
Lobby Wine Bar
Long Bar
Moonstone
New Asia Bar
Novus Restaurant & Bar
One-Twenty-Six
Oriole Cafe & Bar
Pacific Coffee House
Piano Bar
Q-Bar
Raffles Courtyard
Six Restaurant & Bar
TCC - The Coffee Connoisseur
The Bar*
The Bar & Billiard Room*
The INK Club Bar
The Loof
The Pavilion @ Sentosa
The Pump Room
The Supper Club
The Universal Wine Bar
Villa Bali
Wala Wala
Writer's Cafe

Desserts
2am Dessert Cafe
Ah Teng's Bakery
Awfully Chocolate
DeSite Confectionery
Ice Cream Chefs
Island Creamery
Little Ice Cream Kafe
Once Upon A Milkshake
The Daily Scoop

English
Brasserie La Saveurs*
Chihuly Lounge*
Fosters English Rose Cafe*
Harry's
Highlander
Jack's Place
L'Espresso*
Orchard Cafe*
Penny Black
Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge*
Scotts Lounge*
Scruffy Murphy's Irish Pub
Tea Lounge*
The Atrium*
The Cellar Door
The Cookie Museum (formerly known as The V Tea Room)
The Courtyard*
The Dubliner Irish Pub
The Lobby Lounge*
The Lounge*
The Marmalade Pantry
The Old Brown Shoe
The Tea Party Cafe
The Vines Restaurant
TWG Tea Salon & Boutique*
Victoria Bar
White Rose Cafe*

French
35 Artillery
Au Jardin
Au Petit Salut
Braise
Blue Lobster Seafood Restaurant
Cafe De Amigo
Chalk
Choupinette
Creperie-Ar-Men
Desire
Flutes At The Fort
Iggy's
Infuzi
JAAN
Julien Bompard At Ascot Raffles Place
L'Angelus
La Petite Cuisine
Le Bistrot (this was where we had our first date!)
Le Carillon L'Angelus
Les Amis
Les Bouchons
Mimolette
Miss Clarity Cafe
Nicholas Le Restaurant
Picotin
Prive
Raffles Grill
St Julien
St Pierre
Suburbia
The Black Sheep Cafe
The French Kitchen
Viz-A-Viz

Fusion
7atenine
Barnacles Restaurant & Bar
Blue Mist
Buko Nero
Coriander Leaf
Raw Kitchen Bar
Restaurant Ember
Rider's Cafe
Tao's Restaurant - Modern Pacific Cuisine
The Masonic Restaurant
Wild Rocket
Xi Yan Restaurant

Indian
Kinara North West Frontier Cuisine
Muthu's Curry
Omar Shariff Authentic Indian Cuisine
Rang Mahal
Samy's Curry
Shahi Maharani North Indian Restaurant
Song of India
Tandoor North Indian Restaurant
The Banana Leaf Apolo
The Mango Tree Indian Coastal Restaurant
Vansh
Yantra

Indonesian
Ayam Penyet Ria
Cumi Bali
Garuda Padang Cuisine
Nasae Menanti
Nasi Padang River Valley
Pagi Sore
Rendezvous Restaurant Hock Lock Kee
Rumah Makan Minang
Samar Cafe
Sanur
Tembuah Mas
The Rice Table

International
Aquamarine*
Black Opal
Cafe 2000
CafeBiz*
Cafe Vic*
Carousel*
Checkers Brasserie*
Crossroads Cafe
Coffee Lounge*
Doc Cheng's
Element Restaurant*
Ellenborough Market Cafe*
Fern Tree Cafe
La Terasse*
Marriott Cafe*
Mezza9*
Plaza Market Cafe*
Oscar's Cafe
Rose Veranda*
Saltwater Cafe and Creek*
Sapphire
Shutters
Silver Shell Cafe
Spices Cafe*
Straits Cafe*
Swiss Cafe
The Arches @ Imbiah Lookout
The Dining Room*
The Greenhouse
The Knolls*
The Line
The Terrace @ Sentosa
Tiffin Room*
Top Of The M*
Treasure Bistro
Windows On The Park*

Italian
Absinthe
Al Dente
Al Forno
Bather's Cafe & Restaurant
Bonta
Borgo
Capella
Casa Roma
Da Paolo Il Giardino
Da Paolo Il Restorante
Da Paolo La Terazza
Da Valentino's
District 10
D.O.M.V.S. The Italian Restaurant
Emerald Lodge
Fifty Three
Firestation Hillside Gastrobar
Forlino
Garibaldi
Gunthers
Il Lido
L'Antipasto
La Braceria
La Strada
Le Figue
Menotti
Michelangelo
Oomphatico's
Oso Restorante
Osvaldo Restorante Italiano
Pizza Pazza
Pontino
Prego
Relish
Restorante Pietrasanta
Riciotti
Ristorante Bologna
Sage
Saraceno Restorante
Senso Ristorante & Bar
Sketches Brasserie
Soprano
Spizza
Stone Grill
Trapizza
Trattoria Lafiandra al Museo
Upper Club
Valentino

Japanese
Akane
Akashi
Aoki
Botan
Curry Favor*
Hachi
Ikoi Japanese Restaurant
Inagiku
Keyaki Japanese Restaurant
Kuriya Dining
Matsuo Japanese Restaurant
Miharu Soba
Nadaman Japanese Restaurant
Nihon Mura*
Petit Village
Rakuichi
Santaro
Shima
Shirashi
Sun With Moon
Sushi Yoshida
Tampopo Japanese Restaurant
Tetsu
Tetsuya (or is it Tatsuya?)
Tomo
Torishi Taka by Aoki Yakitori
Yakiniku-Daidomon
Zento Contemporary Japanese

Japanese Western
Angus House
Ma Maison

Korean
Chang Korean BBQ
Crystal Jade Kitchen
Hyang-to-gol Korean Restaurant
Ko Ryo Jeong

Local Flare
Adam Road Hawker Centre
Asian Kitchen
Bar Bar Black Sheep
Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice
Carona Chicken Rice
Carrot Cake with Ikan Bilis
Chin Mee Chin Confectionary
Colbar
Chopsticks
Five Star Chicken Rice
Fong Seng Nasi Lemak
Global Kitchen*
Jalan Kayu Prata
Katong Laksa
Kay Lee Roast Pork Joint
Lucky Chicken Rice
Makan Sutra’s Gluttons Bay
Mei Yuen Restaurant
Mr Prata
Newton Circus
One-Ninety*
Paper Chicken
Punggol Nasi Lemak
Soyabean Curd
Spice Brasserie*
Straits Kitchen
Swee Kwee Fish Head Bee Hoon
Tiong Bahru Food Centre
The Cheese Prata Café
The Living Room*
The Porridge King / Singapore Heritage Restaurant
The Traditional Bread Café

Mediterranean
Ambrosia Mediterranean Grill & Bar
Barracks @ House
Fig & Olive
Halia Restaurant*
La Fondue
My Secret Garden
Olive Tree Mediterranean Restaurant
One Rochester
Oosh
Portobelle
PS Café
Swiss Culture
The Screening Room
The West End
The White Rabbit & Rabbit Hole

Miscellaneous
2-Door
Fishermen’s Village
Globetrotters Café
Green Room Café
Imperial Junk Cheng Ho (Harbour Cruise)*
Marche
Mushroom Pot*
Pastamania
Pawtobello Café
Sky Dining
Sunset Grill
The Garden Slug
The Soup Spoon

Organic / Vegetarian
Bollywood Veggies
LingZhi Vegetarian Restaurant*
Original Sin
The Garden

Persian
Banoo
Shiraz

Peranakan
Chili Padi Nonya Cafe*
Chilli Padi Restaurant
Guan Hoe Soon Restaurant
Penang Place
PeraMakan
Spice Peranakan
The Blue Ginger
True Blue Cuisine

Seafood
Empress Jade
Feast@East*
Jade Palace Seafood Restaurant
Jumbo Seafood
Long Beach Seafood
Liang Kee Teochew Restaurant
Mellben Seafood
Ming Kee Live Seafood
No Signboard Seafood
Punggol Seafood
Red House Seafood
Seafood International Market & Restaurant
The Cliff @ Sentosa

South American
Brazilian Charruscaria
Carnivore
Cha Cha Cha
Viva Mexico

Spanish
Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant
Via Mar Restaurant & Wine Bar

Thai
Kha
Patara Fine Thai Cuisine
Sabai Authentic Fine Thai Cuisine
Thai Express
Thanying Restaurant
Ying Thai Palace

Turkish
Cappadocia Cafe Restaurant

Vietnamese
IndoChine Waterfront
VietLang

*denotes high teas, afternoon teas, tunches and tea sets.

So this concludes the food project we are embarking on! Hopefully we would be able to cover most of them within the shortest time!

Out To Lunch!

Before I shifted office, I was rather apprehensive. Afterall, it was like the other end of the island for me, and transport was inconvenient and food was scarce.

Then on my first day, I found that the building itself was quite strategically placed, so it was not that bad as it was just five minutes to the bus stop just outside the premises and less than ten minutes to the bus stop across the bridge.

The best thing is that I actually have a straight bus from my home! Although it takes an hour and a half (which means I am not able to reach home before seven anymore!), at least the bus would deliver me to the stop outside my place, and after that it is just a five minute walk in.

Alternatively, to save the time, I can take a bus down to the harbour going to Sentosa island, then change to another bus, which goes by a straighter route to my place. That would take less than an hour, depending on traffic conditions. And with the transfer rebates, it cost about the same.

Today, I discovered there are actually lunch time shuttles to nearby places for food! Best part of it is the lunch time shuttles comes every ten minutes or so from before twelve to after one to bring us to stipulated places, and back, for free! The shuttle buses service all the bus stops within the premises. Great deal!

Hence I no longer need to fret over where to lunch. Even if I do not wish to take the lunch time shuttle, it is just a ten minute or so bus ride to around the nearby areas. Thus I now have an abundance of choices for food, and good food at that!

It would be even better to find a colleague who drives, and then we can all drive out for lunch at further areas. Which was what we did on Tuesday - we sat in someone's car and drove all the way to the West Coast (which is not that far apparently) for lunch, passing by my old campus and hostel along the way.

Come to think of it, this place is pretty good!

The Traditional Bread Cafe

Last evening, we happened to stumble upon this shop called The Traditional Bread Cafe, that sells, erh... bread. The interior of the shop is actually a bakery, where shelves upon shelves of soft white bread are being prepared.

The front of the stall is a cafe of sorts that serves toast sets, with eggs. There are buttered toasts, local flavours like otak toasts, curry with bread, pastries, cakes, jams and butter. Since the shop looks so quaint, we decided to go in and eat something.

I ordered a toasted set of four slices of buttered toast, two half-boiled eggs and a cup of milk tea. He had an otak toast with eggs. I also bought two loaves of bread home. Honestly, the toast sets are just normal - nothing to hype about. The only reason I stepped into the shop is because the name sounds interesting and the shop looks cosy and quaint.

Plus it sells my favourite kind of bread - soft white bread! Something which my mum seldom buys because she prefers to buy wholemeal bread, but I prefer soft white bread over any other kind of bread! That and the long French roll which I normally get from Delifrance!

An Operatic Evening With Victor / Victoria

Last weekend was a weekend of great music. On Saturday night, I went for an operatic concert, consisting of excerpts from various operas. It is called "An Evening Of Tragic And Romantic Love", presented by the Singapore Lyric Opera, so there was a soprano, mezzo, tenor and baritone, singing various parts from well-loved operas like "Aida", "Carmen" and "Samson and Delilah".

Their voices are stupendous! I have always been singing, but I really really wish I can sing like that! That has always been my wish! I really wonder how do people actually train up their voices to be able to sing this way?

The musical Victor / Victoria on Sunday is just as awesome! It is light-hearted, with pretty controversial themes that I am surprised the musical is open to all to see and not restricted, like Carbaret a few years back.

Again, the singing is good. Of course, those performing in musical theatres are not exactly full-fledged opera singers, but they are more rounded as in they can sing, dance, act all at one time! Since it was set during the jazz age, the dance steps were fantastic! Tap dancing, jazz dancing, the steps were very well-choreographed and all in sync!

It had been two great evenings of superb performances. I cannot wait to watch the next one!

New Office Updates

Some of you may know I have shifted my workplace. I officially started at my new workplace yesterday. No, I did not get another job, I just shifted office premises, as my company wanted to move out of the central area to an industrial park in the west. So I have moved from central to west back to central back to west again.

I know where the area is, but when I arrived at the premises yesterday morning, I had to try finding my way. Luckily the building is near to the front, so it only takes five minutes to walk from the bus stop to the building, instead of going further in. Turns out there are actually two bus stops near my office building.

If I alight at the first bus stop, I have to cross a traffic junction, turn a bend, walk up a flight of stairs, walk up the pavement, up another flight of stairs, up the pavement, then up another flight of stairs. In short, one traffic junction, three flights of stairs and two uphill slopes.

If I alight at the second bus stop, I just need to walk up a long flight of stairs, all the way up slope, and up another flight of stairs. In short, two flights of stairs and one long uphill slope. But the distance and time taken for both stops are the same.

So which one did I choose? Yesterday I chose to alight at the second stop. Today, I chose the first stop. Simply because three short flights of stairs and two uphill slopes sound more appealing than one very long flight of stairs and one long uphill steeper slope.

Yes, I am weird, I know. Most would prefer the second option. But since there is no difference anyway, why should I then waste time at a traffic junction waiting for the lights to turn and alight at the second bus stop, when I could just alight at the first stop and walk all the way? Granted, it is not much time wasted, but well, I still prefer the first option.

However, when going home, I would take the second option, because I need to cross an overhead bridge to go to the other side of the road to take a bus back, and the overhead bridge is nearer to the second stop than the first. So my new office building is really pretty convenient!

Yesterday saw us unpacking and putting the files and documents into cupboards and cleaning our desks. The movers have efficiently took our boxes to the appropriate places, all accounted for, hence we only needed to unpack, without needing to look around for any missing boxes.

When I reached the office, it took me no time at all to find my desk, as there was a name tag! After working in various places, this is the first time I actually have a name tag to my desk, indicating my place! Much better than some places where I got to keep shifting places without a proper permanent place!

Not just that, the boxes that were supposed to be mine were all on my desk or the storage room. I took a glance and everything was accounted for. Thus, I spent almost the whole day sorting out the documents and putting them in order in the respective cupboards.

Then the electricity went down in the afternoon, so there could be no work to be done for about an hour. Luckily, that was restored soon so work could resume. Initially I was quite apprehensive where to go for lunch, but my colleague brought us to a staff cafeteria in another building (again going down hill and down two flights of stairs). The food is good and inexpensive, not bad!

Then we explored the place a little. Turns out there is actually a gym, swimming pool and tennis courts within the premises itself! Next to the fitness area (which also consists of a children's playground), there is a walkway and pavement that links directly to a park and the ridges and walkways. Seems that finally I can keep fit and lose weight again!

There are also Indian, Korean and sandwich restaurants around, not to mention a machine for movie rentals. There are even wooden tables and chairs outside to let others play chess and just chill out. The place is essentially not bad, pretty conducive to work in. The only gripe is there are no banks around, so it is a bit inconvenient in that aspect, but other than that, everything else is pretty conducive!

A new environment calls for changes. Hopefully I may actually enjoy it more here, rather than the fast pace and at times suffocation of the Central Business District!

The One And Only Maksim!

I have found Maksim's songs to be amazing since the first time I heard my friend play his CD. So when I found out he was performing here I bought tickets immediately. Luckily I managed to get discount from a certain card, and we managed to sit around the stall seats in full view of the stage.

Maksim outdid himself again. I love the way his fingers run! I really wish I can play like that! The way he plays the piano is just superb! It is as if his fingers are so light that they can glide along the piano just like that!

The only gripe is that he played mostly classical songs. Well, a concert pianist will play classical songs. what else? But he did not play any of his "specialty" songs, or those that made him famous. What he played, any other concert pianist could have played. I would kind of expect more from him.

Still, it was an awesome performance all the same! There was an encore and he came back and played one final song. This is also the first concert I have been to in a long while, that I did not go on my own.

When I asked if he would mind going to a Maksim concert, he said ok. However, I assumed he knew who Maksim is. It was only before the performance that I realise he has never heard of Maksim, save for the fact that he plays the piano. Hence I was quite taken aback that he was willing to go to a concert that he had no idea whether it would be good or not.

His reply was classic, "Because you want to go, and I know as long as it is something you want, it will definitely be of high quality." Awwww......

The Cookie Museum

This quaint Victorian-themed cafe is formerly known as The V Tea Room, a small cosy cafe tucked in a corner of a certain part of the island, is home to many variations of cookies, coffee and tea. Being a premium cookie seller, their cookies range from almond to chocolate to fruit flavours to localised flavours.

I was attracted to the romantic interior decoration so prevailing during the Victorian era. I was not allowed to take any photos, so I could not show the quaintness of the place, but if I can ever afford it, I would want to make my house Victorian looking!

We sat down and have some tea while sampling the cookies. The price is a bit steep though, for just a pot of tea per person, which can only have two servings in the end. The service is good and personalised, and the cookies are delicious! At least the staff claims there are no eggs and no butter when making the cookies, so a very healthy choice!

In any case, the cookies make good gifts for Christmas and Chinese New Year. Think the next time I go back there I will get some gifts for the upcoming festive season!

Wala Wala ....

Last Friday I went to Wala Wala. The dear just finished his paper so we went there to chill out after a week of stressful studying for him. I have heard a lot about this place, but have never been there. When we went there it was almost full, so we sat outside.

The place is a pretty good chill-out joint with a big television screen for soccer enthusiasts. A game was shown that night and one could hear scores of fans shouting and cheering. The place sells a mean Erdinger beer (his favourite) as well as lychee martini, and there was one-for-one drinks during Happy Hour in the evening.

One thing I must commend on is that the chicken wings are superb! Delicious, spicy and fried to perfection! We ordered a plate of hot wings with chilli sauce and the plate was wiped out within five minutes!

It was my first experience there. Even though we did not stay long as we had a movie to catch, it was enough to make me want to go back. Perhaps next time I would be able to sit inside and order a proper meal instead of just drinks!

Gender Roles Reversed?

I am not a feminist, although my brothers will beg to differ. I have no qualms the men earning more at the workplace, or being the head of the household. I just ask for respect and love. After having had my share of egotistical, chauvinistic men who think they were always right and women should be seen and not heard, I believe I deserve some respect and love, that my opinions do count too.

Anyway, despite what many people think, I have no qualms being a "small woman", letting the man take charge. However I used to give men the wrong impression, not because I cannot be submissive, but because they just happened to be doing all the wrong things. I am not saying I am always right, but sometimes the way some men do things really irritate the hell out of me, and I believe a lot of women as well.

But why is it when women show they are more capable, some men get scared off? Luckily I am now with someone who cannot care less what I do and respect my opinions, so I consider myself pretty fortunate. But there are still many men out there who always think their way is the best, and always think the women's way is wrong.

Now if the men are really the capable and efficient kinds, then we women have no qualms going with the flow. But these men who think they are always right, chances are they are the ones who are giving the wrong ideas and doing the wrong things, and yet still claim they are always right! Yet when women kind of brainstorm and feel there is a better way, the men get all upset.

Not just that, when these men insist on doing their ways and when things really go wrong, they blame it on the women instead and refuse to admit their mistakes! Why? Is it really such a big deal admitting your mistakes? There is nothing wrong making mistakes, but why do people always refuse to acknowledge that fact?

Everyone makes mistakes, just learn from them and move on. Apologising does not need an arm and leg, the willingness to apologise only shows humility and a good attitude to learn. Yet men are less willing to apologise than women.

Hence, women nowadays are taking on the roles of men. They get more capable, more intelligent, more open-minded, stop sweating the small stuff. Even if they face a problem, get out of a relationship, and get stressed up, they grit their teeth and move on with their lives. Yes, they cry, they curse and swear, but they move on and start anew.

But men nowadays are getting more and more whiny and emotional. They cannot let go of past hurts, they bear grudges, they pick on trivial things, they take things personally, and they treat is as if it is the end of the world when they get dumped. And still think they are not at fault in the first place!

Is this not gender reversals, that women are becoming more like the traditional mould of men, and men are becoming more like the traditional mould of women? The thing is, if gender roles are indeed reversed, then it should be reversed fully, is it not? Women be the breadwinners and less emotional ones, men be the ones that take care of the family and be the more emotional and whiny ones.

Personally I cannot stand whiny men. It is enough that women are whiny, but women have always been the more emotional ones who take things personally, so I (and I know a lot of others) take it that women get emotional, and they just need to blast out and everything will be fine.

But when men start being whiny and emotional, it kind of turns me off. Perhaps you think it is double standard, but to me, men have always been the stronger gender, so they are able to take in more things than women, so why is it nowadays it is the women who do not take things personally and not men?

I am not saying men cannot be upset. Humans have feelings after all. But upset being upset, one should not just keep harping and blaming the whole world for their problems, instead of getting a grip and moving on. Worse is indulge in smoking, drinking and whatnot just to feel better.

Give me a strong manly man anytime over a weak, emotional whiny man! Sometimes I feel like telling these emotional whiny men, "Be a man!" Are they such weaklings? Somehow whiny men just give me goose bumps!

All Ready For The Move!

I am in the midst of shifting office, so the past few days I had been busy boxing and masking. Come next week, I will be out of the Central Business District again, and moving to some industrial park in the west, where food is scarce and transport is troublesome.

The difference between a multi-national company, albeit a small one, and a local public-listed company, albeit a medium-size one, is the structure.

In my previous place, when we were renovating office, we were not told what to pack and how to pack. Boxes were not provided, and even if they were, it was few and far in between. I remember scrambling around for boxes and incurring lots of wraths from others simply because I needed boxes.

Worse was the other departments conveniently dumped whatever they wanted to offload on my department, and I could not dispose of them as in the event something happened, I did not want to be the one being blamed for throwing away important documents.

Hence I had to end up packing everything in, and ended up with so many boxes that I got blamed when there was no place to store them! And there was not enough masking tape, and no labels were given too, so I had to get tape on my own and label the boxes by hand.

Here, batches of boxes came in, together with markers, masking tape and labels. Anytime we run out, we could order again. So even though I ended up with nineteen boxes (plus four for my personal items on my desk), I never have to scramble around looking for masking tape. The boxes are all properly labelled, and every department and seat has a colour coding so the movers know where to go!

Now this is good organisation! At least it shows that the company's management cares for their staff enough to ensure a smooth move, rather than always just focusing on their own interests and neglects the other departments and staff.

My boss also told me to throw whatever drafts and old correspondence away, as those are not required anymore. He said whatever we have are online via servers and folders, so we can do away with hardcopies. That is good, because it cuts down on the number of things we need to pack. Which is why instead of packing fifty boxes, we only ended up with nineteen for the whole department!

For the past week, I had been packing, since my boss conveniently went on examination leave. Hence when he comes back today, he only needs to clean out his desk, as everything else are now in compact boxes.

The company has kindly given us an off day this Friday to correspond with the move, so come Monday, I will be over at the new office. Then it will be a week of unpacking and sorting out, and that is the part I hate! I absolutely loathe packing (which explains the state of my room), but what to do? If you earn your keep you have to be subjected to whatever your employer wants, so I just have to get it over and done with!

The INK Club Bar

A continuation from my previous post. After all the hassle of looking for a chill-out joint, we finally settled on the INK Club Bar. After the hassle of changing the seats and whatnot, finally we could all be comfortable.

It was the first time I went to this joint. The interior decoration is pretty chic! The bar reminds me of those that is always shown in Hong Kong drama serials. The drinks look interesting and have quite a big variety too!

The lychee martini there is solid! The martini is really shaken, not stirred. A martini glass is put in front of you, with a lychee in it. Then the martini is shaken in a cocktail mixer, then poured onto the glass. One sip of the martini and you are in heaven!

The rest of my colleagues ordered a combination of mojito, vodka, cocktails and beer. We sat down, chilling out, chatting, and listening to the jazz band consisting of three handsome hunks - the singer, the pianist and the drummer. The singer is really to-die-for! His looks, his body and his voice... WOW!!!

And the songs are nice too. At least they are some of my favourites so I find them nice. He crooned a medley of songs ranging from "Fly Me To The Moon" to "Sway" (jazz version) to "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" and "L-O-V-E".

The best thing was that it was happy hour when we went there, so we got the second drink free! By the time I reached home it was almost midnight. I do not really fancy pubs and bars, but this is one place which I find suits me pretty well. Definitely I will like to go there to chill out again!

Typical Locals, Or Just Typical Human Behaviour?

After the farewell dinner last night, my colleagues and I proceeded for drinks. Since the dinner place is near to Mount Sophia, I suggested Timbre @ Old School, but someone complained the drinks there are nothing fanciful.

So we decided to go to Giraffe at the Istana Park instead. Hence we started walking. Halfway through, we discovered that the National History Museum is nearer, so changed our minds and proceeded to Novus Cafe in the museum itself.

Unfortunately, the cafe is not able to take all of us (ten in all), and gave us a place at the Courtyard outside. Some of them then complained it was too hot and stuffy and preferred somewhere air-conditioned, and decided to go back to Giraffe, only to find out it is also open-air.

Then I suggested Victoria Bar at Hotel Intercontinental, but someone said it was too far away, so we decided to go to the Equinox. But honestly, I think the Equinox is further away from Victoria Bar, but since it is a straight route to Raffles City and a turn is needed to reach Hotel Intercontinental, that route was thought to be farther.

Finally we reached Raffles City. But since we entered from the Fairmont Hotel entrance instead of the entrance at Swissotel The Stamford, the rest decided it was too troublesome to walk a big round to the Equinox, hence decided to go to the INK Club Bar instead.

When we went in, we were seated at a corner sofa which is pretty cosy. Again, people said the place is too stuffy, and asked to shift to the front in front of the jazz band. Finally the waiters managed to combine a few tables to cater to our group.

Quite frankly, the front is not exactly that un-stuffy as well. The thing is, it was by the request of the General Counsel to buy us drinks before he leaves. He gave us carte blanche to go wherever we wanted, he would just follow and go according to our choice. If he did not make any dispute, why would others make so much dispute, and then expect everyone in the group to cater to their whims and fancies?

We cannot please everyone. We had this gathering for a purpose, yet some people think it is to their benefit if everyone caters to them, when the most important purpose was to have a gathering to send off our outgoing General Counsel. With that purpose in mind, does it really matter where we go, and do we really need to walk so far just to cater to some people? If they do not like the place they can always choose not to stay!

Times like these.... some people really make me sick!

Farewell To My General Counsel

Lately I have not been mentioning much about work. There is always a danger of spilling too much. But now that I have been in this company for like close to half a year, things have been pretty well so far.

Currently my company is in the midst of restructuring, hence we are amalgamating several entities, changes in headcount and transferring in and our of staff. Come next year, there will no longer be a full fledged Legal department.

The counsels will be transferred to Commercial Operations to do contracts, and my immediate supervisor and I will concentrate solely on corporate finance, hence will be directly under our Chief Finance Officer.

Our General Counsel will then be absorbed into one of our overseas subsidiaries as part of the legal team, so he will no longer be working closely with us. Thus, the group of us under him gave him a farewell dinner, followed by drinks.

We went to this place called Tao's Modern Pacific Cuisine, a place serving fusion food. The menu seems interesting too! And the price is pretty reasonable, about S$30.00 per person for a seven-course meal!

Tao's Modern Pacific Cuisine

The service is pretty good too. There was a waiter who gave us personalised service, and he was the one serving us throughout the meal. He recommended us their specialties, then went to talk to us one by one to get our orders. In the event any of us were not satisfied with our order, it would be replaced with something else free of charge!

Since it is a seven-course dinner, the first course is a starter of Bacon and Mushroom Gratin. Complimentary toast and a cold orange drink was served as a pre-appetizer starter before the Bacon and Mushroom Gratin. One word - delicious!

Toast with the orange drink

Bacon and Mushroom Gratin

The second course is a variety of salads. I ordered the fruit salad, but my colleagues ordered a combination of Farmboy Splendour and Huai San.

Farmboy Splendour

Huai San

Fruit Salad

The third course is Grilled Mushroom and Mango Sorbet. I could not really tell if it was a mushroom dish, but come to think of it, the meal consisted of quite a number of mushrooms!

Grilled Mushroom and Mango Sorbet

The fourth course is a variety of soups. I ordered Cream of Mushroom, and my colleagues ordered a variety of Fish Soup, Cream of Pumpkin and Shark-fin Melon Soup.

Cream of Mushroom

Shark-fin Melon Herbal Soup

Fish Soup
(this soup was served in a teapot and poured into a small bowl)

The fifth course is the main entree. I ordered Spicy Stingray, but each of my colleagues ordered a different item, namely Oven Roasted Steak, Marinated Lamb Cutlet, Grilled Unagi, Slow Cooked Pork Back Ribs, Grilled Chicken and Baked Atlantic Flounder with Cheese. Unfortunately I did not manage to take all the photos of the main entrees. :-(

Slow Cooked Pork Back Ribs

Grilled Unagi

Spicy Stingray

Oven Roasted Steak

Grilled Chicken

The sixth course is a variety of desserts. There are creme brulee, tiramisu, poached pear, ice cream, cheese cake and fondue. I chose yam ice cream and my colleagues chose poached pear and creme brulee.

Yangsheng Poached Pear

Yam Ice Cream

Creme Brulee

Finally, the seventh course is drinks - a variety of iced fruit teas. I have no idea what the teas are made up of exactly, but they have a pretty unique and refreshing taste, some stronger than the others.

Variety of Iced Fruit Teas

Since it was a farewell to our General Counsel, we gave him an extra special dessert, consisting of vanilla and yam ice cream. After that, we proceeded elsewhere for drinks.

The special dessert

Overall it is a very good restaurant. Ambience wise three out of five, food four out of five, pricing is very worth it and service five out of five! Highly recommended!

A Month Of Great Music ....

This year is a year of good concerts and musicals, and all the great artistes just happen to be performing here in November and December. Thus I cannot wait to see their performance! Coming up next week is Maksim, the piano genius. The one who has his own style in making a classical instrument sound so good!

Next up will be an evening of operatic love songs. Since I was a member of the Singapore Lyric Opera, how can I not support their production?

And then the long-awaited for Victor / Victoria! After all the hype about this show, I am finally going to catch it before it ends its run!

That would be the month of November. Then in December, it would be another great month of musicals and concerts! First up is the Mendessohn's Midsummer Night's Dream, by the Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonic Chamber Choir, by our very own famous conductor. His concerts are normally worth watching!

This next one was not in my plan initially, but with all the hype, I thought it would be good to see what it is like. So next up would be High School Musical!

Followed by the Michael Jackson Tribute concert. This is also not in my original plan, but since I know the dear idolises him, we decided to attend and see what songs there are.

Then the annual Christmas ballet performance. Last year it was Nutcracker, this year it is Swan Lake. Hopefully it will be better then the Nutcracker last year!

And that wraps up this year! As for next year, there are two upcoming major productions which I am thinking of catching. First is La Boheme, an opera by Giacomo Puccini - the same writer of Madame Butterfly. A rather famous local soprano will be in the lead role, so I must catch it!

And finally, the long-awaited for musical of the year - Chicago! After falling in love with the movie version, I simply cannot wait to catch the stage version!

Hopefully all the shows will not let me down!