The giant Giant

Ikea, Giant & Courts congregating their mega malls in Tampines.... With all the space, it feels like I am back in the States... kinda nice walking from building to building... guess I like all things big...

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Cleaning the baggages...

Can't say I've had a super efficient day, but at least I did something today. That, plus having slept away the entire morning!

Nah..... those were not harvests from the recent Great Singapore Sales, but the collection of bags we have at home.... URBAN today says bags should not be kept in plastic bags. Hence, the spree to repack them. Never realised though, that I've got so many bags until I lay them out on the floor... (and those were not all!)

But somehow, I'm always having difficulty trying to find the right bag to go with the day's attire... aye... there can never be enough...

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When's the last time you've had a Kid's set meal?

I had mine today...

At first fascinated at being allowed to order a kid's set meal, but as I chomp on the dried beef patties in the burger, I started drooling over the fancy shepherd's pies that sat neatly at the counter display... LMMM's ham-wrapped-in-chicken-topped-with-cheese (whatever you call that) looked great too.

Ah well, that's life - Whatever you order just won't seem as great as someone else's.




(Eversince Yin's query, I have been wondering why the nick for S is worth a "muahaha..".... anyway, it will henceforth be changed to LMMM. Looks longer and less stingy than a single character... and he cannot even really figure out how to remember what that means... keke...)

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Drool Blog #2: Cool with Al-fresco dining

Having been pretty pre-occupied by work recently, I thought S would have been too busy to go on the little "specials dates" we would usually have on the days past the mid-month. I was caught in a (pleasant) surprise when he nonchalantly "reminded"me of our dinner date in the morning. Technically, it should not be deemed as a reminder cos there was no pre-appointment. Nonetheless, the fact that he actually made the effort to keep the evening aside amidst vying attentions means much.

We settled at this little al-fresco dining place at Labrador Park called "THE OLIVE RISTORANTE". Very italian name that speaks of the food served indeed.


I was initially pretty skeptical about doing an outdoor dining as such in Singapore. In fact, I started off, unable to help, but scrutinizing whatever little insect that may be having a wheel of time trying to find the shortest way off the table before I squash them.

Perhaps weather that day was good. Or perhaps Hong was right when she said being under the trees beat being in the air conditioned room. To be exact though, we were never directly under the trees, thought we were made to believe so. There was a transparent shelter cleverly hidden above the plant-parasites, making outdoor dining experience possible even in the rain.

With the fan supplying sufficient draught, we manage to have an outdoor dinner without much complaint of perspiration pouring. It is either that, or we were simply too distracted by the pretty food...


First on the order was the seafood platter appetiser. The presentation sent us drooling, and the dish delectable. okay... ... maybe it's my photo-taking skills that still pend improvements... here's another shot I got from streetdirectory.com...

Scallops topped with prawns, and smoked salmon topped with cavier

The pros made it more palatable looking indeed. I loved the prawns & scallops... and the drips of rich balsamic vinegar that goes with the greens. Smoked salmon and the cavier was a tad too salty though.

For the mains, we ordered Al fungi linguine that S thinks looked like chinese noodles on the photo... yea... blame the incompetent photographer and her phone again..

The color looked off indeed for it was not exactly the usual tomato based gravy you normally have on your pasta. This one has a little buttery goo kinda texture with a little spicy, but nothing overpowering. Just lacking in the tomato flavor.

Star of the night was the dessert. Since this is our first visit, and we are unfamilar with what's best, we went for the cannot-go-wrong choice: warm chocolate cake with ice-cream.

The cake was warm and heavenly, the vanilla ice-cream cutely sitting on a little round dish goes perfectly well with the chocolate. We cleaned off the plate in matter of minutes. Lingering, we observed that the crowd is made up of couples seeking their romantic whiles under the velvety dark, and a number of yuppies chilling out over bottles of wine.

The casual tranquaility made the dinner experiential, and have me appreciate the food and the company better. An after-dinner walk around the area (didn't wander off too far though, cos scarey cat is not too comfy with places that are too dark & deserted) , and subsequent drive down the hill ends the evening on an awesome note.

Might be nice to have dinner against the setting sun. Guess I can do this another time... earlier...

Address: Labrador Park 1019, Labrador Villa Road, Carpark A, Singapore

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Drool Blog: The Fungus Feast

Yin insisted that I must blog the Fungus feast aka Health Set hotpot, purportedly anti-oxident, anti-ageing & anti-toxic.... I have never been a foodie, so do bear with the greenie.


Since it was under the insistence of Yin that this first food blog entry was conceived, the story should thus start from her.... and her decision to go vegetarian for the day 'cos of her new resolution to go veg-one-day-and-meat-the-next-and-so-on-and-so-forth. Since she already had meat the day before, it is veg day on 01-May.

Well, mum thinks she really can be flexible and do meat-meat-veg-veg instead of keeping the boring rhythm of meat-veg-meat-veg. Anyway... in support of her quest to abide by her resolution, I combed the Serangoon Gardens area and chanced upon a quiet little corner restaurant called Mushroom Park, nestled in the busy Serangoon Gardens.

It sounds amusing, but the thought of a fungus feast seemed to excite her much. While I'd thought I would enter to do a 9.8 set meal (meaning set lunch meal costing $9.80+++) as advertised on the bill-board, and resoluted not to over-eat, we ended up succumbing to the lead's recommendation for a hotpot set, said to be their best known.

We started the meal off sipping mug of tea whilst waiting for the soup to simmer...

Tea was no normal chinese tea, but one that packed the mug with lotsa ingredients. The trick, I have learnt from Yin, was to keep the lid closed. This is to allow the aroma of the ingredients to be totally infused within the mug.

First dish on the set is MUSHROOM SASHIMI. Never thought mushrooms can also be made into sashimi. They looked like abalone cubed and its texture chewy, the perfect abalone counterfeit.

As we chatted & the soup on the hot pot starts to boil, the waitress came with the assortment of fungii - the main show of the meal:

There's from the top right, the flimsy black-fungus looking (ermm.. yah hor.. they are fungii to start with... but I am not food blogger... not too sure how to describe that....), the "oyster mushroom", the liver looking mushroom (that makes me wonder if Audrey II in little shop of horror will look like that if cut up), and the left overs of the heavenly mushroom sashimi (that's probably too saintly, they reflected all the light).

On the same tray was a stop watch that will do a 7-minutes count down as the dishes are thrown one after another into the hotpot. As this is being done, the waitress explained that the fungus have to be thoroughly cooked before they can be eaten. I reckoned so too. Leaving spores to germinate in the body sure is not right.

It's not all greens & browns though. There's also protein supplement in some thinly sliced beef and chicken. Overall, the meal seemed pretty wholesome. There's no feeling of having sinned in gluttony even after cleaning off the whole big pot, and that is without sparing a pretty little dessert to end off the meal.

We sat through till the shop closes for the afternoon at 3pm. That's when we realised we were the only customers left, and the lead politely asked if we'd want the bill.

The Bill:

$26.80 per pax (cheapest of the three sets they have on the menu). However, there was a 10% discount stated on the bill (S said it might be cos of some HSBC dining privileges, but I think it is cos the lead knows that was our first visit. In any case, a discount is always good news.) There's 10% + 5% charge & tax for the meal.

The Ambience:

Chinese restaurant with tasteful Family setting. Can be good for business too.

The Service:

The lead was pretty chatty, and has got this pair of electrifying eyes. The other waitress and waiters are mainlanders who are pretty obliging to our multiple curious questions.

Address: 87 Serangoon Garden Way S(555983)

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Burnt

In view of the May-day holiday today, we decided to chill out at Lower Pierce Reservior on Monday evening after a tired day at work. While at the carpark, I suddenly looked up and saw the trees and branches hovering above us forming an art web across the skies that seemed to depict my feelings then - whatever it is...

Against the setting sun, the green leaves and branches looked like burnt twigs and chaff. There seemed to have a dose of dreadly malancholy. Staring at the scene instilled some kind of serenity, yet such a web seems to hold within it, a dash of grim. Yea... it's inexplainable....

Over the last months, I have been in an out-of sort mode. "Out"... as in..... I also dunno.... it's some inexplicable chagrin...

Patience worn thin. Level of irritability shot beyond the mercury measure. Productivity seemed to have gone awry, and energy sapped beyond whatever much I reckon I still contain. Everyday is a tired day.

Once, it's mind over the body, now, everything seemed to have gone amok. The mallard feels like stopping the paddle. Utterly disrupted life.

Perhaps it's time for a time-out....

Is it the Budding Gal-Power or Did the Men not get it?

Was at a wedding on Saturday as the bride's friend. This is the first time I get witness a whole day wedding event and I was kinda excited initially. However, through the day, we started to get glimpses of the bride's stress, and we got a little affected as well.

She seemed to be under extreme stress over the happenings, the event and if she has unwittingly offended anyone. Meanwhile, the groom's taking things easy with little hints of nervousness. Only preparing his thank you speech at the last minute, he was nowhere to be found at the start of the cocktail reception. While we'd very much wanted to help, we were helpless as the bride jets around trying to settle whatever loose ends there were.

This is a completely different scene from when I last attended Y's wedding. She was all poised, and pretty. Happy and all, a mirror out of the scene from a fairy tale. The girl that all envied and hoped to be.

Ain't that what weddings are suppose to be? Merry, with the stars of the day in the most jubilant mood?

Kong says she actually felt a little sad as the bride's friend to see that she did not get to thoroughly enjoy the day. While we all hope they will eventually lead fairy tale lives ever after, Kong rose a point - guys used to take care of everything in the past. The girls just gotta dress themselves pretty and wait for the men to settle everything. Why then, do some brides of today have to busy themselves? Are the girl-power arising? Or are the men of today getting lousier?

However quixotic others may think, I guess all girls do have in us, a certain fantasy, a pursuit for lofty ideals. We all hope things will turn out perfect. The perfect match. The perfect event. The perfect life ever after... And when the insensitive guys get less re-assuring, the girls got all stressed up. We'd all hope the men will take on the work, but when they don't seem to get it, we had to try to perfect things ourselves.

Well, I am sure the men today are still capable of handling the things men of the past did. (who would have else dared to make that bold step to hand their lives to them if that wasn't the case?) What they really need is to inject some dose of sensitivity.

Sure, the girls can handle more things than one would ever imagine, (the wedding did not have any major glitches) but then again, it will be nice if the guys were to lend a little shoulder to affirm their vows in concrete actions. The sensitivity at such times are proves of sincerity that will go a long way.

Ah well, perhaps everyone's still learning how to live that epitome.

The wedding is over, but the union is here to stay. I just wish that my friend's husband will learn to empathise with her stress, shower her with more love, and that they will live in eternal bliss.....
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Mr Guru & Mr Gus

The past period has been (and actually still is) extremely difficult. Reasons askewed and emotions gone awry, I really have little idea how I survived not having self-combusted. Bombarded with absurd contradictories and what was akin to psychological abuse time and again, I have no idea how to deal with the distressed psyche that was welling emotions erratically within.

Last week was what seemed the peak of the madness. I was hopping crazy and was almost acting on my contemplation to sue at an insult. Everyone dear whom I shared the thoughts with did not take me very seriously. I reckoned they had thought I was simply venting some pent up emotions like a little girl throwing her mean tantrum. Little do they know that I was already seriously printing all related materials, highlighting the laws statements, and making sense of my case.

I was at a point of breakdown and about to do just anything. And I really mean ANYTHING.

Mr Gus came by and asked me out of the office for a break. For the first time, after working for so many years, I stopped all work and went out of the office before the official work hours was over. Over a cuppa apple juice, he shared the frustrations, acknowledged the possibility of reacting in my manners, and shared his stand as a third party - what we both agreed was easier said than done. Although there came a point he smiled and sneered at my incapability of winning any vicious games, there was no condemnation. (I guess that is still a positive statement, nonetheless) Neither was there disregard. Just loads of assurance that if anything should fail, there will still be someone to go lunch with me.

The sure assurance was accompanied by concrete actions in the following days - the checks, and the inclusions in activities. The little actions did something to pacify one side of the utterly imbalanced soul.

When Mr Guru came by to check on me later, I was a little like a subdued monster. But as I started to narrate the happenings that he had missed, the rage resurfaced. Undaunted and steady as usual, he drew out the analysis on paper - like an advisor, making his calculated move.

Throughout the sharing, there was no disregard for details. Even the denied characters were not dismissed, and brought out. Patiently listening, each thoughts, feelings and possibilities were expounded. As with the talk with Mr Gus, some were easier said than done. Nonetheless, we managed to come to a concluding objective and reason for the next planned action.

Although the trauma still sticks and the wound is still a bad sore, I do appreciate the efforts of the two men who egged me on through it all, refusing to let tears pour...

Tribute to both - Thank you!
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Malicious Queen needs a psychologist

Life has never been easy... and it just gets more difficult to deal with when you are being termed malicious queen for unexplainable realm or reasons by some crazy dog who just want to bite onto your tail and refuse to let go...


... and since I've got back problem, leaning to one side is a tad difficult... Oh no! how then do we get out of this chaotic & distressing botch?!??!

Mr Guru said taking flight at this point will not be a good solution.

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I have always loved talking to Mr Guru. Somehow, he has a way to put things in a perspective that will dispell their negative vibes. This time, however, it is disturbing. He had made a prediction suggesting an atmosphere that felt kinda ominous to the unaccustomed oddball. What more, barely days after our talk, telling signs of the prediction began to surface....

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Ah well... Maybe L was right in his new year's random thoughts, when he said intelligent people will produce inferior work when faced with the battle of egos. That's why I have always thought that there is no necessity to fight or prove who's the greatest. We are living in a social web of interdependence, each with their own flaws and strengths. War should always be kept at bay if possible. Problem is, dealing with people who terrorises with venoms is no mean feat.

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Anyway, back to the point on how the malicious queen is feeling...

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With all the accusations flying around, the malicious queen does not know how long she may bite on before she bites... yes... mallards can bite too...

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Happy New Year, Everyone!