Back to school again

After 4 long years of being able not to worry about missing out on lecture notes, or not making sense of anybody's speech, it's with much anxiety that I approached the classroom again.

Through these past years, I have been attuned to instinctively neglecting speeches that don't make sense without having second thoughts about them, and switching off on boring speakers while appearing attentive. There was a time when I actually fell asleep during a meeting while scribbling, what I later found were doodles that I cannot make any sense of... Still, it was no big deal. For, having jetted back across the globe, and 6 months later, I am still surviving fine with what I may have missed then.

Guess it's different with studying. Miss the point, and it's probably a gone-case. Also, starting to make small talks and establishing rapport with new people again is no mean feat. Haven't been that great at that to start with... *shrug*

Anyway....

Well, let's just say it is giving my stale brain a second chance to turn the fungii into better tasting mushrooms...

Soon

Just read Hong's blog. In it, she's musing her being deliriously happy with her (quote-unquote) "hokkien spouting, short short ah beng", minus the hun-ki. Today, she also got to choose the flat of her heart's desire. Reading her life the past months, it was a picture of bliss that makes one go "aww-so-sweet...". Pretty much different from the dissatisfactions from years not too long ago. Guess she'd proven her choice right amidst the distracting buffet of tall, macho, nerd, and beng. Cool!

On the contrary, the last months of my life seemed to be a stark contrast. I seem to have been plagued with horrid, and I am still wondering what had gone wrong. Do hope I'll be able to blog some fairytale soon too...
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Drool Blog #4: Pretty Food look-alike

Yes, I have skipped drool #3 for #4. No, it's not because I can't count. I guess I might enter a post-dated #3. Well, till then....

The eve of the GST hike seemed to be a season to be jolly.... ermm... I mean... jolly seasons where you hear more ka-chings, and see longer queues of happy shoppers in more and bigger shopping bag? Shoppers were more reluctant than ever to leave the mall even when the stores switches off the lights in the fitting room.

When we stepped into Vivocity, at close to half past 5, the LMMM quickly detected the huge crowd in the mall and suggested we either do a really early or really late dinner. It's really aint that early dinner as half past 5 is my dinner time on a normal workday. Sticking to it is almost a no-brainer.

We thus embarked to shop around for cafes without queues, and found this place called White Dog Cafe. As we browsed the menu at its entrance, the service guy stepped forward and said their "food is quite good" (quote & unquote) in all earnestness. Unwilling to be wet blanket to that earnestness, we decided to let the White Dog feed us...

Ambience suited for class gatherings, the place has a casual chic. It is also one of the place that serves water in bottles.

Fine, that's not something worth raving about.... but then again, if you'd compare to the snob restaurants who won't spare me a drip of the tap water when I am paying service charges... to see a bottle of water served without question was generous. And I liked that bottle feel. The now-defunct Dome at Wheelock was the first place I've had water served in those bottles. Guess it kinda brought back some memories.... and I have always thought it is the practice of casual italian to serve water in those bottles. ... not sure why, but it gave a comfy feeling.. whatever...

As usual, we decided not to overeat and ordered some appetizers, a main, and a dessert. We thus ordered a dish of Sauteed mushrooms, and Salmon & cheese bruschetta for appetizer. Duck Confit was the main dish (something different from the usual fish and chips, although it's suppose to be one of the chef's recommendations). And (regretfully) we chose Brownies Galore as desert over warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream.

The food came pretty. Okay, not the four dollars mushrooms sauteed with garlic though. (No pictures for the mushrooms, cos they didn't come that pretty enough for us to take pretty pictures of it). Just use your imagination.

However, the taste of the food was a tad less promising than the look of it.

Salmon & Cheese Bruschetta ($7.90)

The salmon & cheese mushroom bruchetta had big slices of smoked salmon on bread, and olive oil dribbled on it. However, there was no traces of any cheese. The bruchetta also fail as bruchetta. It looked like.... ermmm.... confectionery bread that I take for breakfast.... (although they claimed it's whole-meal. I take cheap white bread.). The side salad would also do better without the lame thousand island dressing, but with (my fave) balsamic vinegratte.

Duck Confit ($19.90)

The Duck Confit was a tad hard at certain parts, and (not trying to mimick Zhang Ziyi) too salty. Wikipedia says that Confits are preserved meat in their own fats. That duck probably had high salt content in its fats. Overall, it was less palatable than it looks.

The Brownie Galore was the most disappointing. Personally, I feel that the food had been mis-named. It should be called Ice-cream Galore.

Brownie Galore ($10)

There were only litters of brownies below 4 scoopful of ice-creams. We felt that the name was a little unjustified and misleading. Nontheless, service-wise, the cafe do score some points. Dishes were promptly whisked off, and there was no need to remind to serve dessert even with the huge dinner crowd.

Food's not that fantastic for the palate, but I guess it's passable. Well, let's just say I might return again if we have a class outing or something, someday...

Address: No 1 HarbourFront Walk #02-131/132 Vivocity

The Nondescript Mind Dreamin' Distinct

We were shopping the busy Citilink on Saturday when Hong looked at the youngsters walking alongside and suddenly lamented that we are no longer in that stage of life where the future is ours. It's like.... you know, when we were still in school, green and sprouting, teachers would spell that the future is ours and painted promises of us being the up-and-coming generation that will have nothing stop our wonderful dreams from realising....

That's right. When we were...

Having barely passed the quarter century, it didn't seem that we fit the bill of being ancient. (shopping for anti-wrinkle creams not counting.) But even as we bat our eyelid on that same blink, it did not seem out to tell anyone of less years that the future is theirs. (I am sure that is what my peers who turned teachers are freely telling their little customers of terror now)

Regretedly though, I can't even say that I have been there or done there - wherever or whatever "there" is. Have I missed the dream? or have I not even even dreamt before time has passed me by?

Even as I considered having a go at another degree, I am caught dumb when my LMMM knocks on me the question on what I would want to do eventually. I'd wanted to give a smart answer, or say I'll do something some big somebody does. But ermmm.... I can only manage a shrug and a big dunno.

Well, perhaps my brains' probably too empty to dream any big dreams of any big somebody at the moment. But Malcom Forbes (yes, the Forbes Magazine guy) said that education is suppose to replace an empty mind with an open one. Going by that logic, I guess I now know the smart answer the next time I am asked that same question. That will be to ply my mind open bigger than any big somebody's, open to more options. If everyone is the same as the other someone else, won't that be too boring?

Ah well, let's just hope my old brain won't be too difficult to flex open, and time may wait for me to dream my unique dream of the future mine: that distinct someone who's nondescript... And of course, realise the unclassified distinction.

"Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen." ~ Mark Twain

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The people most difficult to work with...

While Yin thinks that the most difficult working environment is one where people are rude to one another, I think the worst environment to work with will be one infested with opportunists. As a matter of fact, I have been plagued by just one, and that was enough to drive me up the tallest wall imaginable. I am even willing to call myself ungracious in the face of dealing with The Opportunist. Really cannot imagine being in the company of more.

The Opportunist is lethal, and potently imbalanced. The Opportunist marvels at problems. No, they aren't perfect challenges for The Opportunist to drive solutions. Problems are best chances for The Opportunist to jump into bitchy email writing mode, copy everyone that can be thought of, and start the "it's your fault, her fault, his fault, and it's also ITS fault, (basically the whole wide world's fault). Please check all the problem, and revert to me (so that I can use them as blackmail chips). I am boss now (yeah... the self-deluded who still cannot find a footing in the next rung) because I am NOT (must highlight, bold & underline) the cause of the problem. And yes, I want to have what I want because my boss (whom I think is great cos she can let out loud shrills that resonates through rooms and is probably also capable of breaking windows) says that I am the control hub."

Bwahahaha...

Yea, right! Who can pay when the pocket's empty?

To think that any gains may be reaped from finger-pointing exercises, The Opportunist must be either down-right naive, or is a big-time laughable loser who had been highly repressed.

I'll opt for the latter. Who else would do sneaky things like block others in their messenger contact list, and in turn, run unidentified programs to check who blocked them? People who had some deviant virus, i guess...

Trust me, having one Opportunist is definitely enough to be more than a handful. It is almost asphyxiating. I can do without one. Really cannot imagine being in a company of more than that... drop dead.

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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