Hidden Stash - Plastic Round Toy Boxes

As usual, stash and hidden, hoping no one would notice. Packrat. Empty boxes. These are going into the recycling bin.

Flowers At Hillview

Dad and Mum's place. Big garden for planting flowers.

Shrooms Galore

Grow it yourself mushroom patches? Can they survive in humid Singapore?

@ Plaza Singapura Cold Storage

Esplanade - Colourful Children Art

Pretty art crafts by children. I love the colours.

@ The Esplanade

CNY Stickers

Stickers for 2013 CNY. Haven't taken them down yet. Maybe we could leave it and reuse for 2014's. 

Risky? Yeah It Sure Is Risky To Talk About Risk!

I'm supposed to be writing about my studies in the academy blog. But I would like to keep that mostly professional where possible and I think rants should be kept here instead. Rants are more emotional than logical.

I'm taking Risk Management as an elective module this term. Like any other modules, there is usually an individual assignment due before the workshop. So I've read through the whole study guide and wrote a piece on outsourcing options and associated risk. The result - 50/100 ... what the ... Checking on the discussion boards, there are folks appealing their results and asking if they could do another assignment for credits to pass the module. 

Coming back to mine, the professor's comments were something like "Succinct to say the least, there is very little on risk management". My first reaction was "What the ****, if I'm good at risk management I wouldn't be taking this elective now would I??! I'm here to learn, not to regurgitate knowledge I know well to get As on my MBA ..." About the last part, maybe thats what some smart people do, but that's them. But I did outline the project, identify the risk, assess them, rate them in an probability impact grid and propose mitigating avenues. Yeah it's not professionally done but hey, wake up ... that's why I'm taking this course ... to learn how to do it right!

Let's see how the workshop goes. I have very little expectations of the course now. The study guide and textbooks go on and on about the concepts and theories on risk management but very little on the application of the risk assessment methods. Hence I think I have every right to ask why in the world does the lecturer think students like myself, who has never done a risk evaluation piece in real workspace, is able to write on the application of such methods on a project. Sigh ... a few professors have their brains up their ass. This must be one of them.

Fish Soup

The cantonese make mean soup. Period.

Although Mama is not a born cantonese, but being married to one and living in Hong Kong for several years helped to hone her skills. And she is one amazing cook, I tease her sometimes that she could open her own restaurant and be the chief chef.

Now back to the soup. I love her fish soup. Its the real deal, cooked milky with fish bones and sweeten with tomatoes, white radish, apples and pears. We need to try our hand at this one day so we can make this often on weekends when Mama is not in town. One bowl of this and I can float in the air!

Ingredients
Ang Ko Li / 红鲷 / Red Snapper Fish Bone
Fresh Tomatoes or White Radish
Red Dates
Apple or Pear
Parsley
Onion
Ginger

Preparation
Wash the Ang Ko Li in hot water
Wok Fry with ginger till it turns yellow and crisp
Turn on large fire and pour in hot water
Let it boil till water turns milky
Transfer to soup pot and continue to boil
Put tomato in hot water to remove skin
Throw in the tomato, red dates, apple or pear, parsley, onion radish etc
Boil to serve

Fishhead Steamboat - Nam Wah Chong, Chiang, Chang?

My parents love Fishhead steamboat and would usually go to the neighbourhood kopitiam to get their fix. For me it's more of a curious thing in the lines of "Hmm yeah I like fish, so what's so nice about fishhead steamboat ... there are alot of people eating this ... should be nice, let's try ... maybe it's an acquired taste and I would fall in love with it after I eat the right ones ... etc" and it goes on and on. So it's been on my mind for some time and I'm always reminded of it when we drive by a fishhead restaurant after dinner at Beach Road market.

It just so happens that we were at the market one day a month ago and lo and behold, the market was closed for cleaning. Not wanting to drive around to look for another dinner spot, I suggested we try this corner shop I've always had my eyes on. We went in blind as to the menu and prices. Nam Wah Chong ... hmm I think I read about this somewhere, and given the crowd it must be good yah. And because we were here for the first time I didn't feel like spending too much and ordered the 'cheapest' fish - Red Snapper. Verdict, soup is fragrant, Meimei liked the yam, fish had lots of bones and not enough meat, expensive $50+ for the steamboat and a plate of vegetable.

Though we didn't want to eat at this place again, we were game for fishhead steamboat when John recommended this place diagonally across the junction. So today we are at Nam Wah Chang. Hmm the name looks so much the same. What gives? A little snooping on the web solved the mystery. 

ieatishootipost.sg (Apr 2011) - "Now there are a few Nam Wah Chang restaurants around and it may get quite confusing.  As far as the owner, Ah Chew, is concerned, his is the only original Nam Wah Chang which can trace its roots back to 1927.  There is another Nam Wah Chang over at Teck Chye Terrace which is run by his ex-wife.  Then there is a Nam Wah Chiang diagonally across the road from where he is.  That one is run by a friend (ex-friend really) of his who took over his previous shop space and did not bother to change the name of the restaurant when Ah Chew moved out."

Ahhh so now we know. We actually like the pirated version more than the original one! Maybe we were biased as we ordered a Pomfret this time. But at $113 for 5 pax its a steal. The soup was thick, lots of fish meat to go around, other side dishes were tasty, place was cooling and a little away from the dust of the road. Authentic or not, I would come back to this one if I want to have it again.

Karaoke Craze

Gonna start a new list for Karaoke songs! Meimei loves to sing and to accompany her I'm gonna source for songs I can sing. I used to have a good voice but years of smokings spoiled my vocal cords. My music sense is still there though and I could sing at the appropriate lower octaves when a song has high notes which I can't hit. I still hope I would get my range back one day.

So to start off I've briefly gone through my iTunes library and put together a short list of singable tunes. I've maybe only gone through 20-30% of the chinese songs so I'm sure there are more to add. As time goes by and when I work through further through the song list I'll add more. Preference was given to duets, which we can sign together, and songs which are easier on the throat ... we don't want to tire after just one song now do we. So the initial song list consist of:

1. 伍佰 - 与你到永久
2. 成龙 & 苏慧伦 - 在我生命中的每一天
3. 许志安 & 许慧心 - 爱情频率
4. 伍思凯 & 马玉芬 - 关于爱情
5. 许茹芸 & 阿穆隆 - 男人女人
6. 梁靜茹 & 光良 - 只能抱著你
7. 黎明 & 陈慧娴 - 依然是你
8. 許茹芸 & 熊天平 - 你的眼晴
9. 张宇 & 徐熙娣 - 傻瓜与野丫头
10. 葉蒨文 & 林子祥 - 選擇

Not bad for a start. I've built a playlist to listen to these so I can get the tune right and not make a fool of myself. Would we see an audiophile cover CD from Pokpok one day in the stores?? Hehe

Furniture Refresh - Dining Table Chairs Hunt

We've been in our 'new' home for 3 years and things are starting to wear and tear. Aircon aside (the damn thing was crap from day 1), I think the furnishings have lasted quite well. I mean you can't really compare to yesteryears when everything lasted 10-20 years. Those don't exist anymore ... you would be lucky anything last more than a year or two now given 99% of them are "Made in China".

So our dining chairs have started flaking few months ago. I have to confess that this might be my own fault. I accidentally spilled coffee all over the table and chairs. And to clean up the mess I used the floor wipes which may have contained anti-septic chemicals or something to that - it surely smelled so. I suspect the chemicals corroded the PVC leather and now there are patches all over a few of the chairs. 

Hence it's been on our mind to change new set of chairs though we weren't in a hurry, the old ones are still useable. We were at Ikea a few days ago for dinner and chanced on the Bernard chairs again. Now, we have been eyeing this since we saw it first time a year or two ago. But at $269 getting a set of six for the dining area would set us back at least $1,650. Even with the price we distinctly remembered this set though simply because it was very comfy. The cushion had this nice springy feel and the angle and height of the chairs gave me a good ergonomic 90 degrees on my knees when I sat down.

They have it in green now and Meimei jumped at them the moment she saw them. I offered that a combination of white and green would look really good. The whites ones though are a concern since they are likely to colour after awhile. Several online reviews mentioned that the plastic joints would turn yellowish after awhile and there was nothing you could do about it since cleaning it wouldn't turn it back. We are likely to go with all black. It's priced at $195 now so it's 'cheaper', but still pricier than normal ones. I supposed we could wait till the turn of the year, cross our fingers they still ship these and see if the price drops further. We'll continue to hunt for a set of chairs but I doubt we'll find something as fitting as these. We'll see :-)

Update 27 Sep 2013 - We were at Ikea again to look for little plant pots for the office. They have new colours for the Bernard chairs, love them! Since the initial hype, Meimei has calmed down and is now looking for chairs with high back. So I supposed we will be giving these a miss. Then again they might work well in the study ... my study chair has been flaking for the longest time. Well we'll see.

Breakfast at Brunetti

We are at Brunetti today for breakfast. It was a special trip to Tanglin Mall to try out this Italian cafe. Keith recommended it as a good place for pancakes, with reasonable prices and nice decor. The place is definitely different from normal cafes, it has this 80s american diner feel you see from the TVs. The crowd here is predominately ang moh.

We were here with Sis so we were able to order lots. We had the pancakes, eggs benedict and eggs pan set. We added a horseshoe and cronut pastry on a whim, Meimei was at the counter with me to order and these caught her eye *grin. Topped it off with a Latte and hot chocolate.

It was a good breakfast. $57 for 3 pax is affordable. But this doesn't really stand up to Wild Honey. The bread is the baguette sort and tough for Meimei and Sis. The food came luke-warm and not pipping hot. I suppose it would have won more points with the ladies if it came with a cloud of steam. It just gives the illusion of freshness versus the staleness of the cold bread. The plus was that the place is brightly lid and had proper tables unlike Wild Honey. Hmmm we might not come here again though, it just didn't have the oomph factor for us.

Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice

On a whim we were at Chinatown Food Centre today, specifically on the hunt for the 3 Sisters Claypot Rice. We had it the first time when they were at the temporary market years ago and once after they moved into the Food Centre. That was all before we were married and so today's trip to savour the claypot rice again was a much welcome walk down memory lane.

We have CF with us today as well. It's always good to have more people on such food trips so we could order more dishes hehehe. One of the sisters was taking the orders and told me upfront that the wait is at least 35 minutes. Ok, no problem, the rice has to be cooked from the hard grain in the pot and that's what it takes to have a good authentic claypot rice. So while we wait we ordered sweet and sour pork to snack.

The mixed pot came with good portions of chicken and chinese sausage. We added a plate of vegetable and a watercress soup. I think the best part of the claypot has to be the big chunks of salted fish. I was picking mine to give Meimei, she just loves them. 

Hopefully we don't have to wait several years to come back here again. The place itself has like 500 stalls. I was commenting that we could come here everyday for a year and never have to eat from the same stall. We should come here more often, I spotted a few I would like to try.

Jack's Place Fail

Today was meant to be the last day of the week of foodie extravagance but is now seriously marred by total crap we had at Jack's Place. This would have gone into the previous post and stayed in our memories. Well it achieved the second but failed so miserably that it deserved a post all on its own. 

Firstly the bill came up to $102 for 3pax. For that amount of money, I expect at least a satisfactory grade of food, and not the poor excuse they served to us. To be fair, we decided to go there because of the pleasant experience we had the last couple of times. As Meimei puts it, "It's not like Dan Ryan's wow kind of dinner, but pleasant." Today's meal can't even meet that bare minimum standard. Oh and by the way, it was so bad that the pics took a hit as well, so just bare with me on the ugly pics ... actually they are pretty reflective of the dinner we had. Gloomy, dark, ugly ... *vomit

We ordered a mushroom soup, Jack's Salad, Jack's seafood spaghetti, Surf and Turf and Steak and Fish Combo.

Mushroom Soup - Ok, you can't go wrong with mushroom, it's like the most basic of soups. It's appalling that the best thing they served all night was the complimentary garlic bread. Seriously that just plain painful.

Jack's Salad - There was just a leaf of lettuce. A-huh ... just that. It even came with a piece of plastic which we kindly pointed out to the waitress. It just felt like a mis-mesh of extras thrown haphazardly together with no thought whatsoever. Imagine that the saving grace to a salad was the Thousand Island sauce.

(At this moment, I was complaining to Meimei on how ugly the photos were and we agreed that we shouldn't put in on the blog. Hahaha I'm actually amazed at how bad it was, it brought a smile of disbelief to my face.)

Jack's seafood spaghetti - I was constantly pouring salt on the dish. It was practically tasteless! You get the whiff of the tomato but it taste totally blunt. It's like those sauces where you mixed in too much water. Yuck.

Surf and Turf - Meimei had this and it truly spoiled her day. First the spaghetti was tasteless and smelled literally of WD40 lubricant oil. Next her beef was rare when we specifically asked for medium. Even when we send it for a second cooking, it came back bloody. She gave up half of it ... Bad, real bad.

Steak and Fish Combo - Sis had this and again it was tasteless. She shook her head in disappointment and keep her cool. I know she didn't want to add on to the nasties we have of the place.

Conclusion - 2 nice things, the garlic bread and the thousand island dressing ...

I don't know when we will ever get over this. Meimei and I have the same idea not to come back to Jack's Place again for a long long time. There are so many eateries out there who would be able to serve decent food for a hundred bucks. Our money is going to go there and I can only say good riddance if they go broke. Because based on today's dinner, they deserve it.

A Week Of Foodie Indulgence

Meimei has a workshop this past week and since her right hand woman SK from Kuala Lumpur is here, she brought her out for dinner every night. It's to places we like to go ourselves.

Monday - Beach Road basement chicken rice, plus add-ons of Fried Chicken Wings from a stall selling Thai food. I need to share more on this Thai Food stall in another post. About $30 for 3 pax.

Tuesday - Two Chef Zi Char Restaurant at Commonwealth. We have a few others from the office. The clams here never disappoints. $128 for 6 pax.

Wednesday - I had to work late for month end closing so I wasn't able to join Meimei. They were at Punggol Nasi Lemak and later to buy durians. I opened one that night and em em em ... love durians! $100 for 6 durians.

Thursday - Mellben Seafood. The soup from the crab beehoon is amazing. I was lapping up the rice with the soup. Finished 2 full bowls before I surrendered.

Friday - Meet Meimei at the Katong Karaoke and then to Quality Hotel for porridge. $98 for 4 pax.

Saturday - SK has already flown back to KL yesterday but I thought I'll just add this in since we had pretty good food too today. Lunch at Seoul Yummy at Bugis+ (formerly Illumia), lousy expensive lunch. But we were there to meet with JJJ so food was a second thought. $56 for 2 of us. Dinner was at Sushi Teh Bedok Point with Sis too. $78 for 3 pax.

Love the whole week of yummy dinners. I'm looking forward to more entertaining heheh.