"Noodles-in-a-bun"

Alright, here are the food pix like I promised! Since I was there on official work, I couldn't really take my camera out every time we got served. So don't expect too many food pix this time. We'll start with the weird first. For the person who likes bread and noodles, we have the perfect meal for you. Noodles-in-a-bun! Really, it's what you see right here, noodles in a hot dog bun from a local convenience store. Only from Japan!

This is the famous Jyangara or Jangara Ramen in Harajuku. We love it and according to the menu, ex-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi loves it too.

The last time I was in Japan (exactly a year ago), I had this other new flavour from Haagen-Dass. This year, it's Chardonnay and Raspberry. Not bad but more raspberry than anything else.

Want to know the secret of making it rich here in Asia? Open a donut shop! It's already happening here in Singapore. Now look at the Krispy Kreme Q at Shinjuku. When I was there, the sign said average Q-ing time is 50 mins. Remember now, it's at least 36C in the sun, no shelter and we have men in suits.

"Why I don't date models"

Well, I'm back from Japan! And I got some good news and some bad news.

The bad news is my favorite porn shop in Shinjuku is gone! OK, the less said about this the better.

The good news is except for very minor bumps, everything went well during the shoot. The weather was bright, sunny and HOT (at least up to 38C according to the thermometer in my G-Shock), perfect for outdoor shoot. For obvious reasons, I can't say anymore about the campaign until it's launched.

Eating was quite irregular as we were out at the break of dawn, had to munch on buns and other convenience store food for breakfast (kinda like my army days). Anyway, I was reminded of something else during dinner there, the model ate very, very little, just little nibbles. I dated a model years ago, beautiful nice girl but whenever we were out, she hardly ate and I just felt so ...er... uncomfortable. I guess that's the reason why I don't date models. Hah!

Picture time! First pix is the break of dawn at 4.30am from my balcony!

Next we got some random flower shots.

Oh yah, just remembered something while posting the pix, remember the black cotton buds from last post? I was talking to the professional make-up artist there and he said he uses them too for make up and it's really good cos they don't stain or mark and cleans up really nice or something like that. So there you go, my make-up tip!

Coming up next, food!

"It was under the pork"

Here's an interesting gift I got from Hong Kong recently. Charcoal cotton buds, well, I don't think they are exactly cotton anymore. They are pretty solid as in the er, cotton or whatever doesn't come off. And if your ears are really dirty, you can see it against the black! But wait, you are saying 'but won't my ears be black from shoving charcoal into them?' I dunno, I can't see into my own ears.

I Had my first visit to The Marmalade Pantry last nite. Yah, really. Anyway, had the roast pork loin with caramelised sweet potato. Not bad except for the fact that the piece of meat was incredibly thick. Thickest piece of pork I ever had in my life. The sweet potato was great. And there was also a small serving of cabbage that came with it (it was under the pork) and it was done just the way I remembered in the army! Cookhouse flshback! And that's not a bad thing really. It was a little soft and soggy but still quite tasty.

"Drinks in the office"

So it's a lazy Sunday. Did a little work and emailed it back to the office. Thought I'll try something new with two of my favourite subjects, toys and food like my last post. Ha, remembered taking some pix with them together here and here as well, thought it was kinda neat.




Anyway, I'm gonna try it again but this time playing some angles and lighting. Ok, a little background on the Vodka Peach. First time I tried it was in the office at our semi-usual informal Friday 5pm 'drinks in the office' session. We mixed it up with ice and cans of Sprite found in the pantry. Well, obviously I liked it a lot otherwise I wouldn't have gone and gotten my own bottle.

Backup Plan 101. I ain't gonna sit on my ass thinking bout it. Come the last weekend of July if I ain't in Japan, I'll be having a games nite at my place with the guys over.

"Gonna jinx it"

This probably one of the best discoveries of the month for me. I been drinking this coffee liquer for months now and it's always with this brand of milk called HL Milk. Then I switched to the occassional Meiji Low Fat Milk which is less sweet but it's fresh milk (a shorter shelf life) unlike HL Milk which although it claims to be one, is actually made from some kinda processed powdered milk.

Anyway one nite I decided to try it with Meiji Low Fat Milk and damn! it was heavenly! The bottle is almost empty now but I got a brand new bottle of Bailey's coming up next.

Now what I'm about to say might not be the best thing to say. What I mean is I feel like simply by mentioning it, I'm probably gonna jinx it. Thing is I might be heading out to Tokyo in a couple of weeks for a four-day photo shoot business trip. BUT there are already more than a handful of problems creeping up. Firstly is the budget, if it gets cut anymore, I ain't going. And right now it's the stormy Tokyo weather too. Hopefully that clears up by the early start of the week. I sure would like to head back to Tokyo but right now it's not looking good.

"Freaky obese fatboy"

Here’s one of those toxin remover patches that the drug stores here are selling. You stick a patch at the bottom your feet just before you go to sleep and in the morning, it would have gone black by absorbing the toxins from your body. Apparently, it’s a science and it really does remove certain harmful toxins. Now these are pretty expensive, about S$80 for 20 patches I think. I managed to find this at a S$2 budget shop in Vivo City. A pack of 2 patches for only S$2. As you can see, it did turn black the morning after so I guess it did work. I mean, evil black stuff was removed and that ought to be good right? Ah, the wacky stuff a guy does when he’s alone in bed! I might buy more the next time I’m there.

Recently I been thinking a bit about good and evil, order and chaos etc.. Now I’m a big fan of fiction so I have read gazillion stories on good vs. evil. The consequences of one’s dark evil acts as well as the hazards of time traveling but I digress. But seriously, I’m just thinking why didn’t I turn out ‘bad’ while growing up? Why was I a ‘Child of Order’ during my teenage years?

Truth be told, I was a pretty ‘spoilt’ kid. I mean, as the only child in a ‘financially comfortable’ family. Almost anything I wanted I knew I could get (expect that damn chemistry set!) and as a teenager I could have gotten away with a lot of stuff. I could have stayed up all nite every weekend but I didn’t. I grew up along Orchard Road the shopping and party areas, people usedto tell me that if they lived there, they’ll be partying every nite. Er, I don't think so. Then what kept me in check? Why didn’t I go overboard? Till today, I still don’t know. I know there was a very small part of me that really wished to party and all but I didn’t. Well, someone has a theory and I think it’s the closest I heard. ‘Fear’ of disappointing my family cos I really love them and I know it’ll hurt them a lot if I did those stuff. As for my ‘Servant of Chaos’ days when I started working, that’s a story for another day. ;)

Oh yah, thank the stars I wasn’t so into food back then. I think I would have balloned into some freaky obese fatboy! Hah!

"Rest of what's inside the pig"

Its been a while since I wrote anything about food so it's a good thing I brought my camera out this afternoon. Had Bak Kut Teh (pork ribs soup) for lunch at the junction of Worchester and Owen Road. I believe it's a pretty famous stall but this is only my second time there. It's great, the meat is tender and the soup isn't the peppery kind. It's actually a little sweet. As you can see, we didn't forget about the rest of what's inside the pig. There's the liver, stomach and intestines in the other bowls too.

Here you got the main Bak Kut Teh bowl with lots of garlic, just the way I like it.

Followed by the rest of the pig.

And here's my 'complete' meal.