Cavalock and The Christmas Day Morning Post

Merry Christmas Everybody!!!

Spotted these new Pringles at Meidi-Ya and it got me thinking bout my family and going up in the old family home. Yah, we had the original plain Pringles back when I was a kid and it was one of the rare snacks that I actually took a liking to. We celebrated Christmas back then but it was more for my benefit than a religious thing. We had a small Christmas tree too and I remembered my Dad brought me to one them kids' Christmas party at Mandarin Hotel. My aunts and uncles are all gone now and it will be a very quiet Christmas again. Been awhile since I exchanged gifts at an office party or dropped by any holiday gatherings. After a couple of years, you tell yourself you'll get used to it but what they say bout the holiday blues is sorta true I guess. Kids, be grateful for all the folks around you this Christmas!

Another reason why it's always an eye-opener to visit Liang Court. Nope, I didn't bring a sample home with me. <^;^>

No room for any Christmas tree in my tiny apartment but I did receive a free little Lego tree Christmas tree ornament when I purchased my Doctor Who Lego set.

Cavalock and The Offal Offering

Gosh, it's almost Christmas. Been quite busy with a buncha things like delivering our annual home-baked rum-soaked fruitcakes as well as catching up with ex-colleagues. Well, that's not exactly why I haven't been updating lately. I realised that when I'm having a meal lately, whether it's a good one or not, I'm rather reluctant to take out the iPhone and start snapping away. So while I am still stuffing my face at new and old eating joints, I just ain't so fast on the trigger anymore I guess. But I do have to at least give a shout-out to a pretty good Christmas buffet lunch spread at the Singapore Marriott. Can't go wrong when someone offers you all the beef tongues and lungs you can eat! I don't know of any other hotel buffet that has them on their menu so if you are into offal, this is a terrific deal.

Now while everyone is talking about that other famous sci-fi franchise, here's something I picked up recently bout a little old British sci-fi series that caught my imagination back when I was a kid, around the same time as Star Wars. When Lego announced that they were doing a special Doctor Who set, I knew I had to pick it up.

Cavalock and The Holiday Booze Round-Up

After that little Penang escapade last month, it's time to check out the seasonal goodies at my favourite Japanese supermarket Meidi-Ya. Naturally I head to the booze and snacks aisles. I was in a bit of a rush but I did managed to spot some interesting new festive cheers.

Just thought I'll throw in some of my 83-year-old Dad's latest wildlife shots to round up the post. Enjoy!

Cavalock and The Desperate Dinner Dash

There are a few ways I like to end an exhausting day of running errands with. One's boardgaming and another's enjoying a good hearty meal. And since Im not with the guys last week, dinner plans were made. First stop was The Daily Cut at Raffles Place. Excellent piece of ribeye steak with a good selection of sides at a rather reasonable price and if you don't mind jostling with the CBD office crowd, this is a really neat place for a meaty meal at a speedy fast food pace.

For dessert, it was just a one train station stop away to Tuk Tuk Cha at Suntec City. Nice hot Thai tea with their signature toast and tea kaya dip. Enjoyed the thai tea way more than the toast cos I thought it was kinda bland until you had to dip it in kaya, then it became wee bit too sweet. Anyway it was still a pretty cool way to close the day with a mini-food dash.

Well, Christmas is almost here and that usually means a couple of constants. One is the baker-in-the-house goes into full baking overdrive mode, churning out her famous rum-soaked fruitcake orders. The other is me digging into my annual Christmas songs playlist. Now that I got me a new big ass iPhone 6S Plus, I have been busy downloading more holiday songs. Now all I need is a bluetooth speaker but in the meantime I'll be blasting Mr. Dean Martin on my little iPhone speaker.

Cavalock and The Obligatory Penang Food Collage

Here's something I was looking forward to. After every trip, it's time to indulge in the obligatory food collage that I always have a blast putting it together. The centrepiece has a reason to be there. Stingray in assam curry on our first night in Penang, what a way to kick off a vacation. Won't be a complete Penang trip without stopping for their famous assam laksa and chendol either.

Just so many Penang foodie pix I gotta put them somewhere right? Malaysian street food has so much more soul than the food we have here. Why? I have some theories about why the sanitised food sold at our monotonous government approved food centres all taste alike. Maybe I'll write bout it one day but be warned that it'll likely be a series of unsubstantiated ramblings. Hah!

Cavalock and The Breakfast Zombie

Braaaaains! Probably or hopefully the closet I'll ever get to being a zombie. Yup, it's another dish from my recent Penang escapade that I suspect would virtually impossible to find back home. and even if I did, it'll never be as cheap as couple of bucks like in Malaysia. Never imagined I'll be having brains for breakfast but there I was at Hon Kei Food Corner, 45 Kampong Malabar George Town tucking into a bowl of noodles and pig organs!

Extremely flavourful broth and delicious organs cooked to perfection. Check this out, you got your minced pork, liver, kidneys, heart, intestine, tripe and brains. One of our most memorable meals in Penang.

And now this. The quaint balcony getaway just next to our little room at the top floor of Campbell House. Pity we didn't really have time to make any decent use of it. I can definitely picture it being a cool place to unwind after an all-day eating marathon.

Cavalock and The Green Tin Vexation

One way of finding good food in a foreign country is to always look out nor just long queues of locals, but also for newspapers cuttings and whatever kinda food awards plastered all over the stall. Granted that it's all subjective but so far it has kinda worked out for us in Penang.

Well, a couple streets down from our little hotel Campbell House is the bustling morning Chowrasta Market where we found the famous Uncle Lim churning out traditional popiah skins faster than a popiah roll disappearing at a weight-watchers' meeting. Seems like this master craftsman has been at it for 50 years. Throughly enjoyed the one filled with peanut candy.

And now this. My ultimate impulse buy (don't ask how much I paid for it) for the trip and I don't even like M&Ms that much. It's just that the green tin looks so damn attractive. The moment I saw it at the airport, I was already contemplating what gaming miniatures or Lego pieces to fill them with. Had quite a shock when I found our local shops here selling the yellow and red ones a lot cheaper. Fingers crossed that the green tin doesn't show up here. ;)

Cavalock and The Final Fate of the Jawas

Damn! Even the eggs are way bigger in Penang! Check out the size of them yolks. All that eating certainly made the trip all the more memorable. Rustic, lively and more importantly, absolutely scrumptious. I suppose that pretty sums up our little trip to the island. The picturesque architecture, the breathtaking scenery, the slow pace of life, it was like time stood still for those few days.

Seems like every time I visit a foreign country, I come home with some new Star Wars merchandise. This time, it was a First Order Stormtrooper from the upcoming new movie. An almost impossible-to-find-action-figure at retail price in Singapore.

And now this. Something that only true diehard Star Wars fans would appreciate. Poor little Jawas. Bet they taste like chicken.

Cavalock and The Chee Cheong Fun Conundrum

One of the best things we had in George Town, Penang was one of our last meals there. Blazing hot Sunday morning just before heading to the airport, we chanced upon this chee cheong fun stall near our hotel so I figured 'hey, why not?'. The last one I had there a couple days ago was just so-so and this one looked pretty popular judging by the number of newspaper cuttings plastered across the stall.

So good and different from what we have here in Singapore. The rich blend of sweet sauce and hae koe aka shrimp paste or better known as rojak sauce was exquisite. Which brings me to the all-important question of why the heck can't we have this here?!? Why do all the chee cheong fun in Singapore taste the same? No one here thought of enhancing it by adding rojak sauce?

Proof we didn't just stuff our faces all day long in Penang. Some pix of random places where clouds gather and the air is as fresh and clean as you can get.