Cavalock and The September Step Back

Oh wow, time really kinda flies when you are ... sorta ... having fun. I may have left the rat race but September has been almost back-to-back full of activities. I am still trying my best to play all the games I bought at Gen Con last month. Fortunately all the games I bought and played so far have been amazing. I think the only game left unplayed is the social deduction game Codenames Pictures. So if anyone wants to play that, just let me know. It's really shines if you are playing in a big group, at least six people. Seriously, why aren't more people playing board games?!?

Anyway, birthday lunch earlier this month at Odette was as good as I expected it to be. That was fantastic. The recent Speech Bubble exhibition at the National Library on local comic books had a few of my comic books on display. I mean, original local comic books that I wrote a lifetime ago. Something I'll always be proud of no matter what. Then a couple weekends ago, I was at Marina Bay Sands attending the local Comic Convention that led to an impromptu 1km dash to capture Lapras. I simply followed the mass of zombies to Gardens by the Bay and found the blue critter. The crowd is crazy! It was like some kinda smartphone-wielding zombie apocalypse!

This past week was pretty memorable too. A couple days in sleepy Sri, Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur just like the last time. I'm really starting to like this quiet little town. Cheap and good is the only way to describe my less than S$3 breakfast of delicious pork kway teow soup at the no-fuss alley way hawker stall. Lots of fatsssss, not something we ever see back home. I wonder what kinda health warnings he'll have to display at his stall if he's in Singapore.

Finally did some exploring around the neighbourhood after that and immediately spotted where my lunch later was gonna be, Been too long since I had some good ol' nasi kandar. Less than S$4 for that mountain-of-madness-on-a-plate. Then less than three hours after I landed back home, it was time for The Magnificent Seven movie with the guys, followed by a madcap midnight car ride across the island to catch you-know-what. Was simply too exhausted from the KL trip so I dropped out halfway but happy with my first Blastoise and Lickitung. *Whew*

Cavalock and The Classic Diner Yearning

It's the weekend and a month since I got back from the U.S. and a part of me is really missing the cheap, sinful meals that were so readily available there. A couple of years ago when we were in Indianapolis for Gen Con, our regular breakfast was this bagel joint but it's gone now and it's taken by ... (wait for it)... a gym! Fortunately our Gen Con hotel this year was nearer to the local Steak 'n Shake diner. Yah, it looks just like one them classic American diners you see on TV and in the movies. Right down to the grizzled waitresses calling folks 'honey'. Well, that's where we settled most of our breakfasts and the occasional dinner, they are open 24 hours.

I miss the above greasy breakfast plate so much. Probably not the healthiest thing to have in the morning but it's so sinfully good plus a hot cup of joe. There's also the extremely tempting 'all-you-can-eat' pancakes for only USD3.99. The burger I had for dinner was pretty good too except for the fries. The salt and vinegar fries I had was perhaps the saltiest pile of fries I had ever shoved into my mouth! Besides that unfortunate experience, their garlic burger is really fantastic too if you like garlic as much as I do.

Topped dinner off with a nice cup of Oreo mint cookie milkshake. Well, would had been nice if it came in one them tall glasses like in the menu. They got all kinds of shakes to choose from. A diner experience ain't complete without a milkshake.

No trip to the U.S. is complete without grabbing this off their pharmacy shelves. The Downers  sleeping pills I picked up the last time were no longer around so I tried these instead. Yup! Really knocks you out like before. Once again, it says 'non-habit forming' on the box so you know it's definitely safe! ;)

Two years later, I still don't understand why we can't buy this off the shelf here in Singapore. If the authorities are afraid someone is gonna OD on it but you can OD on aspirin too right? If someone seriously wants to OD, that individual can OD on just about any other legal drug presently on sale in the market. So what's the real reason we can't find these Benzos on sale here? If you take a closer look, this new one is 50mg, twice the dosage of the last pack I bought two years ago.

Cavalock and The Cider Finder

Ever since I was a kid, I have always had a hard-on for cider, good ol' apple cider. I remember drinking so much of when I was less than 10 years old until I threw up and was subsequently banned from it. Yah, I didn't exactly have a typical childhood by local standards, something I really wasn't aware of until recently but that's another story for another day. Anyway the ban's been lifted for awhile now so imagine how excited I was when I spotted this at (where else?) Meidi-Ya supermarket last week. Not bad, packs a wee bit more punch than your regular apple jam.

I also had the opportunity to drop by The Beast recently and of cos, I couldn't resist a bottle of American Woodchuck Hard Cider. Cider from the U.S. is just so much better than those bottles of orc swill from Australia or the U.K. masquerading as apple cider.

And speaking of booze, here's an offer from Meidi-Ya that caught my attention. Foam-making gadgets for your beer are pretty common when I was in Japan. No idea how foamy a head you'll get but feel free to give it a shot if you are into Japanese beer.

Cavalock and The Random Breakfast Routine

It ain't exactly Breakfast at Tiffany's but I really enjoyed my breakfasts in New York. And if you are staying right next to Rockefeller Center, you just gotta drop by Bouchon Bakery. Went down for an early breakfast and it was as good as I had read and expected it to be. Was there when the door opened and there wasn't much of a crowd but I would expect it to be crowded later in the day. Couldn't really think of a better way to greet the day.

Since 2003, Bouchon Bakery has been Chef Thomas Keller’s unique take on a French boulangerie, offering sandwiches, quiches, soups, and salads, as well as a wide range of artisanal viennoiseries, confections, pastries, tarts, and cookies both French and American in influence.

I said it before, travelling alone in New York with (almost) no plans at all was a blast. When I wasn't having breakfast at Bouchon, I simply figured I'll eat at whatever place I walk up to that morning that I liked. Well, the Pret A Manger cafe was my pick while strolling down the avenue heading towards a McDonalds' while actively looking for a Dunkin' Donuts. Yah, breakfast can be as complicated as I want it to be. Sat by the glass window with my almond croissant, coffee and a tub of berries, just watching the morning office crowd go by. And of cos, WhatsApp-ing with people back in Singapore. Which reminds me, something I found out during this trip. Dunno how accurate it is but apparently if you are getting the T-Mobile SIM card in New York, it's gonna be more expensive there than getting it in other states. Or maybe just ask for the USD30 plan if they offer you a more expensive one, if that makes any sense.

My nights in NewYork were pretty straightforward. Afraid I didn't really had time to paint the town red if you know what I mean. A quick dinner then it's back to the hotel room before 8pm to (finally!) catch 'live' telecasts of WWE Monday Night Raw and Tuesday night's Smackdown Live. :)