Cavalock and The Sweetest View

Now I figured for each post bout my trip, I'll mix it up with some food and non-food stuff.

It's not exactly the penthouse suite but I guess it came pretty close. I sure ain't complaining bout it. Mt Fuji view all the way from here in Shinjuku, a dehumidifier, my kinda toiletries and one of them foldout armchairs with the foot rest and all, that Joey and Chandler have in their apartment in Friends (forgot what its called).

OK, that's it. I think I have talked enough non-food stuff for now. <^;^> Didn't have much of a chance to eat out every nite so here are some stuff bought from the depachika, the basement food court area.

You don't get much fruits here like in Singapore so it's juices instead, although did find some native strawberries later in the week, very sweet too!

Dinner in the hotel room on other nites included some of these.

The one above is kinda bread/bun thing with caramel custard and the other one is mont blanc.

Now the macarons, they are everywhere. I think every depachika has at least a couple of shops/stalls selling them. Didn't have time to go to the one Isetan Shinjuku with the famous Pierre Hermes ones so decided to just try any one I could find. These weren't bad at all, nice and chewy. The six came in a nice box too, unlike this!

Next up, GOTEMBA!

Cavalock meets the New Japanese Haagen-Dazs Flavours

Hey wow! I'm back! Thanks to everyone who read my Twitter. Was real hard finding free wifi in Tokyo. Ended up using my phone's 3G to Twitter. Hah, guess next month's phone bill's gonna be a killer.

Gee, where do I start? Did I enjoy myself? Sure did despite the freezing weather, I believe the lowest was 2C. You know why Japan's cool? Any country where its perfectly normal to wear face masks on the streets is cool in my book. Was like one-fifth of the people were wearing face masks, yah, I know it's cos of the cold etc.. And oh yah, I bought porn magazines too, FOOD porn magazines! I mean, Japanese food mags with lots of really mouth-watering pix of desserts and other great food stuff, with directions on where to find them in Japan.

So many things to remember, say, write and of course pictures to post. So let's start with a little bit of tradition. Like all my other Japan trips, here're more new Japanese Haagen-Dazs flavours!

Yup, no Japan trip of Cavalock's is complete without seeing what this year's new flavours are. Here we have Blueberry Cheesecake, Gateau au Chocolat and Millefeuille. Bought all three, decided am not a big fan of the flaky stuff on top of the Millefeuille.

My favourite was the Blueberry Cheesecake. Rich cheescake flavour with nice blueberry topping.

The Gateau was way too choclatey for me. Only if you really into rich dark choc. They have other new flavours too. Like English Tea, Tiraminsu (new cos I think there's some fancy cocoa topping, unlike our tubs here) and some new mocha flavour that I forgot.

Next up, well, more food pix? or maybe something different? <^;^>

Cavalock Returns to Tokyo

Well, I'm finally headng back to Tokyo for a vacation. It's a freakin' well-deserved one, if you ask me. Work has been horrible, loooooong hours like 14 hours a day, mean folks etc. I know I can afford to not work for awhile but you know, I like what I'm doing, just this place kinda sucks, and with the economy, it ain't wise to quit without a job. Man, I'm already dreading coming back to the office even before I have left the country, can you believe that? Anyway, I promised a long time ago not to blog bout work, so I'm gonna stop now.

I'm packed and ready to go. This will be my 6th visit to Nippon. One was pure work though, you can read bout it here and here, if anyone's interested. <^;^> Check out the crazy weather that I'm heading into!

Does anyone read the Twitter thing I got up on top right of the page? Thinking of Twittering on my iTouch while I'm there, provided I can find some free Wifi.

Cavalock vs The World's Most Evil Snack

Saw this innocent-looking made-in-Singapore snack in the office studio the other day. Now I'm not a big fan of ginger, don't even touch the ones that come with the sushi. Anyway, the pack says or shows that ginger pieces are gonna be sugar-coated, and I just can't resist anything that's sugar-coated (you can see where this is heading). Yup, I figured anything that's coated with sugar can't be that bad.

Man o man, that little piece bout the size of a 20 cent coin, nearly killed me. Imagine a raw piece of pure ginger coated with a thin layer of sugar ... the sugar melted away in a second and guess what was left in my mouth.

Cavalock and the Tokyu Hands Love Affair

Another Saturday nite at home and listening to my favourite LA talk station, Saturday nite is good. Why go out when every joint is gonna be robbing you blind tonite just cos its V-Day...got another bottle of moscato in the fridge and I'm a happy camper.

The last week was super busy at the office, came home bout 11pm most nites, then its back in the office like 8 hours later. Didn't really go anywhere new to eat. But I did found some time to visit one of my favourite Japanese store's website, Tokyu Hands (yes, its TokyU). I'll always spend hours at their huge Shinjuku store whenever I'm in Tokyo. It's in the same Takashimaya building, together with Kinokuniya and HMV (or was it Virgin?). I can spend an entire day there!

Lots of cool, fascinating Japanese products, most of which yu'll never see here. Why am I visiting the site? Well, time will tell. Check these out...

A simple container that lets you make your own chips! Watch the video!

More cool stuff, like this leg cleaner, warmer watever ... dunno wat it does but it looks neat.

I can't get enough of the kitchenware section! This page really makes me wanna make and bring my own bento lunch to work. Hah! There's even a slot to put your chopsticks!

Cavalock Takes On The Southern Ridges

Bakerzin has a special this February with their S$1 macarons. Not a bad deal, bought 10 at Suntec.

Props: Cheap at only a buck each. Taste real nice and sweet.

Slops: See the pix of them in the bag below? Hate it how they are all squashed in the bag like that. Some were pretty messed up. Can't they put them in a those clear long popiah/kueh containers? The flavours weren't that distinct either. The green one was supposed to be pistachio but I couldn't tell its pistachio.

Finally headed to the Southern Ridges for my long-awaited, first time morning walk.

Got off the bus at Alexandra Arch and walked for just a little over an hour to Marang Trail, right next to Vivo City. Wore my scandals but it was ok. Had fun and worked out a good sweat. Only major complaint is NO monkeys!! I wanted to see some monkeys!!

Look who came for the walk too!

Cavalock and The Talkshow DJs from LA

I got two boxes of this from my mom when I went over to my folks' place a couple of months ago. Nice and sweet.

Now I don’t listen to much music these days. I been listening to a lot of LA talk radio stations thanks to the itunes radio application. And it has been like a breath of fresh air!!! You can’t imagine how refreshing it is to listen to radio DJs who have opinions, listen to frank and open discussions on almost anything from politics, religion, sex, current affairs, any freakin’ thing. Sure, some of them may be MCPs and I don’t agree with 100% (mebbe bout 90% I agree) of what they are saying but most of the time it’s really entertaining and I like it.

Listening to the people who call in, I’ll say half the population of LA lack any form of common sense whatsoever, total weirdo morons while the other half appear ‘normal’, use their brains, think things through… And there are lots of single parents and young married couples out there too. The talkshow DJs are actually helping these people with common sense and rational decisions. Man, there are really some messed up people out there in sunny California.

Man, I dunno if our local DJs can't speak their minds or they just can't think for themselves...or mebbe just plain dumb...

Well, before switching to the talk shows, I was like totally into the stand-up comedy stations too. Until like after a couple of weeks, you realise you are listening to more and more reruns. I still listen to them but only like an hour a day.

If you are in a vehicle and it’s travelling at the speed of light, and you turn on your lights, does it do anything?

I like to fill my tub up and turn on the shower, then pretend I’m in a submarine that’s been hit.

I bought some powdered water but I dunno what to add.

Why do they say ‘a penny for your thoughts’ when they are ‘two cents worth’? Someone’s making a penny.

Everywhere is within walking distance when you have the time.

I used to work as a narrator for mimes.

I have a huge seashell collection, I had it scattered across the beaches around the world. Maybe you have seen it.

Cavalock and His Amazing Day Off

Started my day off with a quick early morning online search for scrambled eggs recipes. Decided to wipe some up but didn't really have much stuff in the kitchen to add to it so ended up with a pretty plain version (with a pinch of chicken salt), and some cereal and coffee (with Bailey's of cos) to complete that morning breakfast of champions for one.

Spent rest of the morning at the library borrowing some CD-ROMs and a bunch of comic books. Finally got my hands on James Robinson's final chapter of Starman: Sons of the Father. Then a train ride to Orchard for the Kinokuniya sale. Lunch was pretty forgettable. Couldn't decide where in Orchard to go for lunch by myself, finally settled on Romankan Yokohama at Taka's basement since I was in the building already. Was 'meh'...

Got this impulse buy Izakaya, The Japanese Pub Cookbook. That's the first pix at the top. Flipped through the browsing copy near the cashier and thought it was quite good. Definitely not your regular cookbook, in addition to the 60 recipes there are lots of insight and articles on Japanese pubs and all their little subculture. The thing that sealed the deal for me? Printed in Japan, the book's 2,800 yen. It's going for (with the Kino 20% sale) only s$35. Do the maths man, with today's exchange rate, that's a good buy if I ever saw one.

Cavalock Wishes Everyone A Happy Lunar New Year

Hey, Happy Lunar New Year to everyone out there! I read bout how some folks aren't that crazy bout all the visiting and stuff. Me? I come from a small family and I see them almost every week so seeing them on CNY is really no big difference, cept for the ang pow part. Anyway, its been real windy for the last few weeks so I guess it ain't that bad going out, walking in the sun and all that.


We opened the above bottle of lychee wine last nite. Something 'Chinese' for the New Year I guess. Hah! 'Cept that came from Italy. Never knew them Italians could do lychee. Not too bad. Really strong lychee aroma/scent/smell but you don't taste it that much, a light wine that we all kinda enjoyed.

Cavalock and The Menace of The Tupperware People

Oh wow, remember the Danny Choo workshop I went to late last year? Well, before the workshop, he did mention that he was gonna have some giveaways for us attending the event. Unfortunately, the freebies never made to us, like it got lost during transit or something. But the good news is, he sent out another shipment and it finally arrived last week! Thanks Danny!

Hey check this out! Cool pencils eh? Just couldn't resist two of my homeboyz. Only a buck fifty each. And yah, they got other authors too like George Orwell.

And who are the Tupperware People? Something I found out while having Friday nite drinks...

Friend: He's (an ex-colleague) a Tupperware.

Me: Huh? What's that? Why a Tupperware?

Friend: He's so plastic, just plastic all over.

Me: Bwah-hahahaha!

Cavalock and Mister Donut's New Donuts

Man, just when I was talking bout Mister Donut in my last post. Look at what they got on their menu. Latest addition, mochi flour donuts! Sounds ... er, yummy... I think. Will I get a chance to sink my teeth into one anytime soon? <^;^>

Anyway, read this New York Times article in bed over the weekend. Real funny dating story. 

Cavalock and His First Nendoroid

Heard a bit bout this little seafood place that's located in the middle of an industrial estate and appropriately named Seafood Paradise. It's in Defu industrial estate in Hougang. As expected, during the weekend, the area is pretty deserted. Heh, now if you ask me, see that entrance there, it kinda reminds me of the Zouk entrance.

The outside doesn't look that good but damn, when you a long Q in the middle of nowhere, you just know there's gotta be something worth waiting for, know what I mean? What we got was good food at a pretty good price. Read a bit bout their wasabi prawns so we ordered that, was ok, I mean it tasted exactly how you expected it to be when you see something like wasabi + prawn.

Highlight for me was their signature butter crab. That's the first pix up there. Damn its good. Creamy buttery sauce. Ordered an extra serving of the fried buns just to soak up it all up. Overall, much better than the Mellben crabs.

Finally got myself a figure from the Nendodroid series. That's a line of Japanese figures where they take famous anime/manga characters and give them the cute 'big head, little body' treatment. And it ain't cheap either. This one, the 50th in the series, cost me S$42. Got it cos it reminded me of the famous Mister Donut chain in Japan. Remember having breakfast in one of their shops in Kyoto. Funny little TV ad here on YouTube.

Cavalock returns to Newton Circus

I know I'll going to sound like a 'mountain turtle' when I say I just made my first trip to the new Newton Circus. When I was a kid, I grew around Newton and I was like there almost every week. Mostly cos of the newsstands there where I would go buy my comic books. But its been like 5 or 6 years now since I stepped back into the place or ate anything from there.

So last week I was there with the guys, I ordered something I always had whenever I'm there. The popiah. Same stall facing the carpark, also sells Chinese satay. Boon Heng? Or something like that. 

Unfortunately it didn't taste as good as before. Another thing I noticed is ... no more newsstands! Not that I was aiming to buy any comic books that nite but was just looking for a little bit of my childhood. Awww man, guess you can't go home again after all. Damn you, Thomas Wolfe!!!

Cavalock and The Game Mobil

Recent haul from Isetan's Hokkaido Fair. <^;^> That's sweet natural, pure fruit juice, not booze like the last time.

True story, friend of mine, married with kids, drives a wagon we call The Game Mobil. He's a gamer too, and you know how in those Hollywood action movies, when some bad ass guy pops the car's trunk and you see this freakin' arsenal of big ass guns, rockets and all kinds of shit in there, and you (if you are a guy), you'll go 'that is soooo cool'. Well, when my friend pops his trunk, you see this freakin' big collection of board games. Yup, and if the average is like a hundred bucks a box, we looking at bout a grand's worth in there. And there was even a request for it to make at appearance during a wake, I shit you not.

Cavalock and The Mystery of the Sea Bird's Nest

Really, can someone explain to me if a bird can actually build a nest in middle of the ocean or under the sea, or is the nest of a new kinda 'sea bird'? Should I read it as a sea bird's nest or sea bird's nest? :P And in case anyone is wondering, it's from the juice stall Tracy at the basement of Raffles City.

Tried another recipe from The Book, something called Nutella Crepes. Real fast and simple like the rest. Tasted all rite but I used a little too much Nutella. Still got lots more crepes in the pack so I'll definitely be trying it again soon, before the crepes expire later this month.

Does that look like too much Nutella to anyone? Pop it in the oven for 10 minutes.

Decided to go with a banana instead of nuts like the recipe called for. Like I said, a little too sweet (yah I know, coming from me, it must have been VERY sweet), can't taste the rum at all.

Cavalock and The Fertility Idol

Check this out, the latest from Kit Kat, Caramel Macchiato (McDonalds McFlurry version). Got it from Isetan (where else? Really) at S$3.95 a box. Nice and sweet, the way I like. Not too caramel. And when you open a pack, man, the aroma it's so sweet. I think everyone in the room can smell you opening one.

Here something else I got today. Bet most of you have no idea what this is. It's a Mighty Muggs figure. One of the latest line of vinyl/plastic collectibles. The one I got is based on the famous fertility idol from the first Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Remember the famous rolling boulder scene at the begining of the movie?

The Mighty Muggs fertility idol is an exclusive figure that was only sold at last year's Comic Con. That means it's gonna be as expensive as a real Indy treasure if you can find it here. Well, I was lucky to find a shop here selling it at only S$30, that's the average retail price for a normal Mighty Mugg. So you know, at that price, a Comic Con exclusive is a sell. Besides, it's in a gold box, all shiny. Unlike the regular Muggs that are in their boring white boxes. Hah! Don't worry, that's gonna be my first, last and only Mighty Muggs figure, ain't no way I can afford the $$$ or space for another new collection.

Cavalock Enters the New Year

Hey there! Happy New Year everyone! <^;^>

Hmmm... to be honest, I tried to come up with something special to write bout on New Year's Day but I can't think of anything, anything special that is. And then I remembered why I blog in the first place, it's bout stuff that I like, things I do that make me happy, won't write bout the things that make me worry or unhappy. So with that in mind, look what I bought on the last day of 2008! One last indulgance...

Its been at least a year since I bought any mini food replicas, got this complete set of the official Pierre Hermes Collection by Bandai for S$45 at China Square Central during lunch. The guy was here last year for the World Gourment Summit and he conducted some lessons macaron-making classes too. Friend of mine went to one.

Anyway, it's a pretty big set and I have nowhere to display them so I'll keep them in the boxes for now. Here's a bigger and clearer pix of them. As you can see from my pix, there are little bags and cake boxes plus a portrait of the pastries too.

5 different themes:

1) New Year 2) Valentine's Day 3) Mother's Day 4) Birthday 5) Christmas

If I'm ever back in Tokyo, I am so going to get some of the real stuff! I know I'm kinda slow to really appreciate them after my last trip to Japan.

Now its been over a year since I came up with the idea of using the ‘Two And A Half Men” title style of writing my entry headlines. It’s like a line from the week’s episode is used as its title and usually it’s something that sounds really funny when taken outta context.

Now its time to change things again so I’m gonna use something from another one of my favourite TV shows, Monk. How Monk does it is that each episode title starts with “Mister Monk …something, something…”