Fishy Memories

Back when I was in Cannes, France on assignment, I had something called Soupe de Poisson and it became like my all-time favorite dish ever while I was there. It's a fish soup dish, not too fishy yet thick and really tasty. Almost all the restaurants along the beach served it and I had it just about every other day with my main meal.

When I finally came back to Singapore, I went looking for it everywhere (er, almost everywhere that my budget could get me to) but could never find it.

Then last week, many years later, I found it at The Marketplace supermarket at Raffles City! Well, not in a restaurant but in bottles. So did I buy any? Nope. I don't really know why not. Maybe it was the price(S$19.60 for the small bottle and S$22.70 for the larger one!) or maybe looking at the cooking instructions, I wasn't sure if I knew how to prepare it properly. Last thing I wanna do is ruin one of my favorite culinary memories! Haha. anyway, if I ever decide to try preparing it one day, at least I know where to get it now.


Meanwhile, four down and two to go!

Live Fast, Love Hard, Die With Your Mask On

You know back when we were young, we all did crazy stuff that we look back today and go, "Holy crap! Did I actually do that?!? What was I thinking?!" From getting into stupid relationships to tip-toeing over to the wrong side of the law, it's all part of growing up.

I know I pulled my fair share of crazy stunts. I had this little Four Rules to Living Life to the Fullest. Now remember, I was young, impulsive and reckless when I came up with this. Drinking, Smoking, Gambling and Fooling Around (if you know what I mean), you gotta indulge in at least one of these four vices to really enjoy life. You don't know how to enjoy life until you go all out on one of them. I know, it's a really, really stupid thing to go around saying but hell, I was young and stupid back then, I admit it but it was also a great conversation starter! Bring it up at guys-nite-out, parties, even wedding dinners and pretty soon, everyone's talking about their personal experiences, their favouite one etc.

Now, it's not like I was doing all four at the same time. I did 'do them' over various stages of my life, not intentionally fulfilling it but somehow it just happened over the years.

So why am I writing this? Some crazy attempt at bravado? I don't think so. I guess it's more like a way to remind myself of what it was like when I was younger.

Looking back, do I regret them? Absolutely not. But today, being older and ...er...wiser (I hope), I would never say those things to anyone, anymore. I mean, I would still talk about them to close friends as something a younger and dumber version of me was preaching years ago (and hopefully get a few laughs) but definitely not something to follow.

Actually there are some pretty funny stories behind them. Maybe I'll write them down one of these days.

Sign Of The Times

First I gotta say a big 'Thank you' to YouTube for keeping me company when I had to work way past midnite, like four nites in a row. Thank the stars for music videos, SNL skits and WWE!

Still having some fun with me camera and here's what I snapped on me way to work. That means more wacky signs too!

A fallen bike! Yup, where I come from, it's a dangerous trek to work.

It's amazing what you can find during the Great Singapore Sale. In the words of Marge Simpson, "Yummy and nutritious!"

I really don't what they mean by this sign. Does this mean all the shopkeepers speak Cantonese? They get really, really nasty if you just browse and don't buy anything?

Am off to look for some comfort food! Most probably Jap. Damn straight I'm gonna be needing it after working like crazy! Who wants to join me?

Me First Meme

Got tagged with me first meme, so here goes...

one: what is the phone brand?
Sony Ericsson

two: what are the last three digits of your mobile number?
697

three: what does the second message in your inbox say?
You now have 2 chances in Raffles City’s Shop & Score Draw. To get another 1 Bonus Chance: SMS BONUSDRAW to xxxxx now.

four: who's the first person who comes up under the letter m?
Madd

five: who's the last person you rang?
Mom

six: who was your last missed call from?
…dunno…already deleted…

seven: who's the second person who comes up under d?
Daphne

eight: what does the last message in your inbox say?
So you wanna lunch at chinatown?

nine: who comes up under j?
Jade

ten: go to your sent items -- what does the tenth message say?
none….i delete me sent box regularly…

eleven: who's the fourth person who comes up under s?
Sun

twelve: who's your network provider?
M1

thirteen: how many messages are currently in your inbox?
Don’t think there’s a ‘count’ feature on me phone…too many to count…heh

fourteen: what do you have as your background?
One of them fancy built-in design patterns that came with the phone.

fifteen: who's the second person who comes up under r?
Reb

sixteen: who do you have on speed dial three?
no one

seventeen: if you're on pay as you go, how much credit do you have?
Not applicable

eighteen: who's the first person who comes up under c?
Celine

nineteen: how many bars of signal do you currently have?
Five

twenty: what do you have as your main ringtone?
Bell

Cheers For Cherries

Guess what, I finally installed MSN Messenger on me office laptop. Yah, I know I'm probably the last guy on Earth to do it but well, better late than never.

It's cherry season again! I love cherries! $28 per kg. Although they kinda have this ...er...laxative effect on me, like hours later. All right, so you didn't really need to know that!

Was toying with me new camera and took some shots of the hottest mutants in town. Here's something for all you fans of Wolvie and gang, you know who you are, ladies!

Here's the gang in their Jim Lee-era comic book costumes.

This one I picked up in Japan last year. Pretty neat huh?

Revenge Of The GSS

It's that time of the year again here in Singapore where it's the Great Singapore Sale. About couple of years ago, I bought a ton of furniture for my very own new apartment and I really did save a lot. This year, two days into it and I already spent over a grand. Geez....no shit. Let's see now, the Harvey Norman at Suntec was having a moving out sale and I finally got the Nikon S5 that I was eyeing for the last few months. $529 with case and 512 memory card. Trust me, did enough research to know that's a pretty good buy. Plus a handheld vacuum cleaner and a new Philips DVD player ($139) that plays Divx Video which means I can watch downloaded shows like the latest episodes of Grey's Anatomy, 24, Lost etc. No, I don't download them but I know people who do. And a ...er...hmmm...little brown card holder.


Found more stuff at me folks' place. These are just some of the hats or caps that my uncle bought for me when he was working in the US many years ago. I used to have lots more! He got me hats such as a baseball helmet, a big feathered red indian chief headgear as well as the one with just single feather and also a Robin Hood cap. I still have a pix of me as a kid (about 5 or 6 years old) in the big red indian chief headgear with a real pipe in me mouth. Too bad I ain't got a scanner.

Wanna know what I think of the new X-Men movie? Hell, if you are a comic book fan and not familiar with The X-Men stories, then you will love it. If you are a comic fan and like The X-Men, then you probably won't like it at all.

With a little help, it's now three down and three more to go!

The Great Egg Mystery

Whew...what a week. Time to write something good and happy I guess cos work has been crap and I sure as hell, can't talk about that. Well, it's not all bad. Went out for drinks on Wednesday nite at Wala Wala (missed CSI cos of that!) and Wine Bar on Friday nite.

Here's a little mystery. Was packing all me old stuff at me folks' place and found this.

Two stone eggs which I have absolutely no idea how or where I got them. That's a real chicken egg on the right. I just placed it there for size comparison. Now the green egg is made of some kinda jade-like material. It's obviously not jade. And the brownish one has a textured surfaec with some kinda petal markings on it. They are both pretty heavy too. No one in the family knows how I got them. Me mom said they could be from me late aunt. But I don't remember a thing. I also found some really cool stuff that I thought were gone forever such as me old Playmobil and Airfix toys.

Before I forget, two down and four to go!

My Ex-Dream Job

Been waaaaay too busy last week to write anything cos of work. Yah, half the office went on long weekend leave two weeks ago and the other half last long weekend. Me? I’m saving them for later. So there I was, thinking bout all them long hours and fantasizing bout the perfect job. Thing is, I have already been in the perfect dream job many years ago. I figured maybe writing bout it now would kinda me feel better …or not. It's not like I'm trying escape back into my past but sometimes you just wanna think about the good times, know what I mean?

Now, I can’t really say what exactly I was doing (don't ask, another long story) but it was the coolest thing ever. Not even my folks knew exactly what I did, only my closest friends knew. One even said it was a “honeymoon job”. I’m pretty sure whoever is reading would probably have a hard time believing it but …hell, it was all real for me and it really happened, at least for a year.

There were about 20 of us led by six Americans. Really cool and fun guys. The only reason they shut down our department was cos of some bureaucratic big wig upstairs @$$hole pulled the plug on our funding! What we were doing was freakin’ years ahead of its time! It’s damn true cos today, there’s a very, very famous organization doing pretty much exactly what we were doing. After that one super year, I went back into the media industry. But not before a little solo trip to Hong Kong but that's another story for another day.

Anyway, we worked hard and we played just as hard …we celebrated Halloween with a party (I came as Dilbert, easiest costume with the just a flipped up tie!) and had a Fourth of July BBQ too. Well, as for work. I guess you could say there were days when we got shot at and there were also days when we shot back. And I suppose there were those days when a couple of things blew up.

At least one good thing did come out of it. One of the Americans (the only guy I knew who ever worked with the CIA) met and married one of our local colleagues. Heh. Everything happens for a reason I guess!

Okay, back to today. Mother's Day was yesterday and it kinda reminded me of what me and my best bud used to do on that day when we were teenagers. Most Sundays we would hang out at Orchard Road and on Mother's Day we would always check out the daughters that were out with their mothers. Why? Cos we were always figuring out and asking ourselves "Hmmmm. cute babe but I wonder if that's how she'll look like when she's older." Bwahaha! Give us a break! We were just kids then!

Oh yeah, decided to rustle up some pancakes over the weekend too cos of the leftover maple syrup. Thought of getting the frozen ones but decided to try 'making' them instead, for the first time actually. Turned out pretty good. Will try to get some sausages to go with it the next time.

One down, five to go!

Toasty Morning

If you guys seen me first few entries, you would know of me love-hate relationship with baking. So here's the latest attempt this morning! Woke up at 7am and decided to make meself some French Toast after coming across this simple little receipe over at Baking Sheet. It's kinda different from other French Toast receipe cos it consists of smaller pieces of bread instead of an entire slice.

Turned out pretty good but not as sweet as I expected, so I added more maple syrup while eating. Am afraid the pix didn't turn out as sharp as I hoped.

Anyway, went for drinks last Friday at this roof top joint called The Loft. No, it didn't turn out like that other Friday! Mainly cos there were no one-for-one drinks or happy hour! I only had an Irish whiskey and two beers. Most of us were there for the first time. It's kinda strange cos it's like an open-air, roof top bar but the roof is only on the 3rd floor! So it's like surrounded by all the other much taller buildings around it. Needless to say, after an hour it became pretty hot and humid. Plus the patrons there kinda gave some of us the impression that it's more like a pick-up joint for expats, instead of a friendly chill-out place. There's another open-air, roof top place called The Balcony in town. I haven't been there but some of us figured that it's gonna be just as warm cos the place is also like only a couple of floors above ground.

Oh yah, Camper at Takashimaya has finally brought in some new shoes and sandals. Woo hoo!

Womanly Words Of Wisdom?

You know there are some things you never ever forget, things people say to you when you were just a kid and till today, you still remember them. Well, here are three things said by three women many, many years ago that I still, for some really weird reason which I don’t know, still remember today.

This was what a classmate’s girlfriend said to me when I was like, only 12 or 13 years old. She said, “Don’t tell me you intend to marry your first girlfriend?” … or more or less, words to that effect. I guess at that time it just struck me as really, really odd that a girl would say something like that. First girlfriend? During my entire academic career, I have never been in a single relationship! Good little Child of Order remember?!? Hah!

Next a woman said this to me when I was in my late teens just as I was about to join the army. She was like about ten years older than me, and also the first person to give me my first break in the media industry. We went out a few times but nothing physical or intimate happened between us. We were just friends although of cos, I started having feelings but she kinda nipped it in the bud by saying something like this, “In this kind of relationship, its always the younger person who feels that it’s ok but the older person will always be uncomfortable. I was in the same position as you before.”

Now this was what a local food reviewer said to me when she was doing a review on some small food stalls. When asked if she ever gave a really bad review, she said “No, I try not break somebody’s rice bowl.” I sat back and thought about it. Yah, no one should ever break another person’s rice bowl.

Hey, look what I found...was looking for a pix about luv to go with my last entry on the topic and I finally dug up this from my you-know-where trip! Taken at my hotel lobby! A western-style Japanese wedding, check out the ladies in the kimonos. Well, since this entry has something to do with women and weddings usually have them in it...

Let's Talk About Luv

Was reading a bunch of blogs and I realized that there sure are lots of folks out there who are writing about love and mushy stuff like that. So I figured maybe I’ll just share a little something I know about the topic. I’m no expert on it, but here’s one of my all-time favourite quotes about love. Now whenever any of you are in a rough patch in the relationship or on the verge of a breakup cos of some jackass reason, remember these words spoken by a very famous individual to his wife…

"Sometimes love and destiny pull you in opposite directions. Sometimes loving somebody means you can't go to the places you wanted to go, or live the life you should lead. When everything sensible inside is screaming at you to plant that final kiss and say goodbye, sometimes the best thing to do the only thing to do is to hang on to that love with all the strength and fervor your soul has to offer. And change your plans. Tread a different path, and discover that, in the end, it all worked out just the way it was supposed to. And you couldn't imagine it ever unfolding differently. Love's funny that way."
P.P. to M.J.

Pretty neat huh? No? Hmmm….well, I guess it’s not something everyone can relate to. Oh well, I thought it was cool.

Was also thinking…after Secret Origins Parts I and II, anyone interested in Secret Origins Part III? Enough of being a Child of Order, here’s where he starts sliding down the slippery road to Chaos!

New Food Pyramid

Back from a quick weekday Isetan supermarket trip. Look what I got on offer! it's a coupon thing for Isetan credit card members, 2 tubs for only S$17 and maximum 6 tubs per coupon. The expiry dates are like, next year so I figured why not? Anyway, the supermarket is pretty neat cos they'll give you free packs of ice when you buy frozen stuff, so your stuff won't melt or anything like that. Wish the other supermarkets would do that.

Hmmm...hold on to your hats folks, cos there's a chance that within the next 72 hours (as I write this), there might be a repeat of this coming my way.

Dessert Of The Week

Finally managed to explore the new or rather renovated Marina Square shopping mall. A friend told me about this new Japanese dessert restaurant there called Azabusabo.

They have regular Jap food as well but it's their sweets, Hokkaido ice cream and other cold desserts that are their specialities. Ordered the green tea ice cream with red beans and little rice dumplings for S$6.50. I didn't have a camera with me but I managed to find a pix of it on their web page. It's the bottom left dish in the main pix. And yah, they are a chain from Japan. It's was very sweet and yummy! The rice dumplings weren't too hard like some other places and the red bean paste was just the right texture, not too thick or thin.

Also had the hot Milk Tea (S$3.50) which also turned out very well. Milk Tea or Royal Milk Tea is a pretty common drink in Japan and is something I always have when I'm there. In fact I brought back several boxes of it when I came back.

So what's a food write-up without a food pix? Managed to dig this one up from my last trip to guess where! That's Green Tea Ice Cream and Vanilla with Red Bean Pastefrom Haagen Dass! So good you can't stop at one. Why won't they bring it here?!?

My Working Soundtrack

Well, a little late but Happy Easter everybody. It's Sunday nite and the work that I brought back to do on Thursday, it's not a lot and I just finished it a minute ago.

Now whenever I'm writing, I gotta have some music with me. One of my all-time favourites has gotta be the soundtrack from Grease. I remember when I was still living with my folks. It's late at nite and I would be in my study/computer room writing with the Grease soundtrack on really loud and I'll be singing to it. It doesn't disturb my folks cos their bedroom is way at the other end of the apartment. I just love Those Magic Changes.

In the office when I got a ton of serious writing to do, it's usually the soundtrack from the action movie The Rock. Strictly instrumental but with a real heavy action beat. Of cos, there are lots of other stuff I listen to, especially with my office's itunes network, I been listening to all kinds of stuff from my colleagues' music collections! I still love the oldies probably cos I grew up in a house filled with uncles and aunts who were music fans. Me mom's a big Elvis fan and my uncles and aunts are into country, rock n' roll and classical (I only like Strauss).

The last CD I bought was by Gwen Stefani. It's nice, plugged-in to some tracks while I was writing in the office. Hey, guess what! I got an excuse to put another of my favourite Tokyo pix cos it's like in her song, Harajuku Girls. Well, here's the real deal that I snapped!

Lapping It Up

First, let me wish everyone out there a happy Good Friday!

Been super busy this entire week, finishing work at almost midnight. It's gonna be the same if not worse next week. Over 20 pages of stuff to write. Brought some work back but it's Friday nite 8.30pm now, do I really wanna work?!?....geez, been awhile since I been home this early. Anyway, was caught in the heavy rain this afternoon so while I was taking shelter at Bugis Junction mall, Seiyu department store. I saw this...

Yah! I kid you not! It's the infamous Japanese Lap Pillow for lonely men. Well, it's not the original one like in the pix. i suspect it's a cheaper version cos the one I saw was about S$12 only compared to the original one which sells for US$90. The 'skin' looks kinda rough n fuzzy unlike the original which looks really smooth. It's also smaller so I guess maybe it's supposed to be a younger girl's lap. Hah! Plus the ones I saw had different mini-skirts on, with belt and buckle, and the top part was exposed, not covered like in the pix.

So I guess the question is did I or did I not buy one?

A De-stressing Weekend

It's been a pretty exhausting week at work cos of this regional project I'm on. Next week is gonna be worse I think. Needed to de-stress so was online playing World of Warcraft last couple of days (and of cos nites). Anyway, still had to run errands and do me weekly groceries, managed to find something new at Cold Storage Centrepoint. New Fresh n Fruity Yoghurt flavours...Creamy Latte, Vanilla & Hazelnut and Banana Caramel. I just had the Banana Caramel. A little disappoined cos I expected to find banana bits in there but there were none. I mean, other fruit yoghurt do put fruity bits in theirs.

Oh yah, the DIY Jello-Cheesecake Dessert I mentioned before, can now be found at Cold Storage Centrepoint. No Oreos yet. You know, maybe I ought to do this supermarket entry every week or something. New stuff spotted kinda thing. A little boring maybe but what else could I talk that's er...printable?...I guess I still can't decide how personal I want this whole blog thing to be.

Hey look, here's another funny sign I spotted at Jalan Besar. You know, it's always good to know your strong points and emphasize them really, really loud.

Aw crap! Just remembered I gotta do me taxes later....

Me & Edamame

Here’s another feeble attempt to turn this little blog into a food blog which was what I originally intended it to be.

Here’s what I sometimes whip up in flash whenever I have to buy me dinner back home. No time to cook so it’s make some of my favourite Japanese edamame. Quick to prepare and nutritious too! After a freaking day at work, who has the bloody time to prepare anything more complicated? Does anyone have any quickie suggestions? Anyway, I had them with me Hokkien mee last nite.

Just heat them up and once the water starts to boil and they start to float up, they are done.

Drain them and add a pinch of salt for taste. There you go, edamame for one!

Some other food stuff I noticed. Royce has brought in a new flavour. Grand Mariner! To be honest, I can’t really taste it. Almost like their regular choc one. The Ben and Jerry’s ice cream stick I got at Carrefour last week….well, it’s now $4.20 for one instead of $4.70 for three! So did someone screw up and tagged the wrong price last week or was I just lucky? Compared to Haagen Dass’ stick ice cream, that should be the regular price and it’s not such a small stick after all.

Friday Nite Drinks

Just for the record, it was...

1 vodka Rebina
2 glasses of red wine
1 Tequila pop
1 Tequila shot
1 Sex on the Beach
1 lychee martini
1 vodka orange

...that more or less did me in on Friday nite. Nope, I wasn't that drunk although I sure felt like throwing up in the cab but I didn't.

Oh, and in keeping with today's alcohol theme, here's another Tokyo pix I took. Thought it was pretty funny at that moment. Geddit? Heartland?....well, it's a local thing.

Secret Origins Part II: The Teenage Years AKA Let's Talk About Sex

So why am I writing this? Looking back at my early teenage years I kinda realized that it was a pretty unusual ride. And the sex part…well, it’s not what most people would expect, I think. I figured I’ll write about cos it’s kinda different and it’s something I could look back at with a wink and a smile.

Now like most teenagers back then, we never talked about sex to our folks nor were there any real sex education in school. Also remember, this was way before the days of Internet porn, mobile phone porn, VCD/DVD porn etc. I can’t speak for every teenager back then, but this is where I got me sex education.

Yup, that's The Sex Life Letters, bought it at Times the Bookshop when I was like 14 years old I think. And I still got it, complete with ancient dust cover. There are absolutely no nude pix and no graphic descriptions of any sex acts in the book. It’s all just personal stories but geez, looking back I don’t know if any 14 year-old should be reading it! By the end of it, I knew the difference between cunnilingus and fellatio (I just don't know how to pronounce them) 101 fetishes, S&M, wife-swapping, gays, G-spot, voyeurism and just about every other kinky act in the book and probably known to man.

But I guess, when I was reading it, it was just words to me not unlike any other book I read as everyone knows I’m a bookworm. And I never talked about the book with anyone at all. The thing is I didn’t turn into some sex-crazed fiend. I didn't tell my friends about any of the stories in the book.

Sometimes I think back and am really amazed by it. It’s true that I got a kick out of reading the stories (thanks to the handy dust cover, I was reading it in class, at the dinner table etc.) but I was never tempted to turn anything I read into an actual …er…deed. it was all just added information to me. I suppose it's like me when I was doing science in school. I mean, I know about electrons and protons, and maybe because I couldn't see them, but I never felt the urge to spilt an atom or anything like that. Does that make sense?

It's All About Presentation

Got back last nite after a little drinking session down the road from the office with me colleagues, good time to unwind. Am stuck with an urgent regional project due Thursday, current plan is for another unwinding session this Friday nite at The Wine Bar, got the usual one-for-one deal for us media folks. We’ll see how that goes.

Alright, here we go! The Oreo Cake that we all been waiting! I must really start working on my baking presentation. I know it doesn’t look like the tastiest-looking cake on the planet but it tastes pretty good. Really. I wish I could say it's the photographer but since I'm the photographer too...well, you get the idea.

Now the recipe called for a 9-inch pie plate and that’s exactly what I used but it seemed like there wasn’t enough mix to for a good even spread. Maybe a smaller pie plate would have been better. So the bottom crust turned out pretty thin.

Everything else was kinda easy. Once again, I had a little problem filling up the dish as in trying to make it look nice, smooth and even. Like I said, must really work on my presentations! Kept half of the Oreo bits to sprinkle on my cake whenever I’m eating it and that’s like, every nite since Sunday! Well, someone has to I guess. So every nite at about 11pm (except for last nite’s drinking session) for better or worse, I would be trying to finish my Oreo cake, slice by slice…

The Cheesecake that I’ll be doing next, I’m gonna try the smaller cupcake version!

Coming up soon…Secret Origins Part II: The Teenage Years AKA Let’s Talk About Sex