Hot Summer Nights

Ever had one of those hot summer nights when you had one too many beers and all your old childhood ceral box friends suddenly started showing up? Dammit! What did you guys do to Captain Crunch?!?

Hot In The CIty

Hey, I'm back! Is it just me or is the weather really, really hot these last couple of days ... just out of the shower and I'm already sweating. Geez, I don't know about you guys but I say we could really use some of these, just like in Japan.

My Addiction?

How should I start this...one of me earlier posts was bout this four main vices of me younger days. Well, of those four, one of them is still haunting me to this day. It's the one on gambling and do I have a gambling problem? I dunno. Maybe I do and maybe I don't.

The reason I'm writing this now is cos this weekend is the the start of the new british soccer EPL season. And that's what I used to bet on. I have always loved playing games, almost all kinds of games and puzzles, and to me, betting on soccer was a kind of game, a kind of mental challenge. You study the facts, analyse the tables, look at the stats etc. And you try to make your guess. And when you win, the feeling is great, simply exhilarating. You tell yourself you are smarter than the system and you outwitted it. Of cos, when you lose, the feeling is really sucky.

I started out with little five dollar bets and that became hundreds later, er...much later. I used to bet hundreds every weekend. I have won lots and have lost lots too. Fortunately, things never got to the point where I had to borrow money or anything like that. I still paid all my bills on time, bought the things I wanted, ate and drank well, gave my folks money etc. Nothing much changed in terms of living expenses. So why did I stopped? Or at least am trying (and succeeding so far!) ....cos I know if I didn't it's only going to get a lot worse.

I used to spend hours searching the betting forums online. Not the online gambling sites but a particular Asian forum where people exchanged tips. I think almost every local soccer gambler knows this site. Hehe. I have seen guys surfing the site in public on their laptops numerous times! I stopped visiting the site months ago. Looking back, I do have some pretty funny gambling stories to tell.

I'm just writing this to remind myself to not gamble or place any soccer bets this season. It's gonna be a long season so wish me luck.

Hmmmm....maybe next time I'll talk bout me other three vices. Definitely not as somber as this one.

More Geek-ing Out At Home

One of the cool things about having your own place is the chance to do it up however you like. Don’t think most of you remember me very first post. Anyway, here’s the wine rack part of it. See that guy behind it, guarding the wine rack? That’s my X-Men Sentinel action figure. One of the best-looking and detailed action figure ever. Simply amazing sculpt! It was released last year and become one of the most sought-after, best-reviewed Marvel comic book figures around.

In the comic books, the Sentinels are giant mutant-hunting robots that fought the X-Men on a regular basis. If you watched the last X-Men movie, you might remember the opening scene with the X-Men fighting in the Danger Room. They were under attack by some huge thing and Wolverine leapt (aka Fastball Special) at it. Then this big purple metal head dropped outta the sky and crashed to the ground. That’s a Sentinel head. I guess the movie budget wasn’t big enough to put those guys in.

Anyway my point is if I was still living with me folks, I sure doubt if I could get away with incorporating me action figures with the rest of the furniture! Hah. I just thought it would be neat to have him looming above the wine rack. What you think of the wine rack? I kinda like that too, got it on offer at Takashimaya last year too or was it the year before? Its got a nice leathery feel and I thought it looks kinda classy as well.

Geek-ing Out At Home

It's Tuesday nite and you know what that means to a World of Warcraft player. Server maintenance nite! Figured I'll just update here a little while waiting for CSI: NY to start. So here’s how I spent part of me Saturday.

Decided to get a second bedside table at IKEA on Wednesday and was putting it together on Saturday. Didn’t have much trouble with it except the hinges were kinda wonky.

A Hydrangea By Any Other Name

Here’s one of favorite non-food pix from my last trip to Japan. It’s the beautiful Hydrangea flower or Ajisai in Japanese. Snapped this in Kyoto at the famous Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

My aunt actually grows the flower here in Singapore too, funny thing is when I first heard the name ‘Hydrangea’, and I heard it as ‘Night Ranger’. I remember thinking to myself ‘that has got to be the coolest name for a flower ever!’

And here’s how it looks with a snail munching on it! I'm trying to make this a food blog so I had to show someone or something eating!

Singapore In Pole Position

Tomorrow's our National Day and I guess nothing says it or more local-like than this.

That's right, it's still out there! I can’t help it, I took this latest pix yesterday. Every time I walk pass the wash pole flag, I feel like saluting to a pair of freshly rinsed undies or washed sheets. Over three weeks and counting! I gotta admit, I’m surprised it’s still out there for everyone to see.

Can anyone come up with a better title?

Ah Crap!...I Mean...Crab

Guess what we had for dinner? S$11.50 for about 850g. Cooked it at about noon and served it cold for dinner later. Not as much meat as I expected even though it was one of the bigger crabs in the tank. Forgot to snap a pix of it being served...heh...it wasn't bad. Maybe next time, will try doing some white pepper crabs which is one of me favorites.

Bet you thought I forgot but it's now five down and one to go! Haven't been eating much ice cream at home cos of all the Japanese snacks I brought back.

Hotel Security

Seen one of these in your hotel rooms before? This here is my hotel fridge in Tokyo. The moment you take one of the cans out of its slot, the check-out desk would immediately know about it, even if you replace it a minute later.

So when you check out, it'll be reflected in your bill and you have spend probably a few minutes explaining that you only took it out cos you never seen one of those before. I guess it's a little harder to explain than the porn channel in your bill.

So ...er.... does this count as a food or drink entry?

Things Not To Talk About On A First Date

Ah, looks like this is a good time to geek out. Pretty damn sure I’m not going to get much comments here, if any at all. Hehe…but that’s cool.

Some really geeky stuff (aka things you DON’T want to talk about on a first date) that I’m currently overloading on…

Been back to reading Batman comic book series again. Picking it up cos its written by Grant Morrison with art by Andy Kurbert. One of the best and most surrealist comic book writers in the biz today, Morrison has taken Bats back to his roots. After the events in the Infinite Crisis storyline, the entire DC universe has been rebooted. DC’s holy trinity Bats, Superman and Wonder Woman are back in the main spotlight. Written the way they should be! The current Superman titles have already been getting rave reviews. The last Batman story arc One Year Later with the return of Gordon as everybody’s favorite Commish and Two-Face as the villain was great too. Great ending with Bruce Wayne officially/legally adopting Tim Drake (3rd Robin) as a son. Dick Grayson (1st Robin) was only his ward.

By the way, the new Wonder Woman comic book is written by Allan Heinberg, the television writer and producer, on shows like The O.C. and Grey's Anatomy. He’s also the writer on Marvel’s Young Avengers comic book and that’s already a certified sales hit.

Oh yah, there’s another Kinokuniya book sale this weekend. Will finally pick up the best-selling The Astonishing X-Men Vol.1 hardcover written by Joss Whedon, producer and writer of Buffy, Angel and Firefly TV shows.

Still on the super hero bandwagon, got back to collecting the new Marvel Heroclix figures from the latest Sinister Expansion. Although I don’t play the game, I sure as hell enjoy collecting them. They not cheap either as it’s a tikam situation to guess what figures are in each box but damn, those little critters are just so irresistibly detailed!

Ah crap, there goes my original plan to make this a food blog again….and I haven’t even gotten to yakking about me World of Warcraft character….yet.

Maid In Japan

Awww man, what a sucky day at work and it's just gonna get worse in the coming weeks. Anyway, here's a little hotel souvenir from Kyoto that I just couldn't resist. Hang it outside your bedroom, office door, etc and let the fun begin!

Speaking of maids, check out me new handphone accessory, also from Japan. Bet you won't find this being sold openly here. They got another tied up in a tight little cheongsum too!

Its like Friday morning now as I post this when I actually started writing this on …er….Tuesday? Had a little problem uploading the pix. Like I said, work is pretty crazy right now. Thank goodness for You Tube and Mystery Science Theatre! Best comedy ever! Any fans out there?

Coming up next! The latest on the Wash Pole Flag! It's Week 2 and is it still up there?

Patriotism On A Wash Pole

Holy crap! Its been like four or five days already and it's still out there! At first I figured it was hung out to dry but I'm beginning to think that it's really meant as a flag pole! Well, nothing says 'I'm a Singaporean' better than having the flag hanging on a wash pole right out of a HDB heartland window. Here's another close-up, suitable for all you patriots out there looking for a wallpaper or screensaver. Don't thank me, just doing my bit for the country.

Wash Out

Something I saw on me way to work the other day. Yup, someone took the national flag out for spin and rinse and hung it out to dry on a pole (probably right next to the undies). That's something you don't see everyday. Now, I could make some social commentary about how this country needs a cleaning up in more ways than one, but I shan't.

So What's Your Favorite Holiday Movie?

So there I was, flying to Tokyo and scanning all those free in-flight movies, lots of latest ones that I have yet to catch including King Kong and The Pink Panther. I flipped through the movie pages until I saw one of my favourite Xmas movies! It’s a popular movie set during the holiday season in Los Angeles and opens with a crisp Jingle Bell Rock soundtrack. I have watched this movie about a dozen times on TV and it never fails to bring a warm glow to my heart and smirk on my face.

I am of course referring to the hit movie Lethal Weapon starring a young Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. The other favourite Xmas movie of mine is naturally Die Hard. Who can forget that classic line “Ho Ho Ho! Now I have a machine gun!” written on a dead bad guy’s chest. Yes, not many people remember it but those two blockbuster action movies are actually Xmas movies!

Well, I watched it again and what can I say? I still loved almost every minute of it! Hey, those two movies pretty much kicked off a couple of whole new action genres. The familiar buddy cop action genre and the lone-desperate-man-vs-army-of-elite-baddies genre!

I was very tempted to watch it yet again on my return flight but I resisted and picked up Kong instead. And speaking of return flights, there are just SOME of the snacks I brought back with me. Look and drool folks!

From left: Tako ball-flavoured Pretz sticks, Royal Milk Tea (favorite drink!), Green Tea/Red Bean Kit Kats (perfect!) and black sugar candy (not sure what's the actual name).

That Time Of The Year

Now I was told that it was the season for Japanese sweet potato when I was there late last month. Is that true? I dunno but I definitely found some great sweet potato snacks at the Tokyo station on my way to Kyoto.

These sweet potatoes are really SWEEEET!!!

Got something (non-food related) to get off me chest. Grrrr....every year around this time (this year it's July 20 to 23 2006) is the annual San Diego Comic Convention. If you are as big a comic book fan as I am, you'll know that it's the biggest comic book convention of the year. It's not some geeky fan boy meeting session but a full-scale billion dollar industry where all the major and minor comic book people plus gaming and entertainment folks meet up and tons of new stuff/projects are revealed. It's serious business.

Ever since the Hollywood started making those blockbuster comic book movies, there's been a huge Hollywood pressence as well. That means lots of movie stars too. Damn, I just wish I could go there just once.

I been dreaming about attending this ever since I was a kid. Now with the Internet, every year I just surf over to look at all the good stuff they got lined up and I just feel sooooo frustrated I can't make it there (for whatever reasons, the reasons change over the years). End rant.

Sweets For My Sweet

After more than 14 hours at work, I just don't feel like talking/writing/typing much so I figured I'll just post some of my favorite food pix from my last trip to Japan. Damn, I sure as Hell need some major comfort food right now.

Dessert after my full-set dinner at the Ryoken. Anyone interested in seeing the full-set meal?

Just some of yummy pastries I bought back to my hotel room from those department stores' food basements. Yah, those are cherries! Although not as sweet as these cherries.

Chestnut and Green Tea Japanese Mont Blac cakes that are simply to die for!

And when you are on the move during lunch, there's always D-I-Y dessert. Damn, I wish Haagen-Dass brought in flavours like that to Singapore. There's actually little crewy bits in the ice-cream.

Well, I hope this entry wasn't too frightfully boring for those of you without a sweet tooth.

Fast Food

Remember how I wanted to make this a food blog when I first started…then I kinda got sidetracked and had other stuff to say, soon it got less and less about food. Well, I do have quite a lot of social commentary stuff to say like the recent mrbrown incident, media censorship etc. I mean I know the guy personally (he’s a nice family guy) and I have seen the inner workings of our local media organizations (hell, I was even on their payroll)…but…*sigh*…it’s exactly because I have seen how ‘things’ are done or ‘taken care of’ (they’ll teach you a thing or two about using every dirty trick in the book to shut you down), that I feel like, what’s the use of complaining? We are nothing more than an alleged first world country with third world internal wirings.

So I figured I’ll just yak about more personal stuff and hopefully a little more on food. I’m not out to win any popularity contest otherwise you’ll see me talking about sex half the time! Bwah-ha-ha-ha!

Anyway, back to more food talk. Looking at me ticket stubs, realized I took seven Shinkansen (bullet train) rides while in Japan recently and here are some pix of my onboard lunch which I bought before boarding. Also bought the seven-day railway pass (in Singapore) so it was unlimited number of rides across the JR lines for me.

I got most of my meals from those terrific department store basement supermarkets. They have the widest and most mouth-watering selection of food ever! It’s summer too and that means lots of cool, icy desserts at almost every corner! Man, I could spend hours just walking around and around each supermarket/food basement.

The last pix below is crab meat with rice and the drink's one of my favorite. Royal Milk Tea by Kochakaden. I wish they have here in Singapore.

Life's Soundtrack

I love this song. Back when I was starting out and doing my own thing. Watching the Wheels by the late, great John Lennon was like my theme song of my early life. The lyrics fitted me exactly and I could totally relate to it.

Watching The Wheels
by John Lennon

People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing,
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin,
When I say that I'm o.k. they look at me kind of strange,
Surely your not happy now you no longer play the game,
People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away,
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me,
When I tell that I'm doing fine watching shadows on the wall,
Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball?
I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round, really love to watch them roll,
No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go,
People asking questions lost in confusion,
Well I tell them there's no problem,
Only solutions,
Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I've lost my mind,
tell them there's no hurry...
I'm just sitting here doing time,
I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round,
really love to watch them roll,
No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go.

Why Japan Is Cool

Here's an actual newspaper headline that appeared while I was in Japan last week. And you thought these things only happened in old sci-fi movies!

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!