Cavalock and The Ginza Cronut Crescendo

It took us four years but we finally took our first bite out of the official cronut. The official croissant-doughnut love child was created by Dominique Ansel who was also voted World's Best Pastry Chef 2017. While in Tokyo last week, we dropped by Mitsukoshi departmental store in Ginza and found the calorie-laden cronuts of Dominique Ansel Bakery beckoning us in all their sinful glory.

Didn't know they had a monthly flavour thing going. So how was this month's "honey ganache and Hyuganatsu jam with lime sugar"? Delightfully sweet with a noticable citrus lime kick. Coming in at 648 yen, it ain't exactly a cheap snack but worth it for a first timer like us.

Being summer in Tokyo, the weather was crazy hot. In fact it was so hot that this was the first time I wore a pair of shorts instead of jean when outdoors. Summer in Japan is great for all the amazing cool desserts and fresh fruits but the heat can kill you.

Cavalock Returns to The Land of The 4.30am Rising Sun

Yah, I know its only been less than four months since we were in Japan but we felt we needed another break from our daily chores so here we go again! This was a pretty last minute trip but we managed to snag a decent room at our old fav hotel Keio Plaza Hotel instead of our now preferred Hotel Century Southern like in March this year.

Well, there's only one way to kick off a Tokyo post and that's with our usual Haagen-Dazs update. Four months isn't that long but we found two new flavours, Aroma Coffee Vanilla and "Hinata Summer Panna Cotta" (thanks to Google Translate). The Coffee Vanilla tasted exactly like what you would expect from the name, in a good way. The Panna Cotta was citrusy with a nice cakey body.

But my award for best ice cream dessert of the trip goes to this deconstructed or reverse-engineered Azuki Bean Ice Cream with Green Tea Crumble from SQ or Singapore Airlines. I know I don't really talk much bout airline food here but yah, instead of the usual green tea ice cream with azuki bean, they did the opposite and came up with this cool dessert. It's so simple yet elegant so has anyone else come up with this?

Man, I swear no matter how many times I visit this island in summer, I can never get used to the 4.30am sunrise. Especially now when the Japanese sunset is like back home around 6.45 or 7pm then you get long days and short nights which forces you outta bed way too early. Still, time is of the essence when one is on vacation!

Cavalock and The KL Express Mission

Dropped into Kuala Lumpur for a quick little gig and was out in less than 24 hours the next afternoon. Wish I had time like before to sample the local food but was only 'restricted' to mall food cos I didn't wanna miss my flight back. Spotted Church's Texas Chicken at Mid Valley mall and decided to have that for lunch as I really like their chicken back home. What surprised me was how similar to KFC. Now the Texas chicken in Singapore was more buttery and had its own distinct flavour while the one I had in KL just kinda tasted like KFC in KL. Strange and a wee bit disappointing.

Apart from that, the rest of the trip was pretty interesting. Found their popular Comics Mart at the same mall and managed to grab a couple of elusive Warhammer miniatures. I believe it's even cheaper than the official retail price. Oh, and if you are fan of Jo Malone, it's apparently cheaper there too.

Now it has been awhile since I posted anything from Meidi-Ya supermarket, well, that's probably because I haven't had time to visit the place. Fixed that yesterday and saw some new booze (sometimes I do wonder if it's all just new packaging instead) plus some rather pricy hot chocolate.

Cavalock and The Raw Corn Recreation

It ain't often you get to replicate a favourite restaurant dish as quickly and easily as this but when the baker-at-home saw them Japanese corn cobs on sale at Iroha Mart, a decently-sized Japanese grocery store at Plaza Singapura, for about S$5 we knew we had to give it a shot. About a month ago, we had the best raw Japanese corn ever for almost 3x that price over at Suju Mandarin Gallery.

We bought it and prepped it at home the next morning. Had it raw like it was meant to be, just cut and serve so there was really nothing much to prep. Amazingly juicy and sweet! I had corn juice squirting all over the dining table. With a little miso on the side, just like in the restaurant.

So my Dad spent bout 3 hours every morning for 5 days staking out this little bird nest at Chinese Garden and came with over a thousand shots. Hope you guys like them.

Cavalock and The Eternal Stormcast Eternal Paintjob

I like to think I was terribly busy doing something earthshakingly important but I don't think that's true. What I been busy doing are merely errands that I suspect to be too boring or mundane to write about. And some hobbies such as continuing to paint my Stormcast Eternals figures (see below), playing games and writing stories. In the middle of all that geeky indulgence, I did managed to drop by The Affogato Bar after lunch. Yah, everyone's talking about the joint now. Nicely located next to the Botanic Gardens MRT station. Not bad but I found their coffee a wee bit too bitter for me liking. Be nice if you could choose your coffee or maybe you can? Didn't really asked. I still like me own homemade affogato back in 2009. :)

Oh, I also finally visited the Apple Store at Orchard. I thought the hype has died down but it was still kinda crowded. I know Apple products here are all price controlled and that's why if it comes down to it, I would still rather buy my next iPad at one them Apple retailers at the mall where I can accumulate my CapitalLand Mall points.

Anyway if you didn't know this, the Apple Store conducts these free daily Apple courses upstairs and they are pretty cool. Signed up for a (very) basic Mac course although I didn't really learn anything new as I have already been using the Mac for over a decade, I did managed to ask some other (non-basic) Mac questions that got answered by the staff. I ain't used to using the 'G' word.

Alright! 10 down, 12 more to assemble and paint! 

Cavalock and The Inevitable Return to Warhammer

Hah! Now this is what happens when you take on one too many hobbies. About a month ago, I decided to return to the world of miniature wargaming or the fantasy world of Warhammer to be exact. Actually it's more like the return to painting miniature figures than the gaming aspect cos gawd knows I have been playing all kinds of tabletop miniatures for the better part of my life.

Its been over two decades since I painted any miniatures and back then they were all made of heavy lead, today it's mostly plastic. That green porcelain palette is the same one since those early days of painting in the old family home. And I still suck at painting! Although it is extremely therapeutic but not a cheap hobby. It's really the new Warhammer: Age of Sigmar Skirmish rules that allow you to play a game using only a handful of miniatures that got me back into this British tabletop game. Manoeuvring your army across a terrain-laden table, charging into your opponent's figures then rolling dice to decide the outcome of each fight.

Seriously, why would anyone wanna go to Papa Rich when you can get a better serving of Nasi Lemak at Coconut Club at bout the same price? Been to the Coconut Club more than a couple of times already and the food and service have always been first rate. Introduced the joint to my gaming buddies last week and they loved it. Unfortunately they didn't get a chance to savour their famous chendol as the chef deemed that day's ingredients not worthy enough. But my friend was definitely impressed by their quality control. At least it's another reason to visit the place again with them.

So, really, am I the only guy now who has fond memories of growing up in that neighbourhood? I suppose everyone has heard or read bout the very public spat between siblings over an old house. I grew up in that area and life in the old family home with my late uncles and aunts were the absolute best days of my young life. I have walked past them Gurkha guards numerous times and was once wailing in my aunt's arms cos she wouldn't buy me a chemistry set. I remember one of the brothers would sometimes walk towards River Valley to taboa some food in the afternoon. At night, the road barriers would come down and the guards would change into their black military outfits. I guess back then everyone felt safe in that old neighbourhood.

Cavalock and The Great Corn Collective

What a crazy ass busy couple of weeks. Me Dad was down with a terrible case of food poisoning and I was back in full caregiver mode for an entire week. Daily trips to NUH and all that. Got some writing to do, Lego to build and new boardgame or rather miniatures to play. Oh yah, plus a whole buncha TV shows to catchup, believe it or not, I have yet to watch Iron Fist and last year's American Horror Story and already I'm looking forward to the new season of Fargo. You know Fargo usually has little Easter eggs tied in with previous seasons, well, unfortunately I don't remember much of the previous season anymore. Got to rely on the Internet for that. I'm not ambitious, these days I just got for little pockets of accomplishments or achievements. Hah!

Our regular hangout Suju at Mandarin Gallery is finally done with its renovation and we headed there for dinner after catching Wonder Woman on the big screen (yes, I don't watch every movie on me iPad!). Highlight of that meal has gotta be the Toumorokoshi, a ear of Japanese corn or corn cob done three ways. Grilled, raw and boiled. Raw was the star with its natural sweetness. Amazing.

Me 83-year-old Dad took these shots at Chinese Garden a couple weeks ago. He was there almost every morning staking out the nest. Pretty sure they have all flown the coup by now.

Cavalock and The Early Pasta Pact

Talk about a good deal. I don't know how many of you guys out there have heard of this but I only found out a couple weeks ago (thanks Alvin and Vivien!) that Prego Italian Restaurant at Fairmont Hotel has an early bird menu from 5pm to 6pm every day of the frickin' week.

Seems like a lot of dishes from their regular menu can be found in the early bird menu and I dare say, it's pretty much the same generous portions too. At S$18 you get an antipasti and one pasta dish which is quite noteworthy when you realise just them pasta dishes are about like S$30 on the regular dinner menu.

Had a great dinner there and the joint was pretty empty too. Looking forward to another visit in the very, very near future. I suppose the timing might not be exactly convenient for working folks but the way I see it, an early dinner means more time for board gaming later in the evening!

Believe it or not, I have been on a stationery buying spree lately or to be exact, a Japanese stationery buying spree. From fancy little notebooks to erasable rubber stamps, you wouldn't believe the collection that I have amassed over the last couple months. Take this limited edition Baskins Robbins pen I spotted in Tokyu Hands Japan. I couldn't resist it. There were several different designs and damn, I could only settle for one!

Cavalock and The Gathering of Friends' Shindig

I wasn't exactly enthralled by it when it first opened but believe it or not Muji Cafe has kinda become my go-to place for a cheap and satisfying Japanese cooked meal. Have been to both the Raffles City and Paragon outlets and I got to say the patrons at Paragon are definitely more interesting. Heh, always fun to eavesdrop on doctors from nearby clinics bitching about work. Anyway, the below saba fish with Japanese yuzu soy sauce was the highlight of today's lunch. Not too salty with a nice piece of Japanese radish tucked underneath.

I used to look forward to public holidays as opportunities to take a break from work but nowadays it's more of a chance to organise meet-ups with groups of friends, especially the ones with busy work schedules. This last Vesak Day break saw me at not one but two long overdue gatherings of friends. Starting with a wonderful dinner at a friend's house complete with large tasty slabs of steaks, all beautifully smoked to perfection. Ended the night with an extremely politically incorrect game of Limpeh Says. Don't usually go for party games but this was strangely satisfying. 

The next day was all fun and games at another friend's apartment. Played lots of board games like the award-winning Istanbul, Dragon and Flagon and Vast: The Crystal Caverns. Oh, how I love Vast. This is a unique asymmetric board game. Four of us have totally different roles and play by totally different rules. We are in an underground cave. One of us is the Knight who wins by killing the Dragon. The Dragon wins by escaping the cavern. The Goblin player wins by killing the Knight and the cave wins by killing everyone in it. Yes, even the Cave is an active player! 

Cavalock and The Cook Book Condition

When folks find out I read the occasional cook book, they inadvertently expect me to cook or bake but I don't, well, not as much as I like too. And they find it rather odd that I read books for fun. You'd be surprised to know that most cook books today are filled with numerous fascinating anecdotes. It's rather sad that most Singaporeans today would only pick up a book if it comes with promises of making money or getting ahead in the rat race or something equally dreary. I can never understand why everything has to do with making money. Read for fun and get to know stuff!

Like before I read My Paris Kitchen, I didn't know that the eggs in France are numbered. How cool is that?!? The story of how Momofuku Milk Bar came about is certainly inspiring. All destined for bedside reading.

Yah, been ...er... acquiring more than a couple of reading materials online strictly for our reading pleasure. This is problem when you live in a tiny little apartment and have ran out of storage space for any more books or magazines. And whatever limited space you have left, you are saving for incoming big boxes of boardgames. Hah!

An absolutely satisfying buffet dinner with the guys at Triple Three Mandarin. Tuesday night was Foie Gras Night and the guys definitely had their fill of it. What surprised me was the number of yummy spicy mentaiko dishes available. They would even drizzle mentaiko over the salt-baked fish later in the night. Always fun to meet up over the dinner table instead of a gaming table but the conversation would still steer towards topics like our early Dungeons and Dragons sessions, the latest Marvel movies and buying Lego sets. Trust me when I say a bunch of male Singaporean adults (a couple of them already fathers to teenage daughters) talking bout playing boardgames instead of playing the stock market is a rare sight indeed. Like I said earlier, never could comprehend the obsession over making money.