Mixed Emotions

Hello everybody, I'm back from the land of the Bin Lang Meis. I've been getting alot of mixed emotions lately. I'll be going to start on my new job soon and I'm pretty excited about it. I like knowing new people and also new environments. Guess it's also due to my nature of enjoying new experiences. But on the other hand, I feel some anxiety on the new and added roles I will be taking up. I hope I can do well in them and excel. I am an ambitious person and part of it is taking the risks that comes along with the package.

Anyway, my birthday bash was fun. I like being in the company of alot of friends. They make me feel wanted and "in existence". I've always feared loneliness and crave for company. Think I'll make a poor hermit. As expected I was totally thrashed. Was very greatful for my friends to have sent me back. It must really have peeved them when I finally stood up at home and wave them goodbye. Haha… It wasn't intentional but I had a short span of alertness when I reached home. After that it was hello darkness again.

Another incident that got me thinking was this new girl I am starting to have an interests in. Problem is that until now I do not know what to make of her. Her actions portray that of a playful and non serious spirit that is just having fun. But yet when I do get a chance to meet up with her, which is not often, she comes across as having an interests in me. I do enjoy her company and I think that one of the greatest things that I like about her is that she can laugh at herself and she's oh so very witty. I think I need to take my time in slowly understanding what this girl is all about. Time will tell I suppose. Let's just wait and see.

Good night Singapore.

A new challenge and 我爱台妹

*Blows dust off blog*

Yes, it's been a long while since I wrote anything. I guess I've always been a procrastinator. Whether in work or blogging. Alot of times, I encountered experiences which in my mind I tell myself that I should blog about it, such as the good dinners I had over the past few months, the Bangkok and Bali trips I went and the new people I met, but coming home, I'm either too tired to do it or I decided that I'd rather do something else.

Anyway, highlight of today's post is that I've FINALLY got a new job. Strangely or funnily enough, I was approached by two different headhunting agencies for the same job. In the end, my new employer gave it to the first agency to submit my name. Yeh for them. Now, I'll be moving from Hello Moto to Connecting People. No prizes for guessing which companies those are.

Now this wasn't one of them easy decisions due to two reasons. First being that the job nature requires more delivery and less pre-sales which wasn't what I'm used to. But I reckon it's a good learning experience for me. Second being the package. I wanted a 35% increment from my last job due to potential promotion and increment and among other factors but they were only able to give 25%. Doing the maths, it's really not alot more after I minus away all the various cost. But I think the potential of the job is better than my current one so that helped me made up my mind to plan for mid to long term instead of realising immediate returns. Hope this decision works out for me. Wish me luck.

Next up, for the first time in my life I am planning a huge birthday bash for myself. Ok, strictly speaking, it's not really a bash. I basically only made a flyer to invite almost all my friends to a drink session at Boulevard Bar this friday. I chose Boulevard Bar at Red Dot Traffic Building cause the place is similar to Balcony and Loft but with less of the popularity so that I can hopefully get a large area to myself. Will probably be expecting around 25 to 30 guests. I think this early mid-life crisis is going to set me back by around 1-1.5k but heck, I only live once.

Finally, after my "birthday bash" I'm going to Taiwan. It's been years since I last went Taiwan. I went there 3 times in the past due to my NS. This time I'm going for a 7 days package tour with my mom, sis and brother-in-law. Though it's with family, I'm still looking forward to it. Partly cause I need a holiday and secondly, I would like to revisit Taiwan and finally see it from the eyes of a tourist.

Alot of things seems to be happening over the weekend. The night before I fly, 28th Oct, is where every club, pub and night spot celebrates Halloween. I'll be dropping by the Cowboy Bar's Halloween event for a quick drink. Don't think I can stay late due to the flight the next day. Oh well, guess it'll have to be another year before you see me dressed up as a ghoul.

Taiwan here I come. 我爱台妹. Good night Singapore.

When?

Needed to get this out of my system. When oh when will I get the job offers I've been waiting for!!! Grrr……

Sigh….so much has happened and I've not blogged much recently. Anyway, tomorrow's Fri and another week's over. Shall write about my Bali trip that I went, eating at Canton Wok, Valentinos, etc soon. Till then. Good night Singapore.

Cough…

I have this god damn cough and sore throat for weeks. Seems everytime it gets abit better, something else triggers it off again. Damn and I'm going on my Bali trip in a few days time. Yesterday, my japanese friend who came down on a business trip made a very interesting remark. She said she reads blogs but doesn't have time to blog herself as during her free time, she's either too busy doing something else or too lazy. So she reckons if she does blog, it'll be during office hours. Hahaha….

Anyway, brought her to the usual hawker centres and places of interest which in this case ended up at Mount Faber again. It seems to be my most popular destination to bring tourists. Wanted to go Newton hawker but surprisingly they were closed for 3 days to celebrate the 7th lunar month aka Ghost Month. So we went to East Coast hawker instead.

Ok, now I really need to recover in 3 days in order to enjoy my much needed break thoroughly. Good night Singapore.

Impulse

I bought a 2.5k watch today during lunch. Yes, you heard right, 2.5 thousand buckaroos. I would like to say that it wasn't on impulse but fact of the matter was, a small part of it was. I got an invite for the private sale from Cortina Watches and thought I might go during lunch to check it out. I was contemplating looking through some of the watches and maybe come back the next day to finalise my decision.

Now, when I got there, I realised that there was a brand which I am unfamiliar with but they were offering huge discounts on, Scalfaro. For quite a long time, I was in the market for buying a nice watch and budget have been hovering from 1k to 3k. So this range definitely appealed to me with the massive discounts. The one which I got was originally priced at over 6k list price. That's 4k off! Who can resist such a deal you tell me? Unfortunately, the one which I was eyeing for a longggg time was grabbed by a man who took it just a minute before me. Damn that man! It was a Cap Ferrat Grand Tour Chronograph Dicompax. It was simply gorgeous with it's dual dials and metal strap. It was going for 3k plus but heck, if you are going for a watch worth a couple thousand, what's another right. So there I was, eyeing him and hoping he gave it up but I had the impression that because of that, he felt even more inclined to purchase it, damn.

So there I was, without my treasure but with the deep gnawing urge to satisfy myself with a purchase. So, I decided to get the piece which I had earlier had my eye on before lying on that one he bought. It was kind of an impulse but truth be told, the one that I purchase was rather pretty in itself plus it was cheaper! (consolation? ) So I ended with the Cap Ferrat Grand Tour Small Second. It's a black face piece with a rubber strap. Rather cool and sporty looking. Check it out here, http://www.scalfaro.ch/.

All in all, a very expensive lunch I might say. Good night Singapore

Hog’s Breathe Cafe

As promised, my old blog review on another steak joint…

ok, after hearing so much bout tis place, i decided to check it out yesterday. i've seen it in the past in aus but din managed to try the local wan. it's located at chijmes which is quite a nice spot cuz of all the bars and restaurants. the jap restaurant is damn good but tats for another review.

for the place, it looks pretty much like the steak joints in aus and like the outback steak houses in the states. u know those nice steak house decor and old pictures. we were seated in this cute place call the pig pen with many pig pictures. haha… the waitress tat served us was cute. hehe… think name is rachel or something.

ok, let's dive straight into the food. i ordered the tex prime cut steak with bbq sauce while my fren ordered the blackened steak. the wait time was acceptable i guess cuz there were quite a number of ppl. i tot it was long only cuz i was damn hungry. =p anyway, when it came i immediately regretted my decision cuz the bbq sauce smell was very strong and sweet smelling. i was afraid it would cover the taste of the steak. anywayz, my fren and i shared 1/2 of our steak each. i ordered medium while my fren order medium to well. i hv to say, the steak is VERY good. it's very tender! i am impressed. the blackened seasoning one was better in my opinion but tats just cuz i dun like too much bbq sauce. nonetheless, the bbq sauce one wasn't tat bad either.

now, for the sides i had baked potato. tis wasn't done very well cuz it wasn't piping hot the way i liked it. and no bacon bits. sorry, sucker for tat. the veges though were good. i even liked the broccoli which is rare.

Summary
Accessibility – 8/10 (town leh, how to hiam, park at raffles city only $2)
Ambience – 7.5/10 (not bad, outback feel and nice decor)
Food – 7.5/10 (very good steak but i minus marks for the potato)
Price - 6.5/10 ($30 a steak, total damage ard $40/pax, not cheap but good)
Service – 7/10 (cute waitress plus acceptable service)
All-in-all – 7.3/10 (maths again!)

Steaks

Been awhile since I last posted an entry. I have been meaning to write a short review on a restaurant I used to love but which the standard has since gone to the dogs. The restaurant in question is Dan Ryan's. I used to love going for the large portion lunch menus in the past with the philly's steak sandwiches as one of my favourites. Sadly, the portions have since been reduced and the side dishes gone as well. I wonder why they can't keep the old portions but have succumbed to what, downsizing? like the rest of the economy.

Anyway, like I said, it's been awhile since I last went and over the weekend, when my friend and I were pondering where to grab a nice dinner which offers steaks, I suggested to give Dan Ryan's a go. Big mistake. When we went there, we noticed a quite a full restaurant surprisingly. They were mostly made up of tourists and westerners. As we sat down and looked at the menu, the prices were kinda steep but we thought to ourselves that hey, we don't eat out all the time and might as well order something nice. So I went for the Fillet Mignon steak while my friend ordered the salad. Now, first of all, the service seems alright when taking orders but it took quite awhile to come. We also noticed that just behind us, another table's patrons were also impatient with the waiting and remarked this to the staff at least 2 times. When our food came, I was more than surprise at the presentation. It was the simplest of steak with a few fries and some veges. Not what I would expect when I paid 42 bucks for it. Well, let's not judge a book by its cover we thought so I proceeded to try it out. We had ordered medium well to which I felt the steak was rather raw. And usually from my experience, such a raw steak would be more tender but no, it was very chewy. Basically I was eating a piece of not much seasoned, raw and chewy meat. Definitely one of the worst I've had. I shared this with my friend who gave up after a few pieces. Now this was a person who love her meats. As for the salad, well, we can't complain much as it's basically tossed veges. Very bad experience indeed. This made me think back to another steak place we've been with a totally different experience. I'll post that in abit.

After the disappointing meal at Dan Ryan's, I decided to bring my friend to a place which is starting to become popular amongst the pub crawlers. That's Red Dot Traffic Building. In this little building, there's a total of 3 pubs, namely Skin, Artery and Boulevard. There's also a nice french restaurant there called Le Papillion. I must try it one day. The pubs are rather nicely decorated places which reminds one of the decor from Balcony but a less crowded spot. When we went there, there weren't many people there. We settled for Skin and order some white wine and started to chill. The drinks are about the same price as the upmarket pubs like Loof. Music wise, about the same genre as well. In summary, quite a nice spot if you are looking for something new but not so different from places like Loof and Balcony minus the large crowds.

That'll be all for my short review then. Good night Singapore.