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.

Headhunters

Hrmm…haven't been writing much lately. Could be because there's nothing really significant happening to my life or just that I've been lazy. Now, the only thing I seem to be excited about is shopping for a new job lately. I've been rather upset with my current one and I'm sort of looking out for one. Basically, what this means is to let your interests be known in the field and let the headhunters hunt. So far, I've been approached by a few headhunters but the progress seems dreadfully slow. Part of the reason seems to be due to the unavailability of the employers due to scheduling.

Interestingly enough, my colleagues and I engaged in a conversation circling resumes. The reason being that one of my colleagues has successfully been hunted and will soon be parting ways. Now, we were talking about how some people will make their resumes look much more impressive than they really are and basically how to get away with it. We concluded that in order to do so, you must be interviewed by people who are not in this region. Now, most of my peers are in charge of regional work so normally we work with people from different countries. As the world is kind of big, this gives the person abit of advantage in exaggerating their accomplishments. Of course, there's also a risk involve as you'll never know who knows who in this world as well. We've all heard of the six degrees of seperation yah. But over the years, I've constantly come across people whom I've been amazed at what they put into their resumes. "Instrumental in the sale of…", "Achieve 120% target of…", "In charge of closing a multi-million dollar deal…" etc. I've known these people personally and they sure as hell ain't any of those.

Oh well, not sure I can lie through my teeth like them but please wish me luck in leaving this place soon. Good night Singapore.

My Best Friend’s Wedding?

Highlights of the weekend was that I attended my Best Friend's wedding on Sunday. Now, I had also kind of went to join in for the jie-mei vs shiong-di battle in the morning. I was the bride's friend so I was actually on the other side of the gate. After the whole affair and when we finally reached the couple's house, they gathered for a group shot and I was never asked to join in for the shot nor to take any shots. This was then did I realised that I was neither part of the jie-meis nor the shiong-dis. I guess it was then did I suddenly felt very left out and started to ponder why I was really there. Was I really the bride's Best Friend? Or was I just there because I asked the bride whether she needed any help and she felt obligated to ask me along? I guess some people would have said that I am too sensitive. She's probably too busy and it WAS her big day afterall so she might have forgotten about you. But I've always felt that I am very good at reading signals and I have a feeling that I might just be right.

It kind of got worst during the night time when I attended their wedding dinner. I suddenly realised that I was given a seat with all strangers and at the way back of the dinner hall! Now, I do know some of their common friends and I have to say, I was very disappointed in the arrangement. Was this how a close friend is to be treated? Sigh… suffice to say, it was not a very enjoyable dinner and I had to make an excuse and left early. It is times like this that sometimes I really feel I might have expected too much and presumed too much of some of the friendships I have. Maybe we were never really close.

Anyway, I tried my hand at a close up shot of her face during the morning reception. Looking at it now, it's leaves kind of a cold impression. That seems to suit how my heart is feeling now. Good night Singapore.

Mr Brown’s Suspension

Now guess those whose been in the know for stuff that happens on the net would know that the popular blogger Mr Brown has been given the red card and suspended from duties due to an article he wrote in Today. I have always admired Mr Brown as a mature blogger who gives us information in a tongue in cheek manner that is both informative and easy to be absorbed by the common man. I guess this is probably why he is being seen as a threat maybe.

I have to agree with the comment made by Reporters without Boundaries that in some cases, journalist ought to be able to make certain views. There is always a fine line between partisan reporting and accurate reporting. Who can say that during the Iraq or Afghan wars that the US media did not add abit of Americanism into their reports? Now is this right or wrong? I think as with everything in life, it's usually does the cause justify the means. If enough people deems it to be alright, then it's alright. History has taught us time and again that it's always about what is the perceive truth that matters rather than the real truth. Now, this may sound jaded but I think it's the truth (haha… funny the way this sounds). Unfortunately, herein lies the crux, does MICA and SPH want to control the perceive truth? As our circulated media is monopolised, there's probably no other way the common man will be informed en masse about what's alright to do and what's not. We have not reached a critical mass yet in the circulation of information through other means such as the Internet to allow the common man an alternative avenue for information. So now that MICA has instrumented the removal of someone who speaks probably the minds of many, there's little chance of the masses to learn of an alternative view.

I realised what I've just written has became a jabble of words and thought and is probably hard to understand. Too many things in my mind from too many angles. Oh well, shan't bother to rewrite it since no one but myself whose going to read it. Anyway, end of the day, I do hope he gets off alright with this whole fiasco. He seems like a decent enough guy. A man who loves his family and just wants to provide for them. Good night Singapore.