Playground For Life (Glyder)

Sometimes on my day off, I would bring Ooyah down to the playground while waiting for Fadelinah to return home from school. Most of the time, the playground tend to be crowded with boisterous kids running around while a few quiet ones would play on their own, oblivious to their surroundings. Since my butt could hardly fit the slides, I make do by sitting on a nearby bench watching Ooyah from afar and snap away with whatever camera available. It’s kind of therapeutic for me as I watch the kids in the playground … almost like watching guppies in our old fish tank.

And almost typical of the adult environment, you’d have the friendly, quiet and mischievous types. The last one I tend to keep a lookout for since they sometimes bully the kids around them. It’s not that I would pull Ooyah away the moment I see her near to one, but at least be aware. I did see a few in the past who tried to bully her and merely observed as she handled the situation in her own little way. No pushing and pulling involved … just conscious enough to walk away from trouble.

However, on good days such as last Thursday, Ooyah found herself surrounded by kids more to her liking and played with them for almost 2 hours. At first there was an older girl, probably the child of a Filipino expat, who found an instant liking to Ooyah and acted like her big sister. Later on, as fate would have it, a boy around the same age as Ooyah came by and the 2 became inseparable. Love at first sight? Again?

In Darkness Let Me Dwell (Sting & Edin Karamarov)

Almost jumped out of my seat when I saw Sting’s face on Sistic’s website highlighting his one-night only concert on December 8 at Esplanade Concert Hall. Finally he’ll be singing his solo hits, or so I thought. Turned out he’ll be accompanied by lutenist Edin Karamarov doing songs from the critically-acclaimed album, “Songs from the Labyrinth” – a personal tribute to late 16th-century Elizabethan composer, John Dowland. They’ll also be joined by British a cappella choir Stile Antico.

Edin who? John who? Stile who?

Damn it. I know it’s going to be full-house even though ticket prices will be similar to when he last performed here with The Police, with some going at $600 a pop. I love his voice, but do I really want to join a bunch of arty-farty folks seemingly mesmerised by songs most have no clues about.

Why can’t he just belt out ‘Shape Of My Heart’, ‘Fragile’, ‘Englishman In New York’ and the likes? At least I won’t hesitate to drop by the nearest Sistic outlet to purchase the tickets. I think I’ll leave this one to the gang to decide.

Or we could just use the money to top-up the expenditure of our next holiday.

Graduation Day (The Four Freshmen)

Ayah, Ibu and I attended Fadelinah’s NIE graduation ceremony at Nanyang Technological University yesterday. A second one will be held on 26th July under the university’s own graduation event. The noticeable difference would be that the graduates in the former weren’t donning their mortarboards but will in the latter. It was especially sweeter for Fadelinah since she was receiving her book prize for being top student in her batch for the Malay language.

It didn’t come easy for her. I should know since I witnessed everything that she had to go through while pursuing this particular degree. From walking the steep slopes of NTU to attend classes while still pregnant with Ooyah, going through with her examinations while down with high fever and putting up with backstabbing jealous classmates who tried their best to see to her downfall. Thank yous need to be extended to the real friends who stepped up to help her in times of need and provide encouragements. You know who you are and God willing, you’ll have your own rewards soon.

The countless nights that Fadelinah slogged away till late reading up on her materials and other books that I believe to be of a foreign language and not Malay also helped. That Bahasa Baku can really mess with your head. I would be the first to be thrown out of class if I ever attempted to do what she did. So artistic yet meandering in its own way.

‘Ahmad pergi pasar nak beli ikan. Ikan bau busuk. Ahmad balik tak beli ikan. Mak dia marah. Ahmad nangis.’

Now that would have been my standard of the Malay language. Is it any wonder why my former Malay language teachers hated me?

Anyway, Fadelinah along with her other prize-winning schoolmates deserved the accolades for the amount of hard work that they put up. It was also impressive to see many Malays walking proud past the stage with their scrolls, with some even topping the subjects normally monopolised by other races. It was not surprising to see 4 of those faces on the front page of Berita Harian today, with the following page highlighting their achievements.

The times they are a-changin’ and hopefully in the future it’ll turn out even better for the Malay race. I also hope that Ooyah will go even further than her Mama. InsyaAllah. As it is, with the speech by Minister of Education and Second Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen, pertaining to MTeach, a new Masters programme with its first intake expected in 2010, I’m all for it that Fadelinah pursues that one too. No point stopping if you’re capable of even higher standards.

By the way, the book prize turned out to be a $300 value Borders card and not one from Toko Haji Hashim as I predicted.

Launch And Landing (The Lost Patrol)

De Dietrich’s newest showroom at Cendex Centre was launched last Wednesday night to much fanfare as guests were briefed on recent accomplishments by the company in supplying their products to major residential developments, including an exclusive one in Hong Kong, beating a competitor at the last minute without the client ever seeing the actual products live. Quite a feat by any standard.

The invited guests included well-known chefs, developers and designers, with host Vivienne Tan anchoring the whole event.

Upon the revealing of the new showroom, De Dietrich has without a doubt one to rival that of Miele and Gaggenau. Very impressive with their latest models displayed prominently at functioning modes for prospective customers to have hands-on experiences. There’s even a cooking booth with a counter for guests to sit around while the chef whip up some magic.

One can’t help but feel that almost all the latest De Dietrich models were predominantly glossy black in appearance with the graphics on the LCD panels lending the only colours to them. The bottom line … they look great. I was especially attracted to the refrigerators since it can sometimes be a handicap when clients contemplate the brand they’d like to have in their kitchens, due to the fact that the competitors could offer everything under one brand yet when clients opt for De Dietrich, they have to use a different brand for the refrigerator. The other notable inclusion in De Dietrich’s lineup of products was the downdraft hood that elevates from the countertop at variable heights when in use, yet be flushed after use.

Looks like I’ll be recommending a lot more De Dietrich appliances to my clients.

Mad Not Mad (Madness)

Been hearing quite good reviews about Mad Jack and so far we’ve checked out one of their outlets at Simpang Bedok. Service was friendly and prompt, much welcomed compared to the crappy ones we’ve experienced from other Halal eating establishments recently. Food quality was generally better than most, though we’ve tasted better ones based on some of the dishes we ordered. I couldn’t help but feel shortchanged on the rib eye steak I ordered though. It was quite thin compared to what I usually get for around the same price from Mak’s Place, Spize and Eatzi.

But still … worth returning to sample more of the food in their menu.

UPDATE 130708

The Bukit Timah outlet does not do justice to Mad Jack’s reputation. Servings seem smaller, not as tasty, and not as children-friendly as the one at Simpang Bedok. To be avoided at all cost.

Break On Through (The Doors)

It’s about time that I post one of The Doors classics.

37 years since his death and not one has come close to rival The Lizard King.

Food For Thoughtlessness (Dylan Donkin)

This one takes the cake. It’s bad enough that the food quality don’t match up to its competitors, having rude staff surely isn’t going to enhance its popularity. I’ve seen this particular place a couple of times when I walked past Beach Road and always thought of giving it a try, instead of patronising the usual ‘ayam penyet’ places around Singapore. Our favourite Ayam Penyet Ria along Joo Chiat Road has already moved to Tampines Mall and since we were quite hungry by the time I finished work last night, I suggested that we check the place out since it was nearer.

We ordered the same food like what we usually ordered at Ayam Penyet Ria, like chicken, fish, prawns and a few other dishes. When the waiter sent them over, we were rather disappointed by the size of the servings which were about half the amount that we usually get at other places. Never mind … perhaps the recent food price inflation was the cause. As long as they tasted delicious, it’s forgivable we thought. Suffice to say we were disappointed yet again.

Everyone was keen to get out of the place as soon as possible and Fizah went over to the counter to ask if the staff could wash the milk bottle a bit and fill it with warm water for us to prepare another batch for Ooyah. It is normal for any family with a toddler or baby in tow to request this from any eating establishments and basically all will gladly do it without charge, though we always have money ready just in case. Warm water at around 20 cents maybe? I don’t really know since out of the many restaurants, cafes and coffee shops I asked be them local or abroad, not one wanted me to pay a single cent. I guess any decent human being out there would do the same since it is meant for the young ones.

Not with Ayam Penyet House though. It would not be fair for me to say that all the staff in that damn place are penny-pinchers, but I will single out one particular bitch that is. Basically the only Malay staff in that place I presume? The one manning the cashier, wearing her hijab and all yet having the heart to actually call the Indonesian guy who passed the filled milk bottle over to Fizah without charge minutes before, to go to our table and ask us to pay 50 cents for the warm water. Such a negligible amount yet upon looking at her staring from afar as though we were going to run off albeit already having paid $46 for the whole meal really pissed me off.

Dasar minah Melayu bangsat. Pakai tudung tapi otak macam babi. Kau belum ada anak lagi kan? Kau mati2 nak 50 sen tu pasal kau tak cukup duit nak beli seluar dalam kat pasar malam kan? Kesian aku kat kau … dah lah muka buruk, perangai pun buruk. Bangga eh kau kerja jaga cashier kat tempat tu? Kira rasa macam satu tempat tu semua kau punya lah eh? Konon2 kau boss lah eh? Pegidahhhhhh!

OK … just had a mat kental moment there.

Anyway, I hope that place sinks deeper than the basement that it’s already located at. Mediocre food business … you serve terrible food but with excellent staff service … or you serve delicious food but with crappy staff service … either way people may still come back. You just simply can’t do both badly.

Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer (Tom Tykwer)

With a title like that, you can’t blame me for passing on watching the movie. When I first heard of it more than a year ago, I thought it was one of those teen horror flicks starring the likes of Paris Hilton and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Perhaps movies are meant to be watched without paying too much attention to their titles, cast of stars and critical acclaims. I definitely learnt my lesson last night.

Came back from work, took my bath and dinner as usual and eventually flicked the channel to Star Movies. Saw what was the start of a movie that I had no clue to its title and somehow both Fadelinah and I remained transfixed to the screen, mesmerised by the Tim Burton-ish images and narrations which we found compelling and prevented us from switching to another channel. Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer was such a macabre yet beautiful movie.

Apart from Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman, we didn’t recognise any of the other actors. The storyline was so unique, offering a breath of fresh air compared to the run-of-the-mill scripts that most movies nowadays are based upon. And we didn’t realise almost 2 and a half hours had passed by the time the movie ended. Of course it being Singapore and all, some scenes were cut (orgy?), which we discovered while checking for further details from the internet afterwards. The movie was immensely successful in Europe yet considered a bomb by the Americans. No surprises there.

To summarise, the main character has an extraordinary sense of smell that he can decipher every single component of a whiff and determine its origin and even follow its trail. Having apprenticed in a perfumery, he developed an obsession in finding the perfect perfume, through dark and unconventional methods. Heck … I’m not doing justice to it with my brief summary. The movie needs to be watched to be appreciated.

I could wax lyrical about the movie all day but I’ll refrain from doing so. In my opinion, it’s one of those thought-provoking rare gems that somehow went unappreciated by the masses and as usual, some people will hate it and some people like yours truly will love it to bits and probably watch it again. The un-cut version of course.

Planets, Rivers And Ikea (Bendik Hofseth)

One of my favourite furniture stores in Singapore, though I find myself going there less often nowadays. Used to go to their old location near Sea View Hotel in Katong on a monthly basis and remember getting almost every furniture in my room from Ikea. The other 2 that offered some competition to them back then were Habitat and Actus. Sadly both have closed down their businesses years ago. However, Ikea remains strong with now 2 separate stores catering to the masses at opposite ends of the country.

Having experienced the quality of Ikea’s furniture and now working in the industry, I basically shun away from ever purchasing another furniture from them. The only things worth buying from the store would be stuff you don’t have to sit, sleep or work on. No major furniture item worth spending more than $100. That leaves things like stationery, crockery, frames and the odds and ends to store CDs and the likes.

It was my first visit to the Tampines branch last night and was quite impressed by the size and the in-house cafeteria. Obviously, having come straight from work, the cafeteria was our first stop. There’s even a Nasi Padang stall serving Halal dishes. Some good stuff at the ‘Halil’ section too, like the Daim cake.

The only things we bought last night were a children table set with 2 chairs, an easel set and a small red tent for Ooyah. Didn’t get anything for myself as the products on display hardly changed much and the prices weren’t attractive enough. Same old same old like the ones at the Alexandra branch.

If anything, it was an enjoyable trip for Ooyah as she ran riot through the whole store checking out every furniture and even making friends.

Outta My Head (Ashlee Simpson)

I can’t get it outta my head. Period.

I don’t like her. I think her songs are crap. Her sister isn’t any better.

But yet … every time I hear it being played on the radio … subconsciously my feet starts tapping and my head moves up and down like those stupid bobble-head toys.

I hate myself. Ay Ya Ya …

Island In The Sun (Weezer)

Our very first cable car ride yesterday. Understandable for Ooyah given her age, but not so for her parents. Blame it on that cable car tragedy in 1983 that left me never wanting to take a ride on one, although it was so popular back then. Due to Ooyah’s never-failing excitements at seeing the suspended cable cars (she calls it Ku-kun-ka) every time we pass by Vivocity, we decided that it was about time we experience the actual ride since 25 years have gone by without another accident. It was also an excuse for us to visit Sentosa for some sun, sand and sea.

The cable car ride from Mount Faber to Sentosa took around 10 minutes. Not commendable for those with vertigo, especially when the car rolls off the edges of the stations. Ooyah was freaked out in the beginning but quickly enjoyed the ride till it ended.

My pet peeve would mainly be with some of the staff managing the stations, especially the lady at the Mount Faber station’s entrance that merely pointed me to the aisle entrance with nary a smile when I enquired, yet suddenly greeted me so enthusiastically (almost Barney-like) less than 3 minutes later when I passed through the aisle. I understood why when she presented a folder with a badly taken photograph of the 3 of us in front of a cable car backdrop, that some photographer took along the way and asked if I wanted to purchase them at $20. In the first place, the picture was so out of focus that it made my mobile phone camera look good. Secondly, charging $20? How many stupid tourists would even pay such an amount? Just another case of a Nikon-toting amateur bringing disgrace to the brand. Whereas for Little Miss Barney, she turned cold the moment I declined.

Anyway … the sun decided to take the day off. What transpired was 3 hours of rain before we managed to see the horizon clearly from our table at Club Islander on Palawan Beach. Kudos to the staff at Club Islander for making us feel comfortable while waiting for the rain to die down and for attending to our needs. We basically stayed within its grounds till we ended our little beach romp.

Next on the list would be Ooyah’s other fascination, Phhhlierrr. I mean Singapore Flyer.

Surprise Party (Bob Burger)

A surprise birthday celebration was thrown by Cik Yah’s only son, Jani, last Tuesday night at HomeTeamNS Pasir Ris Holiday Chalets. Most of the relatives had arrived by 9 pm though the guest-of-honour accompanied by her children were still stuck at the Causeway, along with most of the food for the occasion. Luckily, there were chicken wings and hot dogs being grilled outside the chalet by some relatives because I was really hungry having come straight from work. Even the kids’ Japanese crackers weren’t spared as I stole a few.

Ooyah was like a mini celebrity as most of the kids surrounded her the moment she stepped in. She definitely has lots of cousins compared to yours truly. Fun times ahead for her no doubt.

There was something about the chalets’ grounds that gave us the creeps. It’s not as though the 50-odd of us in the big chalet that night didn’t create enough ruckus, but the surroundings felt weird. Right from the moment we tried looking for a suitable parking spot, to the point that we let Ooyah play around with her cousins at the playground. Maybe the pitch black silhouettes of the surrounding big trees played with our minds. I recall only one particular chalet on a hill somewhere in Changi that made me feel worse. Now that one evokes only images of Cik Pon looking down from the trees.

Anyway … about 2 hours later the birthday girl arrived, followed by the obligatory cake cutting and presents giving. A few songs shared and a few tears shed. It was one touching birthday celebration. Happy 50th Birthday Cik Yah.

All Seats Reserved (Silva)

Always one to stay away from the lunch time crowd, I was forced to be amongst them at Funan’s Food Junction this afternoon, after having dropped by one of the nearby shops. My stomach was already growling, having not had a proper breakfast earlier.

Upon paying for my pineapple rice and barley drink, I went looking for an empty seat. Saw a few empty seats away from the crowd and went over only to see 2 packets of tissues on the table. The table next to it had another packet. Typical CCC method of reserving tables. Never mind. I was still in a good mood after my pleasant encounter with the shop staff. Give chance for today.

Scanned around and saw most of the seats taken until I managed to see what seemed like an empty table for 6 at a distance. I always try not to sit at such a big table when I’m alone. Wasting precious space right? Though I’ve seen people doing it before, I’m not about to join the club. I didn’t have much choice this time around.

What luck! Seats unoccupied. Plonked my butt on the chair and was about to eat until one teenage girl came by and curtly said “Sorry. These seats reserved already.”. I looked at her and asked “With what? I don’t see anything.”. “There!” she replied while pointing to a little bottle of disinfectant in the middle of the table hardly more than 10 cm high. “That’s not a person.” was my short and simple answer while I continued eating. She was stunned and I could hear her father calling her to look for other tables instead.

Good move Papa to the imbecile. You were just 1 reply away from me cursing your whole generation and those of your kind who think packets of tissue papers and in this instance, a little bottle, are superior to a human being.

And I Love Her (The Beatles)

One of only a few that I like from The Beatles. Nice and slow, though I find myself more attracted to this alternate upbeat version.

Maybe it’s the sepia tone images. Perhaps even the natural goofy acts. I don’t know.

Incredible (Mary Mary)

Bloody Mary … Bloody Mary … Bloody Mary …

You could have jolly well made it funny using hopping vampires rather than try making an episode based on her. Ask any Singaporeans if they know what Bloody Mary is and most likely they’ll refer to the vodka and tomato juice cocktail, not a Western mirror-trapped ghost.

Running out of local ghosts to feature is it? And what’s with the campy special effects? Still getting your ideas from old Indonesian supernatural movies? Or have your colleagues at Sensasi influenced you into thinking Singaporeans love such movies? And that Angmoh professor really added to the mystery … really.

The people responsible for last night’s episode have better prospects operating a getai show. Throughout the whole Incredible Tales series, I can only recall a locally made one that was actually scary … that of the Sungai Api-Api Pontianak. The rest that made the grade tend to be those produced by their Malaysian and Thai counterparts. I ended up having a headache after last night’s episode, mainly because of the 3 shrieking ‘banshees’ who overdid their acts of fear. Crappy acting with irritating voices run in other races too it seems.

Amazing how they can’t make simple scary shows anymore.

Fair & Square (John Prine)

Gizmo Geek was at the PC Show in Suntec City last Friday and today. The first visit was only to recce for gadgets worth parting my money with and also to collect pamphlets highlighting the promotions various companies at the event were having. Items in mind included an external HD and a bluetooth stereo headset. It’s amazing how prices can drop from the first day of sale to the last. I saw prices tumbling down to almost $1000 for some things that unfortunately I wasn’t interested in. And it also helps if one is friendly enough to the sales staff, getting away with freebies normally set aside for higher cost items.

The 320GB WD Passport Elite will come in handy in storing my work and personal stuff, especially of precious pictures from my junk-filled desktop and laptop at home. I need something really portable so I wasn’t really tempted by those larger models that offer 500GB at a slightly lesser price. I got myself the bronze one together with 2 ‘free’ softwares. The Jabra BT620S was available at an irresistible price and the sales staff let me have it without having anything to trade in as specified by the company. She even gave me a car plug-in charger and lanyard with stylus, both really useful for my mobile phones. I’m sure the sound quality of similar sets from Sony and Nokia probably sound slightly better, then again I would need to pay double what I paid for the Jabra one.

On the whole, it was worth having to go through those slow asses at the fair.

Oranges & Lemons (XTC)

Just 4 of my favourite faces that have been keeping me up till 5am daily since Euro 2008 started.

At most times, I did make it through watching the matches played by the various national teams, though sometimes sleep simply took precedence when some teams played way too defensively and I awoke only to see the predictable results a few hours later.

I can’t really be bothered whether France or Portugal wins the tournament, but seeing players like Ribery and Ronaldo run rings around the opponent’s players is something else. OK … the latter is almost like one freaking fragile glass sometimes; dropping to the ground at the slightest touch. But nobody can deny his talent. Whereas for the former, the guy’s extremely hardworking and I have the utmost respect for such players.

Whenever a major tournament like this or the World Cup takes centrestage, I always hope for either Italy or Netherlands to win it. Though Italy has the honour of winning the last World Cup, Netherlands remain for the past 2 decades since their Euro victory, failures. The perennial players unrest seemed to be the contributing factor to their dismal performances. That’s not to say they don’t have talented players, just that some of their heads have swelled up way too big for their own good.

The current batch managed by the great Marco van Basten however, seems to have their act together. Anyone who has seen Netherlands’ last 2 matches would know how far this particular team can go. Their frighteningly fast counter attacks with mesmerising tricks by their stars have seen the downfalls of recent World Cup winners France and Italy. I’m not talking about single goal victories but major ass whooping. It’s bloody crazy and no other team can deny them winning the tournament with such class.

Hmmm … enough drooling. Now if only Ribery, Ronaldo, Pirlo and Robben quit their current club teams and join Arsenal.

It’s Over (Level 42)

Strange how I was looking for this gem from Level 42 yesterday and now it rings true for some people we know.

Our hearts go out to the young one.

Talking Book (Stevie Wonder)

Tags on the frivolous I’ve done, tags about books definitely not my territory. Firstly, my only reading material nowadays tend to be the daily newspapers I grab off the racks of 7-Eleven, that too only of articles with attention-grabbing pictures or really bold headlines. I’m usually done with all the flimsy pages by the time I’m halfway to work. Well, sometimes all the way to the showroom if Tuesday’s DL or Saturday’s sale advertisements manage to widen my attention span.

I used to read a lot … way, way back in primary school when I would buy a book everyday from a bookstore in Tanjong Pagar with my hard-earned pay of $5 after helping my mum at her stall. My favourites back then were those by Enid Blyton and I would usually be finished with them over a few hours. Sad to say, my whole collection was sold to the local rag and bone man for a small sum when my family moved to Hougang. Not a single one to pass down to Ooyah.

In recent years, I sometimes buy books whenever I find myself inside Borders or Page One, real thick ones at times, with the intention of actually reading them someday. Truth be told, they’re still in immaculate condition inside the study room’s book shelves. Maybe a few with some stains because Ooyah managed to grab them after eating her porridge.

So Bavani … since you did give me some leeway with regards to the type of books I can feature, here goes …

1. Pick up the nearest book.

Let’s make it easier. I’ll just pick the one I last read to the end (about 5 years ago). It’s Vitruvius’ The Ten Books On Architecture.

2. Open to page 123.

Page 123 is just 1 page shy of a full graphic one. That would have been sentenceless.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

But if such a temple is to be constructed in peripteral form, let two steps and then the stylobate be constructed below.

4. Post the next 3 sentences.

Next, let the cella wall be set up, recessed within the stylobate about one fifth of the breadth thereof, and let a place for folding doors be left in the middle to afford entrance. This cella, excluding its walls and the passage round the outside, should have a diameter equivalent to the height of a column above the stylobate. Let the columns round the cella be arranged in the symmetrical proportions just given.

5. Tag five people, and acknowledge the person who tagged you.: Forget five, I’m tagging every single person on all the beaches around the world who find reading much more enjoyable than plunging into the open sea. Bavani tagged me one.

I know. The sentences are rather mathematical in a way, and that’s precisely what the book is all about, an English translation emphasising the principles of symmetry, harmony and proportion in architecture, as set by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a Roman architect in the first century B.C.. It is basically the Bible by which later famous architects like Michelangelo and Palladio adhere to and a major influence on major buildings around the world. Personally, it instilled within me a greater love for architecture and made me anal-retentive when it came to my own designs. Must be symmetrical … must be anthropometric … you get the gist.

Enough said. Should you ever find yourself inside a building like the Pantheon, Coliseum and the likes, just look around you and appreciate the structure that led to their majestic form.

That was Vitruvius’ philosophy at play.

Pump It (Black Eyed Peas)

Possibly the main reason why Singaporeans are barred from getting petrol at Malaysians’ prices. Definitely gives a whole new meaning to mobile porn.

Will the owner of vehicle number SGU4861L please refrain from fucking the car in public. You’re a disgrace to every single Singaporean.

Malaysians, please knock some sense into him and his kind the next time around.

FUCKING IDIOT!

Gathering Pace (Relativity)

BSH held a dealers’ gathering at Raffles Culinary Academy last Friday night; the typical affair with chefs preparing food for the guests and waiters serving drinks freely throughout the event. William even took the trouble to check with them if the food contained any pork or lard since I was 1 out of only 2 Malays in attendance and an Indian chef personally brought out a plate of tandoori salmon for me. Nice gestures indeed.

It was my second time at the place. The first one was almost a year ago when Raffles Culinary Academy became BSH’s partner with regards to providing cooking classes and demonstrations for their Gaggenau and Bosch customers. A well organised and impressive kitchen set-up conducive for such events. Of course almost all of the mid to high end appliance brands have their own kitchen studio within their companies’ compounds. The best looking ones so far have got to be Miele’s at Winsland House and BSH’s at Jalan Pemimpin. De Dietrich has just moved their premises so I’m not sure how their new kitchen studio looks like.

As it was a business affair, a rundown on BSH’s products current market situation was inevitable, presented by Denise and her boss. No lucky draws this time, though every single dealer who came was guaranteed a brand new Bosch refrigerator for display in their showrooms and after a year, theirs to keep. If only they’d let me display one in my own place.

The Long And Winding Road (Will Young & Gareth Gates)

The countless sleepless nights mugging through your books … putting up with your babies’ needs … enduring the exams while down with high fever …

You made it. And with honours too. Congratulations.

We’ll throw a little private bash for you after your convocation alright.

Sleepover (Sacred Hoop)

We had a sleepover at Jarrod and Geetha’s place last Saturday night, since it was my monthly Sunday off the next day. The inflatable bed that we brought along came in handy and luckily there was just enough battery power to pump the air in, otherwise I would have a hell of a time trying to blow it up myself. Later in the evening, we dropped by Mak’s Place for supper as Jarrod and Geetha have never been there before.

The next day started off with breakfast prepared by the 2 in-house chefs, followed by hours of lazing around the apartment watching television and the obligatory dip in the swimming pool for Ooyah, who was sporting her latest 3-piece bikini ensemble.

We had a great time all thanks to the couple’s hospitality.

Shifting Sands (Bob Devos)

 

Breaking away from the traditional launches at hotels and showrooms, Brandt Asia held their latest at Coastes in Sentosa. There weren’t any carpeted floors, shimmering chandeliers or elegant displays … just the bare sand, the open night sky and with most of the appliances resting on small platforms and tables. The whole setting was in line with the theme I reckon, with the guests requested to come togged in beachwear. Definitely interesting, though I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching a getai show, with 5 skimpily dressed girls prancing around on stage. Not that I’m complaining, having missed the company’s previous launch tie-up with La Perla. Having to stand on the sand for almost an hour while watching the presentation was rather tiring though, helped in no way by the humidity due to the earlier afternoon rain.

Some of the appliances showcased:

• Washing machine with built-in steam tank
• Induction hob with cyclic control panel
• Built-in coffee machine
• Freestanding microwave ovens

The washing machine with its ability to steam the clothes while being washed supposedly rids them of creases and saves ironing time by 50%, while the induction hob is controlled by simply running one’s finger around the flushed dial. The former was quite convincing with the models going into the crowd and letting them feel the clothes … not the ones wearing them. In my opinion, the latter is just gimmicky. Whereas for the coffee machine and microwave ovens, they’re just products brought in to compete with other brands, albeit with slightly better built qualities.

The thing about launches, sometimes they have lucky draws towards the end of the event and based on past experiences, I have a tendency to land one or two. Last night was another lucky night for yours truly, due partly to a missing winner whose name was drawn out for the first prize, leading to mine being drawn next to replace him. One of Brandt’s latest washing machine models will be delivered to my home by middle of June, though I will most likely leave it inside the box till I know what to do with it. My old Samsung washing machine is still going strong after 6 years. Perhaps I’ll just keep it till we move place. Or I can just sell it on Ebay.

Seafood Platter (Jim Morris)

Going overboard with your order of seafood is not entirely a bad thing, if the food is delicious and aptly prepared as such.

When it comes to our weekly dose of cereal prawns and butter squids, we tend to head down to Mak’s Place and if desperate enough, to the one about a hundred metres away from it, where prices are slightly steeper but the food not as good. That is when we have time to spare.

When we don’t, there’s only one place that we head to, Seri Laut Malay Seafood. Located underneath a HDB block in Jurong West, this place serves reasonably-priced seafood that easily beats those along Upper Changi Road. Sure, if you really want a better ambience and perhaps even tastier seafood, they’ll probably be found in kelongs along the beaches. But this is Singapore.

Our order of shark’s fin soup, butter squids, cereal prawns, sweet and sour sliced fish and hotplate tofu tasted just right. The only thing that tasted a bit weird was the ‘chicken drumsticks in thick soya sauce thingie’. It tasted great at first but was a bit too much on the second helping. The creme de la creme was the chilli crabs accompanied by lightly fried buns.

Funny how I came away from the meal still yearning for those buns, so soft … almost tofu-like.

Androgynous (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts)

One of the true female rockers who’s still in the industry after all these years, and if I do say so myself, much better looking than before … unlike some ageing pop stars.

Between A Rock And A Hard Place (Clarence Carter)

It’s official. Singapore gets the big rock, Malaysia gets the 2 smaller rocks. Hopefully, no idiot dares to raise the issue up again and lay claim to the bird droppings as well.

Enough is enough. Singapore should just concentrate on expanding and upgrading Sentosa, Ubin, Tekong and Hantu. Perhaps even buy over Batam and Bintan.

Whereas for Malaysia … hundreds of islands yet to be fully taken advantage of especially in the north. What good is an island full of bird droppings?

Sovereignty at stake? I doubt so.

The Late Engagement (Poole)

 

We’ve been staying at Teban Gardens for the past 6 days preparing for Long’s engagement ceremony, as well as helping out on the actual day itself last Sunday. While the womenfolks were busy doing their things in the kitchen and living room, I did my little parts of setting up the decorations for the bed’s headboard, inconsistent video-taking and getting down and dirty washing the piles of cookware after the event. Except for the photographer, we used the very same people who serviced our very own wedding in 2005. Aisyah took care of the catering and Nor (our imported mak andam) handled Long’s make-up.

Frankly, this particular engagement was much more elaborate compared to what Fadelinah and I had before. We chose to keep it simple back then and rather go all out on the actual wedding day. Based on what transpired last Sunday, there’ll be a lot more work involved come next year’s wedding ceremony, of which the venue has yet to be decided.

The supposedly 200 invitees seemed much more, and as usual, a few cliques of likeable and unlikable people in attendance; at least in my eyes. Something that can’t be helped, as most who had partake in such ceremonies would know. The only thing I could do when dealing with such people was to avoid as much contacts with them rather than risk shooting my mouth off.

The highlight of the ceremony was the exchange of gifts by both parties, including the terms set pertaining to the dowry and duration of engagement. Whereas for the kids, the sharing of loots after the ceremony encompassing sweets, chocolates and jellies was more to their interest, handed out equally by Ibu.

Future Retro (Devo)

Smeg was officially launched by their new Singapore distributor last Tuesday night. As usual, UKF was invited and we arrived at the APS Lifestyle Gallery to see the old familiar faces of our competitors and trade partners. Smeg products are not new to me as I’ve used them for a few projects before but the launch did showcase a few new additions to the existing models, of which a few did grab my attention. Not the modern-looking ones though, as I simply do not see them posing much competition to the already extensive range provided by other German and Italian brands. I was more keen on the retro-looking models that brings to mind the 50’s era.

Amongst them, a refrigerator with vertical multi-coloured stripes and a matt black gas range with an oblong viewing panel, but the one that takes the cake would be the pink washing machine! Definitely for those with a fetish for the colour pink.

I’m not sure if they’ll complement any of the contemporary kitchen designs I normally do. Then again, I’ve never seen a truly retro kitchen set-up in Singapore.

Faithfully (Journey)

First it was J.D. Fortune taking the place of Michael Hutchence of INXS, now someone has taken over Steve Perry of the legendary rock band, Journey. All thanks to Youtube and the stumped original band member who stumbled upon the videos, Neal Schon.

Introducing Arnel Pineda, the former lead singer of The Zoo, a Filipino rock band who posted their performances on Youtube.