YMonday, December 31, 2007' 1:54 PM
My Country Garden
Final post for 2007
Looking back, 2007 has been a great and fulfilling year. Cant remember if i had any resolutions for 2007, and whether or not they have been accomplished, but on the whole, i'm quite happy with how the year's events have panned out.
There is a great deal more to look forward to in 2008, and today's Oprah Winfrey episode served as a gentle reminder that the simple folks are the most contented bunch.
My personal resolution for 2008: To ensure that *quality* food consumption continues to be undeterred by the effects of the seemingly unarrested inflation, while hedging the risks of an extreme weight gain.
Sounds difficult, but i'll try my best! haha.
To all my friends reading this: May the coming 2008 be a blessed and fruitful year for all of you!
Looking back, 2007 has been a great and fulfilling year. Cant remember if i had any resolutions for 2007, and whether or not they have been accomplished, but on the whole, i'm quite happy with how the year's events have panned out.
There is a great deal more to look forward to in 2008, and today's Oprah Winfrey episode served as a gentle reminder that the simple folks are the most contented bunch.
My personal resolution for 2008: To ensure that *quality* food consumption continues to be undeterred by the effects of the seemingly unarrested inflation, while hedging the risks of an extreme weight gain.
Sounds difficult, but i'll try my best! haha.
To all my friends reading this: May the coming 2008 be a blessed and fruitful year for all of you!
YSaturday, December 29, 2007' 12:36 AM
My Country Garden
Since i've been back...
Met up with pang and elaine for dinner + coffee.. unfortunately all photos with pang in it are blurry because elaine has shaky hands... hmmm the side effect of too much fencing?
first meet up with pet since both of us got back! spent the lovely afternoon having tea at royal copenhagen..
with our $38 royal starters for two!
was complaining to pet how i was so stuffed after the starters.. and pet said we're always stuffing our faces into food because we enjoy gd food.. the server at our table said that it's a gd thing that we enjoy our food.. totally agree!
a close up: omelete wrapped in smoked salmon, bacon with mushrooms, salami, cheese slices, and herring served in vinegar..
comes with bread!
my favourite of the lot...
despite feeling so stuffed, we HAD to try the desserts there.. it was the whole point of our visit!
our blueberry cheesecake which was gd
Royal Copenhagen - best for girls' get together..
Despite feeling doubly stuffed after the cheesecake, the 3 of us went carousel (royal plaza at scotts) for buffet dinner!
i didnt know peugeot manufactures salt and pepper shakers, did you?!
Met up with pang and elaine for dinner + coffee.. unfortunately all photos with pang in it are blurry because elaine has shaky hands... hmmm the side effect of too much fencing?
first meet up with pet since both of us got back! spent the lovely afternoon having tea at royal copenhagen..
with our $38 royal starters for two!
was complaining to pet how i was so stuffed after the starters.. and pet said we're always stuffing our faces into food because we enjoy gd food.. the server at our table said that it's a gd thing that we enjoy our food.. totally agree!
a close up: omelete wrapped in smoked salmon, bacon with mushrooms, salami, cheese slices, and herring served in vinegar..
comes with bread!
my favourite of the lot...
despite feeling so stuffed, we HAD to try the desserts there.. it was the whole point of our visit!
our blueberry cheesecake which was gd
Royal Copenhagen - best for girls' get together..Yeah, only if you had the budget too.. total bill came up to $70 - and Pet treated!
And we agreed it will be my treat next time :D
Despite feeling doubly stuffed after the cheesecake, the 3 of us went carousel (royal plaza at scotts) for buffet dinner!I assure you this is the best buffet in sg i've ever had yet!
Food wise, i liked this better to bar and billard room at raffles hotel and triple 3 at meritus mandarin..
But service-wise, nowhere beats raffles hotel..
The most amazing thing about carousel's buffet is that it leaves you full at the end of the meal.
Full, but not sick. I usually get sick of the food after a few rounds at the other buffets but this one leaves you full, yet ur craving for more.
it is like you wanna have another go at the food but ur tummy is telling you there's no more space..
This is a must try for seafood lovers i strongly recommend it. And if you're attempting the sashimi, do ask for SALMON BELLY and SWORDFISH. it's good!
budget: with taxes and svc charge all in, be prepared to spend slightly over 60bucks per person. But it's cheaper than raffles anyway (if i do recall correctly bar and billard cost us $72 per pax)
deserving of 5 stars!
i didnt know peugeot manufactures salt and pepper shakers, did you?!YFriday, December 28, 2007' 1:26 AM
My Country Garden
The death of democracy.
How regrettable indeed.
YWednesday, December 26, 2007' 2:46 PM
My Country Garden
Japan Trip - Part 3 - Tokyo
It's amazing how with each trip you take you learn something new about a foreign culture, and a little more about yourself. Of the entire trip, i enjoyed the Tokyo leg the most- further confirmation that i'm indeed a city person.
Tokyo was such a stark contrast to takayama, where we had just been a day earlier. The city has always been infamous for its rush hour crowd, and even though we arrived in tokyo on a saturday, the crowd did not let up. We frequently found random strangers bumping into ourselves and hurriedly walking away without any apology. So it seems that the city folks were less friendly, although generally helpful nevertheless.
Tokyo is indeed a shopping paradise. GAP was having 50% off and we nearly cleaned out the entire store. There are also many good buys in Shibuya and Harajuku, only if you looked hard enough..
With whatever little money i managed to save from stinging on my regular meals, i splurged them all on: cosmetics, hair products, boots, GAP and burberry (it's actually cheaper in japan!)
Welcome to the 2nd most expensive city in the world!
Akihabara - famous for electronics and anime/manga stuffs
Outside the Tokyo imperial palace
City buildings
Having travelled to the countryside, we formulated the theory that any form of civilisation is marked by two things: STARBUCKS and ZARA
Animals are allowed everywhere in japan. This is a picture of two poodles (white and brown) taken at the GAP store where we were shopping. Unlike the tiny toy poodles, these dogs are really huge and they come up to your waist level.
Fishes at the tsujiki fish mkt waiting to be shipped
Buildings @ shiodome
nice reflection
cutting edge
costume shop @ harajuku
porn is legal in japan and is available almost about any and everywhere
Human element:
At akihabara
Outside Tokyo imperial palace, it was frigging cold that day
With Weili @ one of the restaurants in tsujiki
Tamago yaki
Outside the restaurant
At shiodome
Weili with his matcha icecream
It's amazing how with each trip you take you learn something new about a foreign culture, and a little more about yourself. Of the entire trip, i enjoyed the Tokyo leg the most- further confirmation that i'm indeed a city person.
Tokyo was such a stark contrast to takayama, where we had just been a day earlier. The city has always been infamous for its rush hour crowd, and even though we arrived in tokyo on a saturday, the crowd did not let up. We frequently found random strangers bumping into ourselves and hurriedly walking away without any apology. So it seems that the city folks were less friendly, although generally helpful nevertheless.
Tokyo is indeed a shopping paradise. GAP was having 50% off and we nearly cleaned out the entire store. There are also many good buys in Shibuya and Harajuku, only if you looked hard enough..
With whatever little money i managed to save from stinging on my regular meals, i splurged them all on: cosmetics, hair products, boots, GAP and burberry (it's actually cheaper in japan!)
Welcome to the 2nd most expensive city in the world!
City sights:
Akihabara - famous for electronics and anime/manga stuffs
Outside the Tokyo imperial palace
City buildings
Having travelled to the countryside, we formulated the theory that any form of civilisation is marked by two things: STARBUCKS and ZARA
Animals are allowed everywhere in japan. This is a picture of two poodles (white and brown) taken at the GAP store where we were shopping. Unlike the tiny toy poodles, these dogs are really huge and they come up to your waist level.
Fishes at the tsujiki fish mkt waiting to be shipped
Buildings @ shiodome
nice reflection
cutting edge
costume shop @ harajuku
porn is legal in japan and is available almost about any and everywhereHuman element:
At akihabara
Outside Tokyo imperial palace, it was frigging cold that day
With Weili @ one of the restaurants in tsujiki
Tamago yaki
Outside the restaurant
At shiodome
Weili with his matcha icecreamPlants and such:
Food:
More cakes - japanese pastry is so gd i'd swear by it.
mc pork - the best burger from mac's i've ever had. the patty was juicy! we will never get this in singapore because macs here is HALAL. damn.
latte art!
kyushuu jangara ramen - the best ramen broth i've ever had!
my sushi set @ tsujiki
was never a tamago yaki fan but this was just mindblowing
roasted tea icecream. it beats matcha hands down, anytime!
my last meal in tokyo - guess what's in that box?
the best strawberry cheesecake i've ever had in my entire life! and it costs less than S$3! after the first bite i was so tempted to run out and buy another slice.. but the shop had closed by then.. bummers
meal on the airplane which wasnt half bad!
Food:
More cakes - japanese pastry is so gd i'd swear by it.
mc pork - the best burger from mac's i've ever had. the patty was juicy! we will never get this in singapore because macs here is HALAL. damn.
latte art!
kyushuu jangara ramen - the best ramen broth i've ever had!
my sushi set @ tsujiki
was never a tamago yaki fan but this was just mindblowing
roasted tea icecream. it beats matcha hands down, anytime!
my last meal in tokyo - guess what's in that box?
the best strawberry cheesecake i've ever had in my entire life! and it costs less than S$3! after the first bite i was so tempted to run out and buy another slice.. but the shop had closed by then.. bummers
meal on the airplane which wasnt half bad!As you can see, the food in tokyo is superb. I encounted many of my best foods in this city, which has now replaced Paris as the culinary capital of the world. And for good reasons. The japanese are perfectionists in whatever they do, and they're proud of everything they do. As such, you can expect reasonable standard of food everywhere - even if it is just a fast food chain.
YFriday, December 21, 2007' 12:40 AM
My Country Garden
Part 2 - Takayama
I felt pretty uneasy at this place. For the most parts, it seemed quite eerie to me. We stayed at ryokan murashi - which was located at a very ulu part in the mountains... super cold weather too, it snowed on the 2nd day we were there..
Scenic spots:
The abandoned streets, no people, no cars...
The shops were vacant.. the signboards creaked as the winds blew
At the hidden village of hidan - rice crops were grown in concentric circles around a pole which is supposed to signify God
The lonely swan.. kinda sad
Cottage house
Human Element:
Me eating fish ala survivor style
At the town city
Plants and such:
The food:
A typical breakfast
Crabs
Snails - chewy but tasty, i almost forgot i was eating snails!
Hidan beef slices for shabu shabu.. oh that marbled texture!
not forgetting fresh sashimi of course
more crabs for hotpot
two amazing things about this veggie - it stands on its own! and it tastes good?!
I felt pretty uneasy at this place. For the most parts, it seemed quite eerie to me. We stayed at ryokan murashi - which was located at a very ulu part in the mountains... super cold weather too, it snowed on the 2nd day we were there..
Scenic spots:
The abandoned streets, no people, no cars...
The shops were vacant.. the signboards creaked as the winds blew
At the hidden village of hidan - rice crops were grown in concentric circles around a pole which is supposed to signify God
The lonely swan.. kinda sad
Cottage houseHuman Element:
Me eating fish ala survivor style
At the town city
Plants and such:
The food:
A typical breakfast
Crabs
Snails - chewy but tasty, i almost forgot i was eating snails!
Hidan beef slices for shabu shabu.. oh that marbled texture!
not forgetting fresh sashimi of course
more crabs for hotpot
two amazing things about this veggie - it stands on its own! and it tastes good?!
