Crabs Ahoy at Ang Mo Kio!

This place is so popular that they have not 1, but 2 queue lines! One for Reservations and one for Walk-In customers.

The place is none other than the famous Mellben Seafood Restaurant.

Friday evening, 7pm and the place is already packed with diners. After taking our orders, we still have to wait over an hour for our crabs to arrive.

Crab Bee Hoon

Pepper Crab

My favourite Chili Crab.

Note the rich gravy thick with egg. Hmmm....

Heehee.. hungry yet?

Photos of great taste

I may not be able to cook as well as the rat but I certainly know how to eat like one. heehee...

Today's dinner was at Ma Maison over at Bugis Junction. This is a restaurant that serves western cuisine but it's been prepared japanese style.

Dinner consisting of Clam chowder soup, cold Japanese soba salad and Pasta Carbonara (ala Ma Maison style).

The Clam Chowder was quite ok according to my friend. I didn't try it because I don't really like clam chowder. But it seemed rather nice... visually at least. The portion was rather generous and it was served in a very 'atas' looking soup bowl with a sprinkling of basil leaves.

Next came the cold Japanese soba salad. This was actually very nicely done. You could taste the freshness of the noodles, and when it was mixed with the mayonnaise on the side, it was simply wonderfully tasty. The crisp salty seaweed flakes set off really well with the fresh cabbage and tomatoes. The ham strips were not just fat but nicely lean.

There was a little bit of a disappointment when halfway through eating, we found a piece of what seemed like a small chip of porcelain in the salad. We called the waiter over and they quickly apologized and replaced the salad. So I guess no harm done. Kudos to the restaurant.

Now we come to the main course - the Pasta Carbonara ala Ma Maison style. I was kinda expecting my carbonara to be stewing in a rich creamy-eggy sauce. But this particular pasta was not done that way. It was a dry sort of carbonara. It turned out to be quite tasty although it didn't really look or taste much like a conventional carbonara. The table had a pepper grinder which had the most aromatic and finely grounded black pepper I've had so far. And this went very well with the pasta.

All in all, a very satisfying meal in a nice cosy environment. I think I'll be going back there again for dinner soon. The bill was quite reasonable too. Next time, I think I'll try the hamburger steak. If the window display is anything to go by, it should be just as good. hmmmm..

4 out of 5 Chomps.

My new Objects of Desire

Two new, extremely drool-worthy DSLR bodies have been just released by Nikon.
Sheesh.. when am I going to be able to get my hands on one of these babies?

Nikon D3
The latest Professional grade DSLR from Nikon.

• First ever Nikon DSLR with a Full-Frame (36 x 24 mm) sensor (coined FX format)
• 12.1 megapixel full-frame sensor (8.45µm pixel pitch)
• ISO 200 - 6400 (with boost up to ISO 25,600)
• Super fast operation (power-up 12 ms, shutter lag 41 ms, black-out 74 ms)
• New Kevlar / carbon fibre composite shutter with 300,000 exposure durability
• New Multi-CAM3500FX Auto Focus sensor (51-point, 15 cross-type, more vertical coverage)
• Auto-focus tracking by color (using information from 1005-pixel AE sensor)
• Auto-focus calibration (fine-tuning) now available (fixed body or up to 20 separate lens settings)
• Scene Recognition System (uses AE sensor, AF sensor)
• Nine frames per second continuous with auto-focus tracking
• Eleven frames per second continuous without auto-focus tracking
• Ten / eleven frames per second continuous in DX-crop mode (AF / no-AF)

and loads more features.

Nikon D300
The new semi-professional DSLR

• 12.3 megapixel DX format CMOS sensor
• Self-cleaning sensor unit (low-pass filter vibration)
• ISO 200 - 3200 (6400 with boost)
• Super fast operation (power-up 13 ms, shutter lag 45 ms, black-out 100 ms)
• Shutter life 150,000 exposures
• New Multi-CAM3500DX Auto Focus sensor (51-point, 15 cross-type, more vertical coverage)
• Auto-focus tracking by color (using information from 1005-pixel AE sensor)
• Auto-focus calibration (fine-tuning) now available (fixed body or up to 20 separate lens settings)
• Scene Recognition System (uses AE sensor, AF sensor)
• Picture Control image parameter presets (replace Color Modes I, II and III)

Happy Birthday Cheekboo!

Dear Cheekyboo,

Happy Birthday!

I hope you've had a great time at your birthday party! I wish I could be there too, joining in the fun. Your Mom is a pretty good party planner.

I'm sure you got lots of presents too. Remember to thank all the nice uncles and aunties for the presents. And also to thank your Mom for throwing you such a wonderful party.

I'm sorry that I haven't sent you any presents but I'll have a little surprise for you in October.

Anyway be a good little girl and don't be too naughty eh.

Hugs,
Uncle JH

Isn't it great to be a three year old?

Cubicle City

Brand new office, new furniture but same job and same pay. Somethings change but others still remain the same.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my little cubicle at work. It's all spanking brand new and looks pretty 'atas' (read high class) huh. But the white table top is hell to keep clean.

I've also got a niffy little chiller set up under the table but I forgot to take a picture of that. It's a really cool, orange door, mini fridge with a whooping 6 can capacity. I use it to store my stash of coke and wet wipes. I'll try to put up a picture of it later.

Are you on Facebook yet?

Welcome to the World
Introducing the cute and adorable Zachary Ni, born on 6 August 2007 to the proud parents P & M. Congratulations! He totally looks like a 'mini' P.
heehee..

:)

Happy 42nd Birthday Singapore!

More pictures to come later.

Soulmate
Natasha Bedingfield

Youtube Link

Incompatible, it don’t matter though
‘cos someone’s bound to hear my cry
Speak out if you do
you’re not easy to find

Is it possible Mr. Loveable
is already in my life?
right in front of me
or maybe you’re in disguise

Who doesn’t long for someone to hold
who knows how to love you without being told
somebody tell me why I’m on my own
if there’s a soulmate for everyone

Here we are again, circles never end
how do I find the perfect fit
there’s enough for everyone
but I’m still waiting in line

Who doesn’t long for someone to hold
who knows how to love you without being told
somebody tell me why I’m on my own
if there’s a soulmate for everyone

If there’s a soulmate for everyone

Most relationships seem so transitory
They’re all good but not the permanent one

Who doesn’t long for someone to hold
who knows how to love you without being told
somebody tell me why I’m on my own
if there’s a soulmate for everyone

Who doesn’t long for someone to hold
who knows how to love you without being told
somebody tell me why I’m on my own
if there’s a soulmate for everyone
If there’s a soulmate for everyone

10 ways to entertain young children for $1 or less (without the TV)
I know it's never easy to keep hyper-active, 2-3 YOs entertained for long periods of time. I remembered the time when little Cheekyboo had me running around Borders playing Hide & Seek. I was tired out just trying to dodge around the shelves hiding from her. Ahh.. the endless energy of youth.

So when i saw this article, I thought that it would be quite helpful for Saggies.

Saggies, this is for you.

Happy Birthday Saggies!

Instead of counting candles,

Or tallying the years,
Contemplate your blessings,
As your birthday nears.

Consider special people
Who love you, and who care,
And others who’ve enriched your life
Just by being there.

Think about the memories
Passing years can never mar,
Experiences great and small
That have made you who you are.

Another year is a happy gift,
So cut your cake, and say,
"Instead of counting birthdays,
I count blessings every day!"

Even though we are not there to celebrate with you, nevertheless, we hope you'll have a great time over there on the other side of the of the world.

Everyday seems like a Monday

You Tube link

Tai-Qi Master vs Flying Dragon Daggers

First, read these:-

The allegedly 'original' but censored email that was sent out.
Clubsnap 'Kopitiam' Forum Thread

MINDEF takes PM Lee's son to task for contravening orders
CNA, 12 July 2007 2348 hrs

PM's son's army gaffe
Tomorrow, Bulletin of Singapore Bloggers

Then listen to this:-

Swordsman
the mrbrown show

Enjoy!
:D

Welcome to the World
Introducing SL's latest addition to her family, Baby X (because they haven't decided on a name for her yet.)

I went to see them today, and I was quite lucky because not long after I arrived, she woke up and demanded to be fed. So SL very expertly prepped a bottle and started to feed her.

And don't ask me who she resembles because I'm quite hopeless at that. To me, they seem to all look the same at that age but SL thinks she takes after her Dad.

Anyway, congratulations to SL & family on the arrival on their new daughter.

And good luck with the coming sleepless nights. heehee..

Ratatouille
(rat-a-too-ee)When it comes to cartoon-movies, I'm quite the sucker for those inspirational, loser-makes-good, witty and funny cartoons.

And this one contains several things that I particularly love - travel (ahh... Paree), food and comedy.

"Dream Big & Prepare for an adventure that really cooks!"

Heehee... I can't wait to see Ratatouille.

Back to Work
After almost 30 days of reservist, my longest call-up so far, it's back to the daily grind today for me.

Of course I'm not going to pretend that I'm all that enthused about going back to work but I do miss using my brain cells to actually think about stuff; and I missed the cool air-con environment too. heehee...

However, that doesn't mean that my in-camp was a piece of cake; it's just that the stress is more demanding physically than mentally.

Oh, and in case you were wondering if I managed to lose any weight, well, the sad answer is no. But at least I've started running again (my knee and ankle are fine..woohoo!) and I've promised myself to go to the gym at least once a week for starters.

Thieves' Market @ Sungei Road

Thieves Market, in my opinion, is one of Singapore's most under-rated attractions. Not surprisingly, it doesn't feature very much in any of the Tourism Board's official brochures or maps - most probably because the market reflects the seedy and rough underbelly of S'pore life which totally contradicts our usual clean modern city image.

According to information on the web, the market came to be at Sungei Road in the 1930s. And it was called Thieves Market due to the rather dubious nature of the items sold there. While most items are probably bought from the "rag & bone man" or salvaged from the local HDB Housing Estate rubbish dump, some people believe that the items may have been stolen as well.

Most items are displayed on make-shift tables or simply placed on the road. There isn't any governmental control (or least it appears to be so) and stalls are located/placed rather haphazardly around the area, which gives the market a certain old world charm. To me, the market is almost like a living fossil record of Singapore's early roots as a trading post.

There's a whole lot of things that can be found at Thieves Market. It is literally an Aladdin's cave of used items - from shoes to clothes to cameras to books to CDs to tapes to mobile phones etc. You will be amazed at what you can find at the market.

The people who make up the market are quite interesting too. Sometimes I wonder what their lives are like and what sort of stories they have to tell. Among them, there is a old lady who left quite an impression on me. She looked really old and frail, and you wonder if she was really able to have pushed/moved all those things she had for sale here by herself.

I doubt that the market will survive any much longer than 5-10 yrs at this current location, given the current blazing pace of development. The area which the market occupies is only about a 15mins drive away from Orchard road and the main business district.

Thieves Market is generally bounded by Weld Road, Pitt Street, Larut Road, Pasar Lane and Sungei Road. Geographically, the market is located at latitude (1.305 degrees) 1° 18' 17" North of the Equator and longitude (103.8559 degrees) 103° 51' 21" East of the Prime Meridian on the Map of Singapore.

Holy Sh*t

This is a video about some of the latest technology that Microsoft is dabbling with. As you can see in the video, this is pretty amazing and damn cool sh*t.

I won't be surprised if a 'Matrix' type of virtual reality will be available in a decade's time or less even. This technology seems very much to be like the Matrix's predecessor.

Oh, and that BMW ad at the end is pretty cool too.

YouTube link

eh, you sick ah?
That's what people been asking me lately. Strange thing is that I'm not sick.

I think it's probably because I sound more 'nasal' than usual. Why's that? I have no idea eh. Maybe it's because I've been waking up at 6am in the morning everyday to commute for blinking 30mins on the MRT to Camp. That goes to show waking up at unearthly hours for extended periods can do weird sh*t to you ... well, to your voice at least anyway. :P

ok ok.. I won't complain about it anymore. I know some of you probably wake up even earlier than 6am - and you've been doing it ever since school / work / the kid came. Me? I'm only waking up so early because of reservist. heehee...

Admittedly, commuting at 6.30am in the morning does have some advantages. It's still nice and cool, so I don't perspire that much walking to the bus stop. You can actually get a seat on the bus and MRT. But best of all, you get to see Singapore in a very different light.

There's a lot of interesting people that you'll see at such an early hour. The scenery is quite different too because of the morning light. It's not that I've never seen or traveled around so early in the morning. I guess I'm just looking at them from a photographic point of view. You'd be surprise that this little red dot actually still has some rather captivating scenery around. Maybe I'll just wake up early one of these days and see if I can take some pictures.

Anyway, I'm fine....except for a little cough..some aching muscles... itchy mosquito bites...

hmm....ok, maybe I'm not that fine afterall.

Fatigued

Nuff' said. Sigh..

Huff & Puff
Reservist Day 5 (Fri, 1 Jun)

We ran 7km on Friday - a much further distance but at a slower pace.

But even at that slower pace, I was huffing and puffing in no time. The only good news is that my body is not hurting as much as the first time. I suspect the overweight elephant was probably on leave and asked a hippo to stand in for him.

Anyway, it felt good to have been able to complete that distance - even tho I did walk a little bit of it.

Perhaps if I stop eating that much, I might actually stand a chance to lose some weight.

Damn, I shouldn't have had those 3 pratas just then - one of them even had cheese and mushrooms in it! And that milo-peng just really hit the spot in this damn hot weather.

Oh well, there's always the next run again next Tue. heehe..

Ouch!

Day 2 of ICT

I had my first 2km run in about 7 months.

And now my body feels like it’s been trampled over by an overweight elephant, and then some more.

My shoulders ache, my arms ache, my legs ache… you get the idea.

Sigh… it’s going to be tough getting back into shape.

Enough said. I'm going to bed.

Back to camouflage greens
I’m going off next week to do my yearly service to the country. It’s going to be yet another 4 weeks off work. Yeah baby... heehee…

On the other hand, I’m quite worried about how this is going to affect my Project. So in the end, I may still end up going back to the office in the evenings or on Saturday even. Unbelievable huh. I’m turning into the workaholic that I never thought that I would become.

Anyway, I won’t be going anywhere exotic this time round, which is really a pity b’cos I really enjoyed my last stint in Mumbai. Rumor has it that they are exploring Africa as a potential training ground. Woohoo!…African safari – here I come. But damn, I got to buy more expensive zoom lenses to shoot those lions, elephants & giraffes. Crap.

Oh well, at least this in-camp will kick start my attempt to shed the kilos that I’ve gained over the last seven months.

First Deal
Today marks the first time that I'm being officially paid for my services in producing a video montage.

heehee... (cue in scenes of big headed dreams of a large - no, humongous multinational company and loads of moola etc)

My client requested for an Invoice for payment and because I'm already so caught up with my day-job, I hardly have time to think of a company name.

Ok, I know it’s not like a proper company or anything like that but I figured that I had to come up with a name for the sake of producing an Invoice.

So the most imaginative name that I could think of at the last minute before meeting my client today was simply "Hobbes Creative Services."

yeah...damn creative name huh. bleh. But a name is still a name. Any better suggestions? Some of the names I toyed with were like:

1) The Storyteller - nah...sounds like I'm a liar or something.

2) Video montage services - Talk about a very un-creative name. I don't think so.

3) Hobbes & Company - Doesn't really say what I can do. Sounds so un-creative.

Anyway, that doesn't matter now. I'm going to bank in my moola now.

heehee...now if only I win today's 2.5m Toto draw too - my day would be perfect.

The 'M' weekend

Yeah I know this comes a week late but heck, better late than never right?

A & M rolled into town last weekend (12 May 07) because A was going off to Aussieland. So M was kinda depressed. Plus she was still having a slight flu/cough which made her sound really nasal/strange.

No prizes for guessing who's who. Damn... I'm getting fat.

So we met up with M2 for lunch at Waraku. Usually I always enjoyed dining at Waraku but the stoopid air-conditioning at building had broke down that day. So instead of having an leisurely lunch, we had t0 wolf down our lunch as quick as we could and escape to the relative air-con coolness of TCC at Clark Quay. That was where I had that yummy apple shake/ice blend drink.

M may be sick but her appetite sure wasn't affected ... heehee...
:P

It was a pretty relaxing afternoon. I didn't say much but nevertheless it was pretty interesting to hear the news (or gossip depending on your POV) that M and M2 were exchanging.

Pavement Picasso
This is an original Julian Beever (aka Pavement Picasso) Anamorphic Drawing on the pavement just outside of Raffles City, Singapore.

Pretty amazing huh...it's almost like there's hole in the pavement showing another alternate universe.

My VisualDNA

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Dang, this thing is pretty accurate. What do you think? Does this match what you know of me?

Raaaaah!

Heehee... guess what finally came in the mail today.

This is an authentic, hand-drawn, original Danielle Chan art piece, with one of my favourite subjects - Tigers! And as Dannie would say,"Raaaah!" Ain't it simply adorable? heehee.. :)

It's even got her thumb print to certify authenticity.

And so this particular Tiger now lives on my office computer, making sure that no pesky kaypos come around my cubicle.

Thanks Dannie!
:D

Food Glorious Food

I realized that the 'Food' component of my blog has been neglected a fair bit. So here's some pics of what I ate over the last two days.

Apple blended freeze/milkshake
Not bad...nice in a fruity apple creamy way. Not too sweet too. This refreshing cold drink is from TCC (aka The Coffee Conisseur) Two thumbs up!

Grilled pork strips in pepper sauce
This was pretty good, except that the portions were rather miserable, even for an appetizer. (Don't be mis-lead by the picture.) This was from a Japanese restaurant at Bugis Junction. Overall the experience not very good. The food's very average; ambiance is non-existent cos the customers were packed in like a sardine can. Service is sub-standard. I seriously doubt I'll ever go back there again.

Egg omelette with cabbage salad
Another appetizer from the same Japanese restaurant in Bugis. While it looks very good, it failed to taste as good as it looked. It's just a very ordinarily done egg omelette covering a bed of shredded cabbage salad and decorated with mayonnaise and sweet sauce.

Mac Vs PC

YouTube Link
I know I haven't been really posting anything substantial but there's been lots of stuff happening lately that I can hardly sit down and sort my thoughts out.

The next 3 weeks look like they are going to be full as well. Ironically, I think I can only really relax when I start my reservist in June.

In the meantime, enjoy this clip.

Life

Don't you wish you could do this?


You Tube text link

Thriller

You Tube Link

I have no idea what is "Girly Man" but this is damn good for a chuckle or two.

One dark & stormy evening

It's really pouring outside now.
sigh...

Need a laugh or two?

When your brain is pretty much buggered out from work just one day after the weekend, you'll know that you are in dire need of a good laugh. And who better to provide the giggles than Robin Williams? Enjoy!

Warning: The following clips contain adult language, lots of the word that begins with F and ends with K and is totally politically incorrect. You've been warned.

Golf
YouTube Link

Jihad
YouTube Link

For a heavier dose, see here.

KL Redux

Just a few more photos from my KL trip in Feb earlier this year

Caught in Action
Pictures of me in action during a friend's wedding in Jan 07.

When things go wrong, they go very wrong

Damn stooopid, retarded, moronic, #%^!?+)(*#@* nothing-better-to-do security aliens...

They really know how to choose the perfect time to start scanning and plugging security loopholes in my company's IT infrastructure.

All these simply means my project's first module launch is being delayed by situations beyond my control. And don't even get me started on about all the potential programming bugs that might pop out because of the idiotic security alien's handywork.

And you know what the best thing about all these crap is? My boss thinks that I should have anticipated for these problems.

Bleedy hell... and now I'm suppose to be psychic too??

As Murphy's law goes... "Whatever shit can go wrong, will go shit-lessly wrong, and at the worst possible, shity-est time ever."

$&#(!%$)_%*^@&*^%$##@!!!

R2D2


YouTube link

Check out this cool Radio Controlled R2D2. It moves, it beeps and it even has the same red flashing light for an eye. If only it could hack computers like in Star Wars and if they had it in S'pore., it'd be perfect! ...heehee....

Epic Beer Ads
Coming from a country where beer advertising is pretty much limited to the stereotypical girl-in -skimpy-clothes-holding-beer type, these two ads from the aussies and kiwis are fantastic - even making a non-beer drinker (ok, fine, non-alcohol drinker) like me wanting to try it.

Toohey's "For the love of Beer" Ad

Carlton Draught Big Ad
Watch for the part where they go "this ad better sell some blooooody beer".. heehee.. that part always makes me laugh.