Jiak at Esplanade Mall

I meet L fairly regularly; she's a helper who used to work for the family. She's still in Singapore, but working for another family. She’s still the only one who can make sambal terasi exactly the way I like it. She’s got a good head on her shoulders, and I’ve never found any major fault with her work. I asked her to keep in touch, and she did. I would like to know that she’s well and her current employers are fair to her.

Took L out to lunch. We headed downtown to Jiak Modern Tzechar at the Esplanade Mall. The Chinese-style fishhead curry was decent. It went well with the kampong fried rice which came with a bit of prawns. The beef stir-fried in ginger, like all zichar beef, has been strangely treated to be 'tender', resulting in that weird-tasting typical taste. Ugh. Don't bother with it. The sambal kangkong was good, and the additional side of sambal belachan was okay. We ordered everything in the smallest portions possible. There were only three of us, and my newly-recovered stomach wouldn't be able to take in much food.

It was our first visit to Jiak and we were pleasantly surprised by its food. It wasn't as bad as the previous occupants' offerings. This unit's previous occupants have been ever-changing and their food all sucked, considering the prices. Jiak seems to do okay, and I hope they last for a while. Considering this is a restaurant in town where food is more of a convenience than anything, the standards are decent. The plus point- it's a halal-certified restaurant. I would return.

Glad to hear that L is happy in her new course of study. She does it part-time once a week to gain a professional certification, and if she chooses, to further it into a diploma after. She hasn't missed a class for frivolous reasons and has done six months out of the projected two years. It isn't easy for her when she only has a local primary school leaving certificate. I hope she persists. For many reasons, it wasn't possible for her to commit to a long-term professional certification course of learning with her previous employers, but with this current one, she should be able to successfully complete it. "Inshallah," she said. Fingers crossed for her.