Laughed because I was just talking about Scandinavian food with S the other day, and today I was sitting at Scandinavian-inspired three-month-old bistro Overbrød. The al fresco sitting area was sheltered and had two fans. I wish they installed another standing fan. Our Singapore heat is brutal.
They ran out of cold batch brew bottles of coffee. Too bad then. A hot cup of coffee it was. My filter black of an Ethiopian Sidamo was beautifully brewed. No complaints about it. It was a hot day and I needed something cold too. My weakness- flavored sodas. The lingonberry soda was absolutely delicious on a hot day.
I was glad that the food is 'inspired'— if it's offering me salty soup and traditional Scandinavian flavors and pickles, I won't be coming back. The food at this bistro is rather delicious! If you like open-faced sandwiches, they do up hearty versions. I like what I tasted, for sure. I think the menu has hit a right spot with many diners.
The hay butter smoked potatoes with saffron aioli, chives, tobiko and garlic breadcrumbs were so tasty! The man couldn't resist the chicken and pork liver pâté. It came with rye bread, bacon, pickled beets and lingonberry jam. He loved it. There're beef and pork meatballs on the menu. I'm not bothered about it. The man would probably order it the next time.
The bistro did a twist on the classic stjerneskud. I opted for the butter-fried breaded haddock, gravadlax, cold water shrimps, hard boiled egg, asparagus, remoulade, ikura, and lemon on homemade vetekaka. The vetekaka in this case is fennel bread. That was delicious!
As a young child, the unnamed protagonist visits the psychiatrist and can't utter a single word. After a divorce and losing a custody battle over her eight-year-old son, she becomes the woman and her silence.
Her silence is her chosen way of mulling over her claim to existence. Her refusal to speak seems like she denies language, but looks for a language at the same time, indicating a willingness to communicate only on her own terms.
It first happened the winter after she turned sixteen. The language that had pricked and confined her like clothing made from a thousand needles abruptly disappeared. Words still reached her ears, but now a dense layer of air buffered the space between her cochleas and her brain. Wrapped in that foggy silence, her memories of the tongue and lips that had been used to pronounce, of the hand that had firmly gripped the pencil, grew remote. She no longer thought in language. She moved without language and understood without language, as she had before she learned to speak—no, before she had obtained life. Silence, absorbing the flow of time like balls of cotton, enveloped her body both outside and in.
The psychiatrist to whom her alarmed mother had taken her gave her tablets that she hid under her tongue and later buried in the flower bed at home. By the time dark-red stamens began to sprout from the salvia in the flower bed, nourished by her buried medicine, a consultation between the psychiatrist and her mother had resulted in her being sent back to school. It was clear that being cooped up at home hadn’t helped, and she mustn’t fall behind her peers.
We'll not talk about ChatGPT here. Heh. It's built by Baidu, and they definitely know what they're doing. When you optimize language models for dialogue, that puts the understanding of language in another new light. If language is the instrument of thought, then the woman in this story decides to not use it as an instrument to reveal her thoughts.
Twenty years ago, she failed to predict that an unfamiliar language, one with little or no resemblance to Korean, her mother tongue, might break her silence. She has chosen to learn ancient Greek at this private academy because she wants to reclaim language of her own volition. She is almost entirely uninterested in the literature of Homer, Plato, and Herodotus, or in the literature of the later period, written in demotic Greek, which her fellow-students wish to read in the original. Had a course been offered in Burmese or Sanskrit, languages that use an even more unfamiliar script, she would have chosen that instead.
I confess that I don't quite get Han Kang's stories. It's too reflective for me, and too much inner turmoil going on. I understand her intentions, but I don't get how she wants us to get there. I read 'The Vegetarian' (2016) and that, just flew over my head. 😬 In an interview with the magazine's Dennis Zhou, who noted that Han Kang seems to prefer using obscure languages in her books to highlight a character's struggles and inner turmoil, he asked the author this question,
It seems important to the character that the classes are in a “dead language,” that is, one that is no longer spoken. What is the relationship between speech and language for her?
I started writing this novel about eight years after that conversation about ancient Greek and came up with a female protagonist who has lost her language. Unlike European languages, many of which are related to ancient Greek, the Korean language has no point of connection with it whatsoever. Ancient Greek is an extremely foreign language to her and has long been a dead language, as you note. I felt that her moving forward in silence, struggling once again to clutch on to her language, both clashed and connected with the act of learning ancient Greek.
It was utterly splendid to have S back in town for a bit, alongside her husband H too. I've missed them both loads. I love them dearly. It was a treat to spend a looong afternoon with S to catch up properly. Then we found another date for dinner with the husbands too. To NAE:UM it was for dinner.
It was still 'Episode 4 : Han River Sunset' at NAE:UM. No matter. I really love their food. It was the timing we needed to catch S and H. We'll do Episode 5 another time. That would be 'Episode 5: Frontyard Barbecue' beginning on 1 March. Tonight, I was happy to eat the same Episode 4 menu all over again.
The friends chuckled with glee at the snacks that came in the cutest box and picnic scape. For all our little jaunts to Seoul, we've never bothered with a picnic by the Han River. Hahaha. We've strolled by Yeouido Hangang Park loads, and even took runs through it, but never stopped to soak it all in that way.
The duck galbi was a fun one-bite starter for everyone. Sometimes I skip the galbi regardless of the protein because it comes in a meatball; I'm somehow not hot about meatballs. They give me goosebumps. But tonight I ate one too.
The somyeon must be ordered. It's my all-time favorite — buckwheat, kimchi with striped jack. There's absolutely nothing to complain about a well-cooked bowl of noodles with the subtlest and most elegant flavors put together.
Thank goodness the restaurant decided to swop out the pigeon for pork. I was going to ask them to replace it when they texted a reminder for our reservation, but they had already changed it when I saw the menu. I guess many people prefer pork over the gamey pigeon. The kitchen does it great, searing it medium, but it's a strong meat and takes some getting used to. If you like pheasant, you'll like pigeon too. Anyway, the pigeon became iberico pluma with sweet cabbage and gang doenjang. Heh.
Before we knew it, the deopbap of mushrooms, rice and shaved black truffles came along and we were done with the meal. Of course we ordered the additional dessert of kkul hotteok in the form of glutinous rice, honeycomb and fig. The ice cream was gorgeous.
The friends loved the food too. The portions are perfect for us. We wryly admitted that none of us at this table can eat that much anymore. We could, but indigestion or something else would probably ensue and make us regret gorging. Hahaha
The poor husband had to field work calls because he had to observe a conference going on in London. He could have flown over, but. Anyway, it wasn't too difficult because the friends totally get it and were okay with him being on the laptop and such. The restaurant had no issues too because they know us and didn't have to pace his food either. LOL
I hugged S tight. Many hugs. She's here, in person. Here. Witty, sharp and lovely. I didn't let her drink that much alcohol. Just a wee bit of sake and we finished the rest for her. Tonight, we celebrated friendship, life and living, and being alive.
I'm always keen to check out easy Korean joints away from the crazy crowded areas. While I really like Chang BBQ at Dempsey for its menu and garden location, it was prudent to find another one. Went to have dinner at the still-kinda-new Nami Korean Grill House(by Hanjip) that opened up at Greenwood Avenue with neighborhood vibes at the shophouses.
Nami's marinades are of course unique to them and definitely taste different from other restaurants since they all use different ratios and different sauces. Cuts of meats are just that, but how one grills them (the length of time and such), will be quite the determining factor in the resulting flavors at the table.
Chang's has a larger selection of meats and seafood on the menu, but their grill is inconsistent, and sometimes they can be careless. Nami's grill is more attentive and careful, with the timing done just right and the person grilling it understanding the cut of meat and the marinade versus cooking time. The prices are similar but Chang's serves up a larger variety of banchan and can be 15% pricier overall on the bill because of its expanded menu.
Nami offers ribeye, short ribs, and brisket, so it's not all fatty wagyu and ox tongue. I'm not fond of the pork items on the grill either. Cuts of belly, collar and jowl are all very fatty. The bossam is also done with pork belly, so that requires some bravery to eat all of it too. If I'm not keen on them, there's always grilled jeonbok-abalone and a pot of beautiful steamed egg for me. Or some tofu from the jigae. I haven't gotten around to trying their mul naengmyeon yet. Another time.
Made a last minute date, and brought lunch over to the BFF's. I had things in between appointments, and I told her she hadn't got many choices for food to-go though. She could only choose between average charsiew wonton noodles or good nasi padang. She opted for the latter. Smart choice.
The BFF split the food into two portions and kept one for the next day. I was very hungry and ate up all my food. Although I asked the makcik to scoop out only ½ portion of rice, it was still a lot. I made up the rest of the carbs in the form of three begedils. I should have just gotten four. LOL
Smol Girl came along too. She's always happy at Godma's home. She made herself comfortable, and was very proud about alerting us to the Redmart delivery, and inspecting the boxes that arrived. Then she took a snooze. But when I stirred, she bounded up wide awake. She wasn't going to be left behind alone. She knows my tricks. I've left her at Godma's enough times for her to know all the cues. Today, she knew she was coming home with me. Muahahaha.
It's always nice to have a natter with the BFF. The lingering bits of sinus that killed her tastebuds had finally cleared. So she got back her appetite. Also clocked in some caffeine and sugar before I had to leave, and we both had to clear a few more emails before calling it a day on the work front.
N gifted us a gorgeous pack of dried porcini mushrooms from Italy. I've been eyeing them but didn't have time to open the pack to use. That day, after an early morning call and time in between a late night call, I only needed to churn out an easy piece of work. I had time to prep and cook dinner. I decided to rustle up mushroom pasta. I based the pasta off of some random recipe found online, as I always do. Took out a third of the pack and soaked it. Ordered extra mushrooms from AmazonFresh — brown buttons, portobello, shimeiji and king oyster. The groceries arrived punctually late afternoon.
Mushroom brandy cream sauce spaghetti can be heavy, and need tomatoes to cut through it. I don't quite like lemon in my food, not even in guacamole. So I skipped the lemon juice and used tomato paste instead. That would both boost brightness in the reduction since it held cream. Added a shot of decent brandy to it (never sherry); it would add layers and dimension to the dish. Wholewheat spaghetti it was for pasta. Added some dried chilli to the mix for a bit of sharpness. #ImpieCooks2023
There was no meat. All mushrooms, which was a total protein hit. There was a ton of mushrooms — 1kg of it sliced up, and it was just nice for two people who love mushrooms. Shaved parmesan over the plate upon serving. Smol Girl got shavings as a topper to her meal too. The man had a loooong day on calls and he was happy to have an easy but filling dinner, and then got on the elliptical to walk to his Lumen's caloric-burn demands.
The digital copy of Michelle Obama's 'The Light We Carry' (2022) had such a long waiting list on NLB that I forgot about it till the library sent an alert to indicate that the e-book was ready to be borrowed. Okaaaaay. (Reviews here, here, here, and here.)
I read 'Becoming' (2018) because I wanted to read about Michelle Obama's journey in her words. I can't even say if I enjoyed it because it's just learning a little more about someone else's lived experiences. It was an okay read because she mostly writes in her voice to tell her life story, and that is ideal.
'The Light We Carry' can read like a self-improvement guide, well, Michelle Obama's guide to coping with stress and uncertainty. She divides the book into three parts and 10 chapters. The advice is not new or ground-breaking. Which piece of advice is? It's only whether they reach you in a timely manner, and if you feel that they work for you at any point in time in a set of given circumstances and situations. Michelle Obama is simply sharing what has worked for her. Judith Newman at The New York Timeswrote this in her book review,
Each chapter is a tool, as Obama puts it, to help keep yourself together. Her thoughts are nuanced and never prescriptive; she tells stories about what has worked for her. In a chapter aptly titled “The Power of Small,” for example, she tells us about how, when the world seems overwhelming, little victories can see us through. (For Obama, it was knitting: “Shaken by the enormity of everything that was happening, I needed my hands to introduce me to what was good, simple and accomplishable.” She taught herself using YouTube.)
In the final Part Three of Chapters Nine and Ten, these are respectively are titled, 'The Armor We Wear' and 'Going High'. Those contain reflections from the White House years, and opinions formulated from difficult campaigns and and tough political battles. She's a lawyer by training, and by no means defenceless, yet as a black woman who has found herself in a powerful political position, she is equally plagued by the discrimination many people of colour face in today's America. Her privilege of education and such doesn't shield her from all these. Her seeming 'elitism' is just that, a facade. Her successes are hard-won.
In Part Two, Chapter Five, she titled it 'My Kitchen Table'. She describes how she views friendships, and how she views her friends and tries her best to treat them fairly, especially those in her inner circle. She explains how "having close friendships has also helped to take the pressure off my marriage." She had many friends during the Princeton years, and she also makes a continuous effort to cultivate new adult friendships.
She shared her own worries and friendships made at the White House, about gossip, about odd people, and if people saw her as bratty and such. She couldn't really lower her guard against new people coming in her life. Still, she had to take a gamble if she were to find normalcy within the White House. She didn't want to feel isolated, paranoid and stuck with a limited world view. She would simply move slower to take the step into realness beyond the superficiality of keeping up with appearances and socials. She views her friends as daisies and birds in her life, as brighteners to her every day.
She urged readers to form an emotional connection with a human outside of social media, and meet IRL. It's an emotional gamble that is an enormous emotional aid. "Just keep showing up."
A Kitchen Table, in general, is never stagnant. Friends will come and go, taking on more or less importance as you move through different phases of life. You may have a small group of friends, or just a few one-on-one friendships. All of that is okay. What matters most is the quality of your relationships. It's good to be discerning about who you trust, who you bring close. With new relationships, I find myself quietly assessing whether I feel safe and whether, inside the context of a budding friendships, I feel seen and appreciated for who I am. With our friends, we are always looking for very simple reassurances that we matter, that our light is recognised and our voice is heard—and we owe our friends the same. I want to say, too, that it's okay to step back from or downsize a difficult friendship. Sometimes we have to let certain friends go, or at least diminish our reliance on them.
Not all of the people who sit at my Kitchen Table know one another well; some have never even met. But collectively, they are powerful. I lean on each individual at different times and in different ways. Which is another thing worth recognizing about friendship: No one person, no one relationship, will fulfil your every need. Not every friend can offer you safety or support on every day. Not everyone can, or will, show up precisely when or how you need them to. And this is why it's good to always continue making room at your table, to keep yourself open to gathering more friends. You will never not need them, and you will never stop learning from them. I can promise you that.
In this chapter on friendships, she said, be real and "don't do life alone."
This is Michelle Obama's dedication at the start of the book.
Checked out Chef Colin Buchan's COL on Keong Saik Road. I didn't feel like popping in to a hotel bar. I'll always pick something more casual. The restaurant is sited in a shophouse, so be prepared for poor acoustics leading to a noisy bistro type of ambience. Its lighting is kept dim and dark, and very dark at the tables except by candlelight. HAHAHAH. The air-conditioning is fine and the ceiling fans keep it sufficiently ventilated.
COL offers decent vibes and a fun-enough menu. We stuck to conservative choices that we know a London bistro worth its salt will do well. Their portions for each sharing plate is perfectly controlled, even if there're only two diners at the table. The food isn't overwhelmingly heavy in that way unless you order a ton of things.
I didn't even bother finishing my G&T; gave a half glass to the man who had happily finished his Vesper martini. I'm not just that keen on alcohol nowadays because the digestive tract says so. The man went straight for the chickpea hummus with pickled beetroot, golden raisins, dukkah and olive oil. It came with a few pieces of crispy bread with a lot of holes. MUAHHAHAHA. We wondered if it was soaked in milk too, like how you do croutons before frying them up.
I had to have the taramasalata on grilled bread sprinkled with sansho pepper, preserved lemons and chives. I love taramasalata, and I'm always curious about how each kitchen does theirs. This one was absolutely delicious. The aged beef tartare with gherkins, shallots, and candied pecans was awesomely flavored. The brilliant touch is in the choice of red Belgian endives — raw endive pouches of beef tartare were so so tasty.
Had mains of a beautifully grilled Iberico pork loin with lardo, carrots, crushed apples, cider jus and mustard oil. I didn't bother with the sauce. Just the crushed apples and a touch of mustard worked so well for the tastebuds. I wished they had given more carrots. Ooof. Had a roasted cauliflower on a bed of Sakiyo miso, green sauce and garlic pangrattato.
Didn't go overboard on the food. We wanted the burger and the hand rolled tagliatelle with Scottish mussels, but that was no more space for anything. Next time. We'd definitely return to COL for another good and casual meal. Made it to dessert because I wanted it. It's a rare that I enjoy dessert, but this, I do, tangy — citrus curd, rye biscuit, marscarpone, meringue and kaffir lime. It was soooo good. I skipped the meringue that came in two sticks. Hahaha.
The BFF is finally home, but she was ill with a winter cold for the whole week. When she felt better, we went to the brand new Asia Grand for a dim sum lunch! I waited for a bit before going since the crowds are crazy and fill up the restaurant every weekend for two sittings at lunch. Now that the kitchen logistics and crowd situation have stabilized, I happily popped in to a bustling restaurant.
The new restaurant is brighter, and still carry the same vibes of the old restaurant. It has existed for 19 years, and hopefully for a few more yet. There were plenty of old favorites on the menu. There were so many things to eat till I sadly, had to pass on the claypot rice. I would have to return soon to eat it. I didn't bother with the pig stomach soup either. I'd save that for another day.
I really wanted their char siew pau. This is my favorite iteration of char siew pau in town. I should have ordered two portions. Hahahaha. Since everyone wanted soup, we went for broke and ordered a whole pot of daily soup. It was a familiar pork rib and melon soup. NICE. The restaurant does such a wonderful pot, and lightly salted in the way I like it. I happily drank three bowls of it. Mmmmm.
I didn't want anything fancy, but wanted a bit of spice, so a casual dinner at Little Elephant with the friends made for an awesome evening. The rain stormed down that evening, right smack at the 5-8pm slot. Thankfully the roads weren't too congested and we got to dinner without being late or too harried.
I miss Thai spices and its piquant flavors. Little Elephant is my current default for casual Thai food. Somehow, I don't feel like stepping into fancier Thai restaurants in town. We don't have the right chefs and crowd for a redefined Thai fine dining gastronomic experience. With a table of four at Little Elephant tonight, we could order more dishes! Hurhurhur. Had to have the stir-fried kangkong because the kitchen had ran out of that the past thrice we were here. The grilled pork collar was a must too, along with the clear tom yam prawn soup. YUMMY.
They all put up their hands to ask for dessert, a bowl of red ruby(tub tim grob / ทับทิมกรอบ)each. I was like, are you guys sure you can finish a bowl by yourselves? I can most certainly quaff it. But I highly doubted any of them could. When the bowls came, they blinked. I laughed and laughed. These greedy people! They didn't realize that this kitchen does a generous portion in each bowl, and it does red ruby so well. Everyone gave me two to three extra tablespoonfuls from their bowls. HAHAHAHAHA. I merrily slurpped them all up.
My stomach isn't good with many burgers because of either the grease or fat content. I get diarrhea in about 45 minutes after the burger gets eaten. It has been only Shake Shack and McD's so far, and 2280. I couldn't deal with Burger Labo's versions either. 2280's is okay.
In January this year,Burger Labo moved out of Malan Road and merged with 2280 at 213 Henderson Road. It's located in a light industrial estate next to neighbors like Fly Entertainment and school uniform maker Bibi and Baba. Burger Labo faithfuls will miss their old 'little plastic shack' at Gillman Barracks that's green and lovely, and full of mozzies. 2280's industrial space is just that, a long and narrow burger joint. They didn't renovate it all when they moved Burger Labo over. Unless they plan on renovating it in the near future, then these new vibes are weird since it doesn't have a bar or serve any cocktails.
After Burger Labo merged with 2280, I'm relieved to find the 2280 Burger still on the menu. I never knew the contents of the patty till recently when they shared that in a fb post. Heh. Grass-fed lean beef is used in the 2280 ($9.90 for a single 100g patty, $13.90 for double), and the Burger Labo's Basic Burger($19.50 for a single 150g patty, $29.50 for double) contains Toriyama wagyu. No wonder!
2280 Beef Burger - 100g of grass-fed Abderdeen Angus beef, pickled onions, shio kombu mayonaise and toasted brioche buns.
Basic Burger - 150g blend of grass-fed Abderdeen Angus beef with Toriyama Umami Wagyu, IPA pickled onions, housemade shio kombu mayonaise and toasted potato buns made specially for us.
If you're going for full fat, then you can opt for the Wagyu Burger at $29.90 for a 100g single patty; $43.50 for a double. I'm curious about their $43.50 Connecticut-style Lobster roll. TBH, that lobster roll at The Tanjong Beach Club is pretty decent, so Burger Labo's should be equally good, and hopefully better.
There isn't outdoor seating at 2280 and even now as Burger Labo. So I've always gotten their burgers to-go. But the industrial park's MCST has always put a few tables and chairs at the back of the unit. There's even a BBQ area for rental too, methinks. On some days when I'd rather eat there, I sometimes move a chair to sit outside along the corridor for a quick bite, and then move them back after.
However, at 2280, I usually take the fish burger because they use blue cod, which is really tasty. I suppose they could change the type of fish depending on the suppliers and the availability of the catch versus their costs. But for now, blue cod has been used for a while. I love it. I'm pleased that in this iteration as Burger Labo, they've kept the fish burger on the menu. The breaded and fried fish fillet comes with housemade shio kombu mayonnaise mixed with smashed avocado and chopped pickles as well as a slice of American cheese. Next time I'll get it with an extra Aji fry. Heh.
Stayed in for dinner at home, and put on a film, 'The Menu' (2022). It was extremely enjoyable! It's written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, directed by Mark Mylod, and produced by Adam McKay, Betsy Koch and Will Ferrell. The film satirizes a specific sort of elitism within the world of gourmet food, critics and diners. (Reviews here, here, here, here and here.)
The film took such a dig at the global fine dining scene, food bloggers, amateur critics and eager diners clamoring to savour the finest dining experiences. Money talks. It took a dig at tech bros and acclaimed food critics. So much was said about theatrics, staff abuse, chef's tantrums, horrible kitchen work environments, et cetera. In this film, diners pay $1250++ per head for dinner at the exclusive Hawthorn sited on a private island somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. The fictitious Hawthorn was headed by celebrity Chef Julian Slowik (played by Ralph Fiennes).
I giggled. Yes, we just have to take a dig at the Pacific Northwest restaurants sited on the islands. This isn't just Salty's on Alki Beach. It's like Willows Inn on Lummi Island, and Chef Steve Debaste's bistro on Buck Bay. I'll take Gravy on Vashon and Three Stacks on Bainbridge any day.
This dinner was meant to be Chef Julian Slowik's masterpiece, the final execution of his life's work. This could have turned into a B-grade mass murder revenge 'thriller'. Except that it didn't. What set it apart was its brilliant pacing and script. The horror laid in the film's quiet moments. "I was a monster, and a whore."
⛔️ [Spoilers are discussed after this. Stop reading if you wish to be surprised by a good film. Black comedic gold.]
Ralph Fiennes was absolutely creepy and awe-inspiring as celebrity Chef Julian Slowik. He is talented, obsessive and detail-oriented. I didn't particularly care about the 12 diners. They're a predictable bunch of stereotypes and all that pressurize a chef into choosing the path of suicide than to ensure his restaurant stays on the course of a three-starred Michelin brand annually. The actors who played the rest of the diners were good, but no one was very memorable, except for Hong Chau. She plays Elsa, the Chef's assistant and maître d at Hawthorn.
Each course on the evening's dinner menu was explained in detail by the Chef himself. As the evening wore on, by the second course, the presentations took a turn for the macabre. This particular menu involved the deaths of all 12 dinner guests, and the restaurant's staff too. The guests would literally be led to their deaths course by course. The staff too, would die. That would be THE MENU, perfectly executed.
In The New York Times review in November 2022, Jeannette Catsoulis wrote, "this brutal satire of class division — viewed through the lens of high-end gorging — is ruthlessly focused and gleamingly efficient."
Anya Taylor-Joy is the wildcard because she plays 'Margot Mills' who is the last minute replacement date of wealthy foodie Tyler, played by Nicholas Hoult, who didn't ask for permission to replace his date. Margot Mills was a professional social escort whose real name is Erin. Her 'date' Tyler had corresponded with Chef Slowik for eight months. Tyler knew that everyone was going to die at this dinner. He kept it a secret and still hired Erin for the night anyway.
At the end of the night, before the final course of dessert, Erin the wildcard said she was bored of the fancy food and was "still hungry." She said she would really like a cheeseburger, a real cheeseburger and "not some fucking deconstructed avant bullshit". And Chef Slowik obliged! He said that this would be a $9.95 cheeseburger with good old American cheese. The film gave time to the Chef making patties and cooking a cheeseburger. GOOD GAWWD. The camera zoomed in on the melted cheese on the patty on the grill and the patty sizzling. I could almost smell it. Now, that's a cheeseburger. Erin got that cheeseburger packed to-go, and she was the only one got out alive.
Yup, everyone else died in a spectacular "purifying" fire.
“Even your hot dishes are cold,” spits Margot, the audience surrogate and the first to challenge the insult embedded in each course, like the “bread plate” with no bread. Intrigued by her working-class wiliness, Slowik is unsettled: He can see that she’s willing to take him on.
Whisking splashes of horror into culinary comedy (“Don’t touch the protein, it’s immature,” admonishes the forbidding hostess during a smokehouse tour), “The Menu” is black, broad and sometimes clumsy, attacking its issues more often with cleaver than paring knife. Yet everyone is having such a good time, it’s impossible not to join them. The movie’s eye might be on haute cuisine, but its heart is pure fish and chips.
When J asked me what I would like for dinner, I shamelessly asked for Peking duck. Hahahaha. She obliged and promptly made a reservation at Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck, and reserved a Peking duck. Totally intended to eat our fill of...... duck. 烤鴨! It's my not-so-secret indulgence.
It stormed down that evening, and although I wasn't drenched, I felt like a bowl of hot soup. The soup of the day was pork ribs and luffa with dried squid. OKAY. That was perfect. That steaming hot bowl of soup totally hit a spot. It was quite a pleasure and a relief to skip alcohol for this meal.
Two people can't do a whole duck unless both really really like duck. J and I really really really like Peking duck. I don't like it crispy or braised all that much. I like roast duck, and especially Peking duck. J can't resist the skin of Peking duck, or any roast duck skin; she even takes the fatty portion. Gosh! No wonder she limits her intake of duck. LOL I only take some of the thin crisp skin and I leave the rest of the fatty bits. I always ask for duck breast even when getting those bento boxes from the supermarkets or at the kopitiam.
We were very focused. Two of us — one whole Peking duck. Done. We didn't need any vegetables or dessert, or anything else. It was extremely filling when we also devoured two baskets of wraps (春餅). The chef sliced it up for us beautifully in two plates of boneless meats. We shared a bowl of rice to go with the rest of the duck that were mostly bones in a ginger-scallion stir fry. What an extravagant dinner! My stomach was sooooo happy.
I didn't line up a slew of Japanese sushi omakase meals this birthday season. The stomach didn't feel like it. It needed to space out the heavy meals. I could only do a dinner a day to 'celebrate', so to speak. It was a busy work week and there was a conference going on. So I couldn't do lunch with anyone. It could only be dinner, and there're only so many darlings I want to eke out precious time for at dinner on any given date.
I requested for only ONE sushi omakase dinner at Miraku, and it had to be with V. She generously obliged. Last year, we did the same too, an easy lunch at Miraku. V's a gem! We went easy on the alcohol. A 720ml-bottle nicely lasted us the whole meal. Chef Hei got the memo and totally passed on the tuna for us, except a dollop of negitoro in the handroll. He sliced out plenty of hikarimono pieces for me.
There was a surprise appetizer in the tiniest cup of udon in dashi. NICE. That dashi was fabulous. I almost asked for another bowl of it. The kitchen really cooked it well. Needless to say, tonight's soup was beautiful too. With a slice of blanched sea bream perched on a little ball of onion. I loved it.
Dessert was yuzu/kinkan sorbet served as a ball frozen into the hollowed out kinkan. Too adorable. Tasted great. I saved that for the last and ate all the bits of pear and the strawberry first. What a lovely meal. My tastebuds enjoyed it so much. The stomach was fine and very grateful to have V split the bottle sake with me. I can no longer finish one bottle by myself (and I shouldn't). 😬🤪
With the weather as it is now, it's tough to plan for anything outdoors without a Plan B. I thought about going to the beach with Smol Girl this morning, but it depended on the rainclouds. Well, we made it to the beach.
And it was fabulous that N and Ryo could join us at the last minute since they were free! It was nice to have them, especially when I know that N didn't know when my birthday is. But after today, she knows. Heh.
Ryo wasn't in the mood to swim, so he hung out on the beach. Of course Choya wasn't keen to swim either. She spent all her energy sprinting on the beach and digging loads of holes in the sand, and looking for little patches to roll around in. She doesn't care to stay out in the hot sun all day. Neither do I. So she always looks for the the sandy patches in the shade to snooze in.
We stopped by the beach club for a quick bite and to hydrate with non-alcoholic drinks. Both floofs were pretty happy to chill out with us. We didn't intend to spend the whole day out anyway. Just two hours or so before the afternoon rains came in. I saw the friends' texts coming in, full of wishes. I resisted the urge to read them now. I would read it in the afternoon and reply properly. This was a great gift — lovely weather, floofs and friends.
I didn't plan to do anything else for a birthday celebration. These days, I would like life to move along at a slow and even pace. I don't want a fuss over my birthday, and I most certainly don't want fancy food at super-pricey restaurants, and preferably low on alcohol. I don't think my stomach likes alcohol nowadays. I want to eat at venues that will accommodate Smol Girl. What's more important is for me to spend the day doing easy things, like what I usually do! A trip to the beach on a week day is a luxury since we don't normally have the mind space or time to do that during the work week.
We all trotted over to Aunty J's for lunch. The rainy afternoon made for a lovely long chat with Aunty J and the friends. Choya got invited too because Aunty J wanted to hug her. Heh! She allowed herself to be hugged for quite a long while. Smart Smol Girl. She knew who to cosy up to. She's really comfortable in the house because she didn't want to stay in the lunch room with us. She was happy roaming around and chilling out in a corner elsewhere.
Resident dog Leo the Maltipoo is now 1-year-old, but he's still a big puppy. He was super excited about Choya. He couldn't keep his eyes and nose off of her. Choya was quite tolerant of him for a bit. But I watched her closely. N also held him back, and he does listen to N. But he couldn't control his instincts. After a while, he was banished to his crate for a bit because he was wayyyy too enthusiastic about sniffing Choya and ermm wanting to hump her.
Aunty J cooked up a storm. The biryani was superb. There were prawns in there for an added crunch. Loads of dishes — Kerala fish curry, subtly flavored thick dhal, beans poriyal, gorgeous raita with pomegranates, and lime juice! Her fish curry is truly one of the best we've had. All-time best. We ate and ate and ate till we were stuffed.
Oh. I shamelessly ate five fish cutlets. FIVE. This is a new record. I've always capped it at three cutlets because, shy lah. This time, I went for broke and ate five. HAHAHAHA. Well, there were 15 cutlets on the tray. Some food were already saved for Uncle T and the helper, so I wasn't too selfish, hopefully. 🤪
We ate so much till we couldn't have anything else for dinner. Luckily we didn't plan to meet anyone for the evening meal. We stayed in and had soup. Hahahah. What an awesome day. We were so so so so spoilt with such good food and top-class cooking. These flavors can't be found at the commercial restaurants. No way.
I was so glad that I brought fruits for Aunty J by way of thanks. I didn't want to get her silly gifts. Didn't want to get her cakes or cookies either. Figured things like Korean muscat grapes, honey mangoes and yellow dragonfruit would be good. I didn't know if she would like the Shizuoka crown melon, but I got that anyway. I'm so glad that she likes it! She said she loves this sort of melons. Hurrah! SCORE.
Did my first and only lo-hei on this fifteenth day of Lunar New Year with the friends. It isn't difficult for me to skip lo-hei meals when I don't work in an office and there isn't a need to schmooze. Plus I'm firm when it comes to spending time having unnecessary meals with people who don't exactly feature in my life.
N and B warmly hosted everyone to dinner, and didn't allow us to bring anything. The yusheng was shredded and assembled by another friend. The hosts simply bought loads of salmon sashimi and opened up cans of tiny abalone to add on. This was a good 'yusheng' because it was filled with fruits! It was delicious. I generally like yusheng, and love it with fruits. I ate three servings!
暗塵隨馬去、明月逐人來。
Commanded N to get takeout because we didn't want anybody to cook and expend more effort on what had already been a tiring festive period for many people. If we didn't insist, she would have done naughty things and expended wayyy too much energy for a person who was nursing a cold, and recovering from all the traveling over the last ten days.
There were literally eight dishes and a clam soup (八菜一湯) on the table, laden and full of prosperity — pork, chicken, baby squid, vegetables, and prawns. I opted to have the stir-fried tang hoon instead of fried rice. Fewer carbs to settle. I have to pace my food intake this week. The homemade achar by N's aunty was pretty tasty! But it was the non-spicy version and not as sour; it was slightly sweeter than I'm used to. There were steamed buns with braised pork belly (刈包 or 'kong bak bao'). I love that! This was a nice iteration.
遊妓皆穠李，行歌盡落梅。
The floofs also had their festive meal of shabu-shabu lean beef. It wasn't even their full meal since it wasn't a balanced spread, but the floofs were allowed their 'treats' in this manner. (We balance a dog's meals over a week, not just in one or two meals or in a day.) N was very sweet and bought a whole kilogram for them. She blanched them and the pot smelt amazing. I stole a piece! Heh. The two floofs polished off their portions. Ryo was surprisingly hungry and polished off his full meal in two portions (two bowls) served to him within 15 minutes. Good boi!
Choya was at Ryo's all afternoon before the man and I came by in the evening. Luckily she had company because there was a fierce storm raging for three hours with rumbling thunder. As scared as she was, she was happy to have N and Ryo for company. I brought her an evening snack (portioned out from her usual meats). She was hungry after playing and chilling out with Ryo for hours. Hahaha. She inhaled that. Then she also slurpped up all the shabu-shabu beef that she was allocated. Then she was naughty and wanted to steal Ryo's food from his bowl, again. There was some fierce growling and borking. Tsk tsk.
金吾不禁夜、玉漏莫相催。
It was such a delightful evening. N and B are always so generous when they have us over for meals. They do prefer to hang out at home as well rather than at restaurants since home is a comfortable venue for Ryo and Choya. We certainly never minded! It's very very nice to just lounge around.
N had sternly told me not to bring anything over. Of course I ignored her. I didn't bother with mikan or mandarin oranges. Everyone's having a bit too much of those by now, and many friends are nursing sore throats or colds! Too 'heaty' methinks. Bird's nest were prepped as gifts for N, and I must at least hand my fav boi-floof his lai see!
Do you recall that the meme 'This is Fine' derived from American artist and cartoonist KC Green's 2013 six-panel 'On Fire'. When you see this meme, this is so NOT FINE. Ooof. Apparently it has been 10 years since this meme took social media and set it... on fire.
The dog is named Question Hound, and he still appears in KC Green's webcomic 'Funny Online Animals'. But the dog might not be around for much longer in its future storyline. I don't follow 'Funny Online Animals', although I do see posts being shared on IG and such. Not of the meme, but of his other works.
Though his creation has taken on a life of its own, Green accepts it as a natural consequence of what it means to create content online.
He thinks his comic panel has resonated with so many people for so many years because of its simplicity.
"I made it vague on purpose," he said. "Like any good piece of art, people interpret it how they want to."
.....................
Now after 10 years of using the famous dog in his comics to project his own thoughts and feelings, Green tells NPR that he might be ready for a new chapter.
The Atlantic's Megan Garber wrotethat by 2016, people were really identifying with the dog. Everyone used it, for elections, climate change, mass shootings, curtailed rights, et cetera. She wrote, "Question Hound’s cheerful inertia began to read as a proxy for a shared sense of helplessness: flames everywhere, and nowhere to go."
The Washington Post's Kelsey Ables wrote a piece titled, '10 Years Later, 'This is fine' Meme Creator Wants to Put Out the Fire', published on January 17, 2023. With the pandemic and some crazy world events, everyone's finding hard to do, and using this meme to express our mental state is more apt than ever. It feels like your city and your country are both burning. She couldn't have put it better when it comes to the demographic who would happily use the meme,
Stressed college kids, irked congressmen, dispirited crypto bros and disillusioned Christian bloggers have all seen themselves or their situations in the dog. Wearing his tidy little hat and staring at his sad little coffee cup, he has become the internet’s patron saint of denial, a hero of helpless resignation.
I have used that meme a number of times too, to express helplessness in a situation not within my control. But I have also used it as a form of sarcasm, and to the tune of 'I don't really care'. I might have sent it over a few work emails to indicate frustration by way of a reply to someone asking for my opinion on a complex matter. It was hilarious when the recipients replied with other memes.
While KC Green might retire Question Hound soon in the webcomic's storyline, I'm certain that the viral meme will resurface once in a while, in the manner how all good memes do. The Washington Post said that the meme is indeed indicative of this turbulent decade defined by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and the subsequent resounding global fallout.
That is the surreal feeling the comic most poignantly captures. Driving to work under a violent orange sky as wildfires burn in the distance. Stopping at the grocery store to buy milk, mid-insurrection. Walking your dog to the tune of blaring ambulances at the height of covid.
This is fine, we tell ourselves to get by. This is fine, we say when we know it most definitely is not.
And yet, there is something comforting about having an image to return to in helpless moments, Green said — as if by empathizing with a cartoon dog, we are all exhaling together.
“For me, it was my feelings about getting my medication right. For some kids, it was about finals. For some, it was about Trump getting elected. For some, it was about covid,” he said.
“It’s kind of nice. It creates a kind of community.”
This practice of giving red packets / lai see (利是) / ang pows (壓歲錢、紅包) during the lunar new year period. IT IS SO ANNOYING. It's super unfair to those who are married but are child-free. I'm not particularly pleased about it. It's social pressure. It's a traditionalistic plot to get people to have children to make it fair across the board.
Well, at least for me, I make a stand against the practice. Call me a miser, if you like. But I'm just grumps about it. Should I be caught in a situation in a house full of strange children, or even extended family's children, I'm that weird person who would be entirely shameless, and I can totally not give the children ang pows. I'm not in the habit of giving away S$200 in angpows under such circumstances. Also, once you've graduated from school with a bachelor's and you're a working adult, I wouldn't give you an ang pow, please.
Our parents and in-laws still give us ang pows, and they have stated clearly that they don't want us to give them any. So we simply get them festive flowers, and gifts of savory foods that we know they want. We still receive ang pows from obstinate aunties whom we don't see but they keep passing them to us via other people (whatever for?!), but it doesn't mean that we're polite enough to return them in kind for their 10 grandchildren. Some got the message after a bit, but some didn't.
However, I'm happy to hand out lai see to familiar children and floofs, and old folks whom I know and I like. Thank goodness that for all the lai see given to Choya, I have reciprocated as well, and these are to people I see IRL. Then that is significant and meaningful. Since we don't have a tipping culture here, lai see are also handed out as an annual token of appreciation to the servers at the restaurants, the estate's cleaning crew, gardeners, and security team, my hairdresser, nail technicians, as well as Choya's bakers, groomers, meat suppliers, walkers, et cetera.
At the end of the season, I looked at the excel sheet for ang pow expenditure. The outflow is way lower than budgeted. Not that I mind, but I just don't want to give ang pows to people I don't care about. I don't bother about inflow. I simply take note of who's giving us, and do a mental note to find a way to reciprocate in the year, and if I don't reciprocate, that's intentional.
We have decided that as far as frozen packs of chicken collagen soup goes, Chu Collagen Soup does a very good version. The brand's Premium Chicken Collagen Soup and its Premium Prawn Mee Soup are what the man likes, so I usually stock two packs of each in the freezer. Each pack is 500ml and the volume is perfect for two persons.
Tonight was one of those evenings when we didn't have any cravings for dinner, and we didn't want anything heavy because we over-ate for the past few days. So I took out a pack of chicken collagen soup to boil up and assemble dinner. Yup, I said 'assemble', because it was pretty much heating up food. Hahahaha. I'm brilliant at assembling meals. The real cooking, not so much. HAHAHAHA. #ImpieCooks2023
The fridge had half a head of hakusai/wongbok, and silken tofu. That was more than enough ingredients to sweeten that thick soup, and lent it some body. I usually add a bowl of water to it so that it wouldn't be congeal so badly as it cools. Also, that soup can be too chicken-ny for my tastebuds, so I tend to add things into it till it's a tolerable stink. Threw in four small abalones too. There, dinner done.
There was a portion of cooked brown rice which had been kept in the freezer just for days like these. Heh. Thawed it out in the microwave. Broke out a sunny-side up for each of us (yup, Smol Girl got one), and layered that over the rice. Mmmmm. This was a rather satisfying dinner.
Of course I scanned the list for Hong Kong plays under Esplanade's Huayi Festival, but this year didn't have any. What they had, was a musical. Commissioned by Tai Kwun – Centre for Heritage and Arts(大館) and first premiered in 2019, this show is titled 'Tri Ka Tsai' 《TRI家仔》. The blurb explained, 'Tri-家仔' refers to a "trilingual Gen X or millennial living in post-colonial Hong Kong who speaks Cantonese, English and Putonghua (Mandarin)."
Billed as a "uniquely trilingual Hong Kong cabaret", the musicians sang and commented about this generation of Hong Kongers who have to be trilingual. 得懂兩文三語的香港人。Against this complicated political backdrop, colonial past and Chinese overlords, Hong Kongers now have to speak Cantonese, English and Mandarin/Putonghua, or what we also term as 'Chinglish' and 'Cantonghua'—Hong Kong-style Mandarin. Even writing is an issue. They'll have to be absolutely conversant in writing Chinese in simplified script and traditional script. Teeeeehehehe.
Ugh. A musical. But I liked the premise of it. I'll live. Even before watching it, I already loved this show for the content. I wisely chose to watch this show on my own and not ask anyone else to join me. LOL I only bought a ticket at the last minute. It was free seating at Esplanade's Recital Studio, so it was free seating, and I didn't mind sitting anywhere in the studio.
Seriously, as Singaporeans or one who spent years of childhood being educated in Singapore, aren't many of us effectively trilingual? I view Cantonese as a language, not a dialect. :P I dare you to write in Cantonese. My Hong Kong friends and I literally talk like this in casual conversations, in three or sometimes four languages. For some of us, we kinda randomly share work projects; so we hold work discussions like this too! We have no issues switching between English, Cantonese and Mandarin since we have full command of those languages both written and spoken. It's pretty much like Singlish, isn't it? Extremely hilarious, effective and being able to code-switch like this sometimes lends a sense of kinship.
It was an absolute hoot. I thoroughly enjoyed myself because I totally identified with every line. I tolerated the singing bits and gritted my teeth through them because the words/lyrics were brilliant. There were so many gems. It's impossible to explain it singularly in English on-the-spot to non-Cantonese or Mandarin speakers because you really need to be trilingual to get the jokes and humor within a fast-paced song, and some of the sadness, 心酸 and 無奈 within. The unspoken topics hung in the air. Yup, I get you, Hong Kong Tri 家仔s. I laughed till my sides hurt, but I feel you too, in the political comments and opinions that must not be voiced aloud.
The talented musicians who wrote their lyrics and directed the show are Yuri Ng, Anna Lo and Rick Lau (伍宇烈 X 卢宜均 X 刘荣丰).
There are some home visits I make during the lunar new year period. These are to the old folks on my roster, and I'm most willing to allocate time for them. I have six on the roster (well, I was down to four last November, and they found me two new ones), and it isn't difficult to fit them into my schedule. I space them out so that I don't all angsty about it.
My fellow volunteers had sent the old folks a festive hamper full of practical grocery items that they had indicated that they wanted. We also make it a point to turn turns to visit them. I only visit those on my roster, and for these homes, I bring along small gifts too, small items that they like and had mentioned them in passing, and my personal ang pows for them.
The old folks' health are holding steady with regular medication and clinical check-ins, so they're extremely alert and happy this lunar new year. They don't do big celebrations of course, but they have the energy to decorate the home, spruce up their prayer space and altars, spring-clean, and also welcome a few visitors. They do this for the sake of tradition, and also for a regular rhythm in the passing of the years.
Now that Smol Girl is older, is well-socialized and has proven herself to be calm in many situations, I've been taking her along to many places, including my weekly visits to the roster or to some volunteer sessions. This festive season, she came along with me to visit the old folks. I was super pai-seh because the old folks gave her ang pows!!! Aiyohhhh. They said that she's so cute and should get one for luck, 吉利意思、小心意. Gosh.
Choya isn't a therapy dog. She doesn't have the temperament to be. She is calm, but she's hardly affectionate to strangers. She's aloof and doesn't welcome head rubs or pets from people that she doesn't fancy. So I have no plans to have her certified as a therapy dog. I know these old folks of mine wouldn't be hoping for licks and cuddles from Choya, so I bring her along. (Be very confident in handling your dog if you do this. I don't exactly permit volunteers to bring their untrained/uncertified dogs if they're stepping into the homes.) The old folks don't mind her because she's quiet and clean, and gentle. Most importantly, she stays by my side and not run amok in other people's homes. She has come to not mind some of them after a few visits and allow head rubs and some cheek scratches.
