Plane Phobia

Planes, i've known and sat in planes since i was a toddler.

The reason? My dad works in a certain aircraft company and they get tickets once a year to share and bring their family overseas.

When i was a little boy, i hated planes because it meant i would be away from my comics and video games in a foreign country with (in my childish little world) nothing to do. This privilege ended when i reached the age of 21 and just when i was beginning to understand and honestly enjoy what is truly a "holiday".

As of that time, i've been to quite a few countries with little recollections of the time i spent in those countries. Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, Australia, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Of these, i enjoyed my trip to USA and Australia the most. Absolutely beautiful places and worth every penny, just be sure to put away at least 2-3 weeks of leave for those trips.

Now, something happened on one trip i took with my grandma to Hong Kong which made me fear planes ever since. The flight to Hong Kong was alright, it was the flight back that had issues. Just to be clear, this was using another service provider. On this flight, whilst on the journey back from Hong Kong, the plane ran into turbulent weather. At one point, the plane fell a few stories and simply scared the hell out of me. After that, i never looked at plane rides the same way again.

After that, it was another 2 years before i managed to get myself into the seat of a plane again voluntarily. And it was still a terrifying experience for me even though the plane travelled smoothly. Every time the plane went through turbulent weather, the immediate thoughts were of quick and gruesome death. Imagine that running through your head during every single bump and you get the idea of what a phobia does.

I've since went on multiple overseas trips due to my job and due to my current crazy urge to see more of the world as quickly as possible, am planning a little more over the next few years.

The point is, i managed to conquer my phobia by actively choosing to face it.

Singapore Night Festival

July 11 and 10th was supposed to be Singapore's much touted "Night Festival". This was essentially an artistic showcase of cultures and performances for free at the Singapore Museum and the outer courtyard of SMU.
I was there partially as a curious bystander and also to enjoy soaking in the "artistic culture" of it all since it was the arts festival and all. Most importantly, i was there to see if i actually had any inkling of what "art" really is and to see if a bloke like myself can enjoy the artistic showcase they have prepared.

Museum at Night

The museum certainly took on a different charm at night with its well placed lighting. It's no wonder the place is a haven for shutterbugs.

Smu

Packed with People

The performance commences

The Sounding of Thunder

It started off pretty well with nice ambient music and a rousing commentary. The first performance turned out to be from a group of musicians specializing in drums and percussion instruments. The music certainly got us pumping but the view did not because it was completely obscured by photographers standing up and blocking the view. It's also a wierd choice for the performers to be at ground level instead of on stage.
The following performances on stage didn't fare much better since our view from the back is still nicely blocked by photographers and patrons trying to shadow the photographers to see the performance. For goodness sake, yes, we know you're trying to get good pictures but please spare a thought for people behind you trying to enjoy the same show.

The rain that washed it all away

And it rained and it rained

As the complaining continued, a quiet cumulonimbus cloud has already crept above our heads silently and began issuing warning of the rain thats about to come. True enough, the rain came in drizzles at first before it started to pour mercilessly at the performers and patrons alike. We were all drenched but the stage personnel had it worst. The cumbersome and heavy props needed to be kept and there's no other way except to brave the rain to salvage the equipment. The show has stopped and was unlikely to continue.
The rain continued to pour for about an hour or so after this.

The puppet show goes on

Kids found joy in a little shadow puppet show that carried on in the relentless rain. And as i was contemplating my luck and bad choices, the rain began to let up.

Static Artworks - The Tree

Static Artworks - The Beginning

Static Artworks - Love Tank

The attraction i never got to see in action - The Loop Of Fortune

With the rain beginning to let up, we proceeded to take some shots of the static art pieces you can see above. The displays of light amidst the darkness was comforting but not enough to brighten the dark mood that has set in my mind that day. I had come for performances and got nothing but wet shoes, smoke filled lobbies and a sense of disappointment.
The loop of fortune was a pyrotechnics showcase by PAN.OPTIKUM (Germany) which was one of the highlights of the show. Pity they staged it at a rather late time slot of 1030pm to 11pm which i was no longer enthralled enough to wait for. Given the wet situation we were in, i'm pretty sure the show did not go on as well.

In the end, the show was an unrealized potential for me on this Saturday evening. There was so much talent in there but the weather simply came along...and washed it all away.
No matter, there's always the next year for the show and i will come better prepared the next time.

Food From Mom 1

Does any food in life ever beat a good home cooked meal? Having complained countless times about restaurant food and service and what not. I figured documenting what my mother cooks for me is important and integral. After all, she's the one chef i'll always revere and always love, no matter if her food is really good or bad.

Date: Saturday 18th April 2009

Item count: 4 items plus rice

Curry Chicken with milk (Not coconut milk)

I love my mom's curry chicken, she can cook it however many times and i'll still gobble it up without a thought. I can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner with bread, rice or just the chicken alone. It makes no difference. She modified the recipe today by replacing coconut milk with pure milk and its now even healthier and more fragrant. The chicken is one of those "village chickens" from the market and is more tender, has less medication pumped into the chicken and is simply splendid. Loved it before and still very much in love with it now.

Cai Xin with scallops, prawns, fish cake and garlic

Another winner from my mom. Her cai xin is always crunchy and dripping with sauce. Healthy sauce of course. The succulent prawns, plump scallops and springy fish cake all play a huge part in me liking it to bits. If only i new how to cook it myself.

Sweet and sour fish

This one she learnt only about 1 or 2 years ago and how good it tastes depends on the fish used. Today's fish was bought from a different market and it shows. The meat is tougher and less fresh which gave huge discounts to its taste. Nonetheless, the concoction for the sauce is still superbly appetising. Pity on the fish though.

Stir Fried Egg with Sliced Fish Cake

Simple scrambled eggs with fish cake. Despite its simplicity, its also very tasty and i remember a time when i was young, i could have survived for weeks on just egg, ketchup and rice. Simplicity can and is a good way to live. The good thing is, i know how to make this since its this simple.

Well, thats my first tribute to my mom's cooking and i'm sure there'll be more. After all, in my eyes, her cooking never runs out of style.

Food in Thailand 5 (Last supper)

The last night in Bangkok

Having just finished the most hectic and stressful day yet and finally finishing the various tests and exams in the business trip, it was finally time to really let loose and relax to a good meal with who else but the big boss. And with that, it ends the 5 day long adventure we've been sent by our wonderful company for. Through it all, the friendships and experiences we had were the things we'd take away with us and back to our countries. Special thanks to Mr Chan for giving us the treat, making this position and trip possible and having such a wonderful team. Its indeed a privilege.

The almost full team

To all my friends, its wonderful to have met and known you all. May we all attain our dreams and soar ever higher in the coming times.

Tony Roma's

I was quite surprised at the choice of restaurant the boss decided upon because it turned out to be a familiar name. Tony Roma's has its presence in Thailand as well which is quite amazing. Even more amazing is how the quality of food is the same as its Singapore counterpart. Talk about quality control.

Singha Beer

Being the last night, its beer time! I had only one beer since this is a recommendation and a local Thai brand. And well, i was quite taken by it as well. In fact, it tastes on par or better then Tiger beer with it being less acidic imho. Pretty good.

The usual complimentary bread

Full Onion Loaf

The bread was served warm as always with fragrant garlic infused butter for good effect. The onion loaf is as good as ever but best had while hot. I love the fact that the onion loaf remains crispy all throughout the meal while the onion retains its crunchy softness.

Finger food platter

Had a go at the rodeo wings which were mildly spicy but tender and sweet as well. The cheese sticks were nothing to shout about though.

Rib platter with all 4 famous roasts

Roasted Chicken

Texas BBQ Ribs

Had small samplings of the above but the BBQ ribs were huge! When it came in a plate, its difficult to stop staring. Still, being what it it, it has to be shared since it becomes overwhelming after a few mouthfuls.

Beef Burger

Another view

My order is yet again, a beef burger. I can't get enough of beef burgers actually. This one wasn't too bad. Generously portioned and done medium rare, the juicy pinkish interior and lightly grilled exterior gives a nice contrast and fragrance. Coupled with fresh lettuce and tomatos and its more or less a winner to me.

Last Take: All in all, the experience was a good one. The restaurant was decked in holloween decor and similarly dressed staff while the food is the same you can get in Singapore. Which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on preference. The company made this meal much better then it really is and well, sometimes, the company is more important than the actual food.
Once again, a big thank you to everybody and all the new friends i made. Hear from all of you again soon!

Food in Thailand 4 (Room Service)

What can i say? No time, busy schedule and great hotel food! I was glad i stayed in this hotel to have room service. In fact, i liked it so much i dragged my HK room mate to join me for room service on our second last night just to prove a point. And his comments were that, "mmmm...this is very good!"

So it was that we ordered our room service which amounted to around THB 900 per head or USD 45 per person. The following is what we ordered in.

This is one huge scallop

This scallop takes the crown of being the biggest scallop i have yet tasted. This is one scallop and it is more or less the size of a normal sized cup. I'm not even kidding. Its done rather well too in white wine sauce and cream. Thankfully maintaining its sweetness and is soft and springy at the same time. Great stuff.

Steah Sandwich with Fries (i love it!)

My second and last beef steak sandwich in the hotel. This, i simply cannot get enough of. Huge 200oz steak with tomatos, caramelized onions, lettuce, butter and choice of fries. The steak is always done medium rare to perfection in both my orders there and the steak itself is just fresh and tender with minimal fat which is what i'm looking for. Is there a better steak sandwich in Singapore? Not that i know of yet. Chances are, its tough to beat for this wonder.

Seafood Pizza

My friends order of a seafood pizza is equally well done. A nicely done semi crispy and fragrant crust which isn't too thick. Fresh seafood, ham and mushrooms adorn an evenly spread tomato and cheese layer of goodness. What's there not to like? This beats pizza hut and any other pizza outlet hands down in my book. (but maybe thats because i don't eat much pizza in the first place)

The room service table in its splendor

Pizza, soup, steak sandwich and scallop with iced water. All on a table, delivered under 30 minutes or its free. There's all to like and nothing to hate in this deal and to me, i'd say if you stayed here, not trying the steak sandwich once is definitely injustice to yourself. (on this comment, i'm a beef lover and a bread lover. Add them together fresh and delivered fast when i'm hungry makes it a perfect match in my book so yeah, i might be biased here.) Still, try it out, it doesn't cost much anyway.

Last Take: This hotel and this food is simply excellent. My favorite place thus far in terms of hotels in a city setting and the food.

Food in Thailand 3

One of the rare days that we managed to go out together to eat for dinner. This was near the hotel and in fact, was a mere 1 street away. However, its located behind in a small alleyway which more or less means you need someone to bring you there to eat. In my case, our good friend in Thailand brought the entire group for a meal here to try authentic Thai food. Special thanks to her since managing such a huge and rowdy group simply isn't an easy task.

Suda Restaurant

Thai Milk Tea

Recommended by our guide to try as its a Thai specialty, this didn't turn out too well. The shop made it too sweet and milky which ruined it somehow. According to her, the tea isn't of the right color nor the right taste so this can be discounted.

Satay

Thai Popiah

Thai Pork

Thai Chicken Cutlet

Pandan Leaf Chicken

Stir Fried Kai Lan

Sweet and sour fried sotong with cashew nuts

Egg Wrap rice

Thai Chicken with Cashew Nuts

Tom Yum Soup

BBQ pork with fried rice

Mango with glutinous rice

Hope you enjoyed the photos above. I'll just be talking about the standout items here. The pandan wrapped chicken was nicely tender and sweet with a thai twist which makes it worth a try, however, it is pretty oily. The thai fried calamari was well liked by all due to a unique fragrance and slight spice in it. The bbq pork and fried rice deserves a mention because it was my favorite item that night which hit all the right note. Splended meat flavor and sweetness coupled with rice to mild the sweet taste. The glutinous rice and mango was pretty good as well since the mango is fantastically sweet and juicy. The rest of the items were more miss than hit and a friend from China from the Sze Chuan province had major problems adjusting to the taste which is mostly sweet. Sze chuan is more well known for its spicy roots which explains why the food probably had no taste to her.

Elephant visit during dinner

A more interesting event was that many peddlers entered the restaurant to sell items, from dvds to jumping stones to even an elephant which begs you to feed it. Needless to say, for all the foreigners there and my friends alike, the elephant was the star. Incredible stuff, now this is something you don't see everyday.

The entire meal only clocked in at THB 222 which is absurdly cheap for the amount of items we ordered.

Last Take: Enjoyable due to the company and the fried rice but otherwise horrible service and rather normal offerings. Still, the cheap price tag means its always going to be patronized and packed as it is now. I still suggest giving it a try for the fried rice alone. After all, its cost is minimal.

Food in Thailand 2 (Sheraton hotel)

This post accounts for pretty much all five days i stayed in Sheraton hotel for breakfast and lunch. Thats what happens when you are sent overseas to stay in a focus group environment for work purposes i suppose. First of all, minimal to no time for anything apart from work and the entire day is spent stuck in the hotel. Secondly, thanks to the organizing team, you get to enjoy hotel breakfast and lunches every single day. This can be either very good, or very bad depending on the quality served in the hotel. Thirdly, the only time i get to have any food out of the hotel is few and far between given the work and time when the word "freedom" is accorded to you.
So, for all that ranting, let me assure you now. The food in Sheraton hotel in Thailand is definitely of an agreeable standard, even though its in buffet format. To start off, its breakfast below.

Breakfast for 6 days

Breakfast: Look at the above and you'll know what i generally had for 6 mornings of breakfast. I say its a general idea because there are dozens of other items i didn't show. On the above, the butter croissant is excellent, fragrant, soft and i never did tire of it. The scrambled eggs were not watery and thankfully not dry and gluey like the Mcdonalds version while my staple items were the oily yet irresistable bacon and sausages. The quiche really didn't stand out and was left untouched.
Apart from these items, you had orange juice, yogurt, coffee, tea, all the bread you can imagine, salads of all shapes and sizes, fruit salads, cut fruit, cheese, ham, dim sum items like bbq pork buns, siew mai, omelette made on the spot, soup and many more. Its definitely not possible to have everything in one morning. But i managed to in the end and more or less, i stuck to what you saw above, which, in my idea, is an ideal breakfast.

Satay

Fruits and wraps

The ultimate coffee maker

The waiting room

Mushroom croissants and finger food

Tea time: The scary thing is that once after breakfast, you get tea time which is at 1030am and another after lunch at 3.30pm. The spread is more or less as above but it comes it variations everyday. Sometimes, we get dim sum, other times, sushi and yogurt and all the good stuff basically. Its mind boggling and stomach enhancing after five days of rich food. The food, maintains the above average standard which i mentioned and keeps us gobbling happily even though its pretty obvious the weight is coming on.
Special mention to the coffee maker which is absolutely indispensible. Its a wonderful contraption complete with a coffee making serving lady who stays there throughout the day just to collect our dirty cups and to press the button for our coffee orders. Spendid luxury. I've never felt more important in my life actually. I have my own coffee lady for crying out loud!

Sashimi

To all japanese food lovers, the sashimi here is refillable, neverending and comes in thick juicy pieces. However, i actually didn't like it too much. It has a rather.........stale taste on the meat which i believe means its only moderately fresh. I may be wrong here though. That said, i had at least a plate everyday. :P

Scallops, prawns, enoki mushrooms and mussels

The prawns are of the kind i like. Big, juicy and crunchy but strangely not sweet. The rest of the seafood didn't have this problem though. Still, i couldn't resist having seconds for the prawns. Too good to miss!

Scallop and shrimp in a glass

Even more seafood! However, this looks better then it tastes. The puree-like tomato sauce beneath it spoilt the freshness of the scallop and prawn for me.

There it is, the whole round of sinful food

Salad section

Cold Cuts section

Friends and the food

Omelette, fish, soup and beef section

Desserts!!!!

If the question on your mind is, is this all they offer? Well, the answer is no. I didn't capture alot of the food that was on offer. There was also fish, i mean a whole deep fried fish you can cut from, an entire slab of beef which you can request to be cut for you, tempura of all kinds, cha soba, fish soup, noodles, soft shell crabs, fruits and an ever changing dessert. Even this description doesn't name half of the list of items you can pick from. Its that much and i had it almost every single day there. The dessert is to be commended as well, my gosh, the creme brulee is super addictive but not because of the melted sugar on top, rather, its the milder tasting vanilla extract that kept me hooked for days. The cakes are equally good, smooth chocolate, soft sponge, superbly balanced panna cotta, i can't even begin to dislike that section.

Last Take: The food quality in this hotel is definitely above average. Even though its a buffet, the quality is consistent and the changing menu for a few items manages to keep me trying for days. That said, one can only have so many buffets before it get scary. By day 3, most of the group has resorted to small portions and lesser rounds of food. Not that its bad, mind you, its simply because we realised after eating all that, the only thing we'll get to do is sit down and wreck our brains which really isn't much exercise. So my take on this? Hell, eat here if you can at least once. Its pretty darn good.