Stay until credits for this movie! :)
8.04.2013
7.02.2013
6.24.2013
Lessons learnt from "The Diary of Amos Lee"
For those who understands me, it's really tough to get me to read a book. I've bought many books where I've had the urge to read them, but really, they just end up in a pile in some corner of my room. I want to read them. I just haven't found the right timing (maybe...). There has only been a few books which I really read them, page to page. Harry Potter being one of the series. If you count graphic books, I'm following a series by a famous Taiwanese blogger/illustrator.
It's just like blogging. No point saying I want to pick up blogging again if I end up not doing it! Figured I would just write whenever I feel like to. Or like keeping a diary like in "The Diary of Amos Lee".
It's a new book I got from Popular bookstore on Saturday evening. And I couldn't really put it down. It's a book for Young/Intermediate Readers - so it's simple and easy to read, not a lot of text, has attractive illustrations. But I also thought it was interesting! In fact, after finishing the whole book, I found some of the stories quite motivating.
It's written by a local author, Adeline Foo (whom I later found out to be the wife of my brother-in-law's boss). And it began with the boy ("Amos Lee") starting to write his diary in the toilet "when (he is) doing (his) big business." Story after story, the diary takes the readers into the mind of a 10-year-old boy living in Singapore. Amos Lee writes about everything and anything! Things that happened in school, activities he did with his family, assignments his mother took him and the sister out for, his relationship with his best friends, things he desires/enjoys, things he hates, things he did good or wrong. He is absolutely honest in his diary, despite knowing that his mother is reading it (and father too). While I wonder how much of all that is true story, and if any of it is true, it was entertaining to pick up a few facts (on frogs and pangolins!), and just see what life of a 10-year-old boy could be like. (I thought Amos Lee is rather fortunate to have experienced all that!)
You may also find some of the stories rather motivating for adults.
For example, a 10-year-old boy who makes his goods to sell? I'm sure adults can have more better ideas at entrepreneurship! What about a 10-year-old who raises funds to help a schoolmate who has bullied him before? We can do more with being generous and forgiving in this society!
I've never paid much attention to local publications. But I think "The Diary of Amos Lee" has completely changed my opinion. It's a diary, basically one anecdote after another, which makes it real easy to just pick up and put down the book anytime and anywhere you want, e.g. while waiting for bus to come, commuting on MRT to work, at a restaurant waiting for food to be served, on the bed waiting to fall asleep or when you're in the toilet for 'big business'! Most of the stories are lighthearted to read. Some may get down to more serious business, but things do smooth out eventually. There is a lot of character development towards the end of the book too.
"The Diary of Amos Lee" series also had great illustrations. That was what caught my eye at the bookstore. Illustrated by local designer/illustrator, Stephanie Wong, the doodles are cute, interesting, eye-catchy, appropriate, making the book an enjoyable item to hold and keep.
Overall, a thumbs-up for this book! Also, I just went to the bookstore today and bought #2, 3, 3.5 and 4 of the series.
It's just like blogging. No point saying I want to pick up blogging again if I end up not doing it! Figured I would just write whenever I feel like to. Or like keeping a diary like in "The Diary of Amos Lee".
It's a new book I got from Popular bookstore on Saturday evening. And I couldn't really put it down. It's a book for Young/Intermediate Readers - so it's simple and easy to read, not a lot of text, has attractive illustrations. But I also thought it was interesting! In fact, after finishing the whole book, I found some of the stories quite motivating.
It's written by a local author, Adeline Foo (whom I later found out to be the wife of my brother-in-law's boss). And it began with the boy ("Amos Lee") starting to write his diary in the toilet "when (he is) doing (his) big business." Story after story, the diary takes the readers into the mind of a 10-year-old boy living in Singapore. Amos Lee writes about everything and anything! Things that happened in school, activities he did with his family, assignments his mother took him and the sister out for, his relationship with his best friends, things he desires/enjoys, things he hates, things he did good or wrong. He is absolutely honest in his diary, despite knowing that his mother is reading it (and father too). While I wonder how much of all that is true story, and if any of it is true, it was entertaining to pick up a few facts (on frogs and pangolins!), and just see what life of a 10-year-old boy could be like. (I thought Amos Lee is rather fortunate to have experienced all that!)
You may also find some of the stories rather motivating for adults.
For example, a 10-year-old boy who makes his goods to sell? I'm sure adults can have more better ideas at entrepreneurship! What about a 10-year-old who raises funds to help a schoolmate who has bullied him before? We can do more with being generous and forgiving in this society!
I've never paid much attention to local publications. But I think "The Diary of Amos Lee" has completely changed my opinion. It's a diary, basically one anecdote after another, which makes it real easy to just pick up and put down the book anytime and anywhere you want, e.g. while waiting for bus to come, commuting on MRT to work, at a restaurant waiting for food to be served, on the bed waiting to fall asleep or when you're in the toilet for 'big business'! Most of the stories are lighthearted to read. Some may get down to more serious business, but things do smooth out eventually. There is a lot of character development towards the end of the book too.
"The Diary of Amos Lee" series also had great illustrations. That was what caught my eye at the bookstore. Illustrated by local designer/illustrator, Stephanie Wong, the doodles are cute, interesting, eye-catchy, appropriate, making the book an enjoyable item to hold and keep.
Overall, a thumbs-up for this book! Also, I just went to the bookstore today and bought #2, 3, 3.5 and 4 of the series.
11.29.2011
Interesting: iPhone UI Stencil [Product]
For any iPhone app UI designers or developers, this will be a nice (geeky) addition to your gadgets collection -- an iPhone UI Stencil!!
 |
| Source: qiqufaxian.cn |
11.10.2011
A little Google surprise (trick)
I was told that I would find a little surprise if I try to type the words below in Google.
Follow these instructions carefully until the surprise happens for you, don't skip or read through them first!
1. Go to Google homepage
2. Type d in the search box ('D' or 'd' doesn't matter)
3. Type o
4. Hit 'spacebar' once
If the surprise still hasn't happened yet, continue on...
5. Type a
See it yet? Maybe a little bit more...
6. 'Spacebar'
7. Type b
You should be able to see the surprise by now. Like it? :p
Follow these instructions carefully until the surprise happens for you, don't skip or read through them first!
1. Go to Google homepage
2. Type d in the search box ('D' or 'd' doesn't matter)
3. Type o
4. Hit 'spacebar' once
If the surprise still hasn't happened yet, continue on...
5. Type a
See it yet? Maybe a little bit more...
6. 'Spacebar'
7. Type b
You should be able to see the surprise by now. Like it? :p
11.07.2011
Q-ing up at Taxi stands
I hope in reading this, nobody gets offended. I'm writing this in general and not against any individual who may be included in my photos. (Because I have seen some 'nobody' getting spiky before!) So don't take this too seriously please - this is all just for laughs!
There is a very strange phenomenon at the Bugis Junction taxi stand. Most times, people just can't queue up properly at the taxi stand - despite railings and arrows were laid out to guide them how to queue for taxi, people have chosen to ignore and form their own queue outside of the taxi stand.
This is what I mean:
First off, how did this happen?
This may seem stupid. Well, I guess it's really the 2nd to 3rd groups of people that can decide how the queue will turn out to be. I have drawn up a some diagrams to illustrate this.
First group - not an issue yet - people naturally walk up to the very edge, so can accept that.
Second group is most likely going to set the tone, but if the third group is not "smart" enough to try to stir back to the right path, then it's going to cause a situation as below:
And it's only natural that the rest follow suit - for fear of others not acknowledging them in queue:
This can cause serious clogging issues on the pathway if the queue gets too long! So far, I've only seen this happen at Bugis Junction's taxi stand. Probably it's the design of the taxi stand that is too counter-intuitive for most people to queue up properly.
Just a fun observation :p
There is a very strange phenomenon at the Bugis Junction taxi stand. Most times, people just can't queue up properly at the taxi stand - despite railings and arrows were laid out to guide them how to queue for taxi, people have chosen to ignore and form their own queue outside of the taxi stand.
This is what I mean:
 |
| Long queue forming -- Bugis Junction taxi stand |
 |
| But the actual taxi "stand" is empty!! |
First off, how did this happen?
This may seem stupid. Well, I guess it's really the 2nd to 3rd groups of people that can decide how the queue will turn out to be. I have drawn up a some diagrams to illustrate this.
Just a fun observation :p
10.31.2011
Another revival? Multi-blogging on food, life...and the Arts.
I was just checking my blog stats, and I'm actually getting more consistent page views on this blog than my food blog!
*pat on my own back*
I'm thinking it's because I've owned this blog for a lot longer, there's more content, and that I did more work in trying to promote it in the past - submitting to blog directories and search engines etc. Makes me wonder if I should also revive this blog as well... Just posting interesting things in my everyday life or on topics I am passionate about - still "creating new memories" to stick to the original theme.
Can't believe that I'm actually doing a lot now to get back into blogging. Despite all the new social media channels popping up now and then, blogging still seems to be a popular activity - the intensity of content, and being always readily available is hard to match up with with channels like Twitter, where there's usually an information overload due to the speed at how fast information comes and goes on your timeline. You really need to be there constantly to not miss a thing.
Went to the National Museum of Singapore yesterday with my family. First time there, and even though it's no where near spectacular like the MET museum, it's still worth a visit once in a while. A Musée d'Orsay Paris collection of masterpieces has definitely sparked an interest in learning more about the different art movements/styles in history. (Vaguely remembering all those big names like Renoir, Monet and Cézzane from an Art class in middle school.)
I had the urge to wake the artistic side of me - the side that had me choose Arts elective classes and eventually tried to study architecture in college. I seem to have lost that side after moving into business and marketing.
So I started a photo blog on Tumblr where I plan to document all the art pieces, architecture, and historical facts that I find. Hopefully, it helps others to learn a thing or two and get inspired as well.
*pat on my own back*
I'm thinking it's because I've owned this blog for a lot longer, there's more content, and that I did more work in trying to promote it in the past - submitting to blog directories and search engines etc. Makes me wonder if I should also revive this blog as well... Just posting interesting things in my everyday life or on topics I am passionate about - still "creating new memories" to stick to the original theme.
Can't believe that I'm actually doing a lot now to get back into blogging. Despite all the new social media channels popping up now and then, blogging still seems to be a popular activity - the intensity of content, and being always readily available is hard to match up with with channels like Twitter, where there's usually an information overload due to the speed at how fast information comes and goes on your timeline. You really need to be there constantly to not miss a thing.
Went to the National Museum of Singapore yesterday with my family. First time there, and even though it's no where near spectacular like the MET museum, it's still worth a visit once in a while. A Musée d'Orsay Paris collection of masterpieces has definitely sparked an interest in learning more about the different art movements/styles in history. (Vaguely remembering all those big names like Renoir, Monet and Cézzane from an Art class in middle school.)
I had the urge to wake the artistic side of me - the side that had me choose Arts elective classes and eventually tried to study architecture in college. I seem to have lost that side after moving into business and marketing.
So I started a photo blog on Tumblr where I plan to document all the art pieces, architecture, and historical facts that I find. Hopefully, it helps others to learn a thing or two and get inspired as well.
7.16.2010
[Share] Youth Marketing - Power of Gaming
Currently researching a bit on Youth Marketing for an upcoming project.
This presentation highlights the youth behavioral profile and presents several inspiring case studies on marketing to youths through games.
This presentation highlights the youth behavioral profile and presents several inspiring case studies on marketing to youths through games.
7.15.2010
Oi Auntie, Don't Pull Leh.
You know those auto paper towel dispenser? You probably don't see them at all in Singapore (very rarely), but they are available in Toa Payoh Jackson Square's toilets.
How it works - there is a motion censor (small blinking red light) right at where the paper towel will come out. All you have to do is to put your hand there or wave it, and paper will start rolling out for ~3 secs the stop. Cool, you like it?
Actually, these dispensers don't seem to be very efficient. The paper often gets stuck, and for a long time, the one right by my office was unable to respond to any hand motions at all. I thought it was due to low batt or something.
Well, I think I might have found the truth today after having just saw an auntie forcefully pull an extraordinarily long piece of towel out of that poor machine THRICE!! I could hear the machine's screeching sound as she did that again and again. So I said, "eh auntie, u noe how to use one not? the machine will spoil if you keep pulling liddat!"
Oki, I lied. I didn't say that to her. :p I just stared at her barbaric behavior from the mirror. Maybe I should help the management put up a sign on the dispenser to teach people how to use it properly: DO NOT PULL.
- posted from my iWee :)
How it works - there is a motion censor (small blinking red light) right at where the paper towel will come out. All you have to do is to put your hand there or wave it, and paper will start rolling out for ~3 secs the stop. Cool, you like it?
Actually, these dispensers don't seem to be very efficient. The paper often gets stuck, and for a long time, the one right by my office was unable to respond to any hand motions at all. I thought it was due to low batt or something.
Well, I think I might have found the truth today after having just saw an auntie forcefully pull an extraordinarily long piece of towel out of that poor machine THRICE!! I could hear the machine's screeching sound as she did that again and again. So I said, "eh auntie, u noe how to use one not? the machine will spoil if you keep pulling liddat!"
Oki, I lied. I didn't say that to her. :p I just stared at her barbaric behavior from the mirror. Maybe I should help the management put up a sign on the dispenser to teach people how to use it properly: DO NOT PULL.
- posted from my iWee :)
3.06.2010
13 Lo Hei ingredients and their meanings
Of all the Chinese New Year food, I hate Lo Hei (Yu Sheng) the most. Gosh it's like randomly throwing everything together, give them a meaning, and give them a representative color to fit their meaning. They simply don't taste right to me. And raw fish is just not my type.
But this Chinese New Year, I had 3x Lo Hei. Once at Din Tai Fung, once in Malaysia, and once at Tung Lok. The coolest thing for me was just the procedure to pour the ingredients together. Then the actual "lo hei".
Do you know what are the ingredients and the meanings behind their colors? How many can you name?
I picked up a flyer from Ichiban Boshi with 13 lo hei ingredients, and their respective meanings in both English and Chinese. Of course the ingredients here are tailored for Ichiban Boshi's Yusheng set this year. I read on wiki that they are 27 ingredients in the original dish.
1. Chuka Kurage
Excellence, 锦上添花
2. Red Sweetened Ginger
Luck, 鸿运当头
3. Peanut Crunch
Wealth, 金玉满堂
4. Pickled Leek
Divination, 妙算如神
5. Sweetened Lime
Merit, 苦尽甘来
6. Pickled Cucumber
Advancement, 平步青云
7. Winter Melon
Harmony, 甜甜蜜蜜
8. Fried Sesame
Prosperity, 生意兴隆
9. Chuka Wakame
Youth, 青春长驻
10. Pickled Melon
Tranquility, 风调雨顺
11. Pok Chui Biscuits
Affluence, 遍地黄金
12. Five Spice, Cinnamon and Pepper Powder
Fortune, 招财进宝
13. Salmon Sashimi
Abundance, 年年有余
Do you like Lo Hei? What was your favorite or least favorite Chinese New Year dish/snack?
But this Chinese New Year, I had 3x Lo Hei. Once at Din Tai Fung, once in Malaysia, and once at Tung Lok. The coolest thing for me was just the procedure to pour the ingredients together. Then the actual "lo hei".
Do you know what are the ingredients and the meanings behind their colors? How many can you name?
I picked up a flyer from Ichiban Boshi with 13 lo hei ingredients, and their respective meanings in both English and Chinese. Of course the ingredients here are tailored for Ichiban Boshi's Yusheng set this year. I read on wiki that they are 27 ingredients in the original dish.
1. Chuka Kurage
Excellence, 锦上添花
2. Red Sweetened Ginger
Luck, 鸿运当头
3. Peanut Crunch
Wealth, 金玉满堂
4. Pickled Leek
Divination, 妙算如神
5. Sweetened Lime
Merit, 苦尽甘来
6. Pickled Cucumber
Advancement, 平步青云
7. Winter Melon
Harmony, 甜甜蜜蜜
8. Fried Sesame
Prosperity, 生意兴隆
9. Chuka Wakame
Youth, 青春长驻
10. Pickled Melon
Tranquility, 风调雨顺
11. Pok Chui Biscuits
Affluence, 遍地黄金
12. Five Spice, Cinnamon and Pepper Powder
Fortune, 招财进宝
13. Salmon Sashimi
Abundance, 年年有余
Do you like Lo Hei? What was your favorite or least favorite Chinese New Year dish/snack?
2.26.2010
Who says no money cannot eat?
Hmmm....it's been 3 months now since my last pay! What the heck... & Always in the last week, we try to scrimp and save. But who says no money cannot eat?
In times of need, we were so glad to have my Sakae Card around!
..with $55 Sakae Dollars from the e-journalists program. Just in time to celebrate wx's birthday too! Hehe
3 colored plates, $2.29 each + 1 red plate, $5.59
Nabeyaki Udon, $11.99
Tempura with Yuzu Soba, $13.99
Totals to $46.50. We paid only 50 cents!!
The yuzu soba was quite interesting. We were given this raw quail egg (poked with a small hole) and for a while we weren't sure what to do with it.
Do you know the correct way to eat your yuzu soba?
Rating: ★★★
In times of need, we were so glad to have my Sakae Card around!
..with $55 Sakae Dollars from the e-journalists program. Just in time to celebrate wx's birthday too! Hehe
3 colored plates, $2.29 each + 1 red plate, $5.59
Nabeyaki Udon, $11.99
Tempura with Yuzu Soba, $13.99Totals to $46.50. We paid only 50 cents!!
The yuzu soba was quite interesting. We were given this raw quail egg (poked with a small hole) and for a while we weren't sure what to do with it.
Do you know the correct way to eat your yuzu soba?
Rating: ★★★
1.06.2010
This is not Farmville. It's your own REAL farm.. but online.
Ever played Farmville on Facebook? Apparently, it is the #1 Facebook app by Zynga (who also created Café World and Mafia Wars in Top 10) now with over 73 million users - that's more than twice the size than that of the #2 app. These virtual farm games are getting quite popular even on the iPhone. The most popular in the iTunes App Store is the Tap Farm by Streetview Labs, currently at #35 in Top 50 Free Apps.
I've been playing one myself called iFarm by PlayMesh. I spend time picking out crops that would make me the most profit, and I keep coming back to check on their growth even if it's at 3am - because everything is real time, if you leave a harvested crop for too long, it wilts.
How about playing one that actually returns you with REAL edible harvests? Doing it pretty much the same way as in those farm simulation games mentioned above (except you DO have to pay for this) - pick your crops, plant them, water them and finally harvest them - this creative Italian company will deliver your harvests to your doorstep within 24 hours! Interesting eh?
Unfortunately, this fun and innovative service only operates in Italy right now. And you control your own farm (or "garden") via your web browser. But I wouldn't see it being a problem to establish such services in the United States, where city people are becoming more health-conscious, "cheap" "organic" "home-grown" food would appeal very much to them as well. An even better idea - remotely control your farm on mobile even while traveling! Or send a box of love-filled tomatoes to your family!
Read more
Remote-controlled farming for city dwellers: tailor-made, no-fuss vegetable gardens
I've been playing one myself called iFarm by PlayMesh. I spend time picking out crops that would make me the most profit, and I keep coming back to check on their growth even if it's at 3am - because everything is real time, if you leave a harvested crop for too long, it wilts.
How about playing one that actually returns you with REAL edible harvests? Doing it pretty much the same way as in those farm simulation games mentioned above (except you DO have to pay for this) - pick your crops, plant them, water them and finally harvest them - this creative Italian company will deliver your harvests to your doorstep within 24 hours! Interesting eh?
Unfortunately, this fun and innovative service only operates in Italy right now. And you control your own farm (or "garden") via your web browser. But I wouldn't see it being a problem to establish such services in the United States, where city people are becoming more health-conscious, "cheap" "organic" "home-grown" food would appeal very much to them as well. An even better idea - remotely control your farm on mobile even while traveling! Or send a box of love-filled tomatoes to your family!
Read more
Remote-controlled farming for city dwellers: tailor-made, no-fuss vegetable gardens
12.17.2009
T for Teppanyaki
Finally found the chance to dine at Sakae Teppanyki @ Century Mall on Monday, been a long time! Everything looked strangely familiar - the chefs, the waitresses. In the past, I've talked about the food and I've talked about the service. I want to write about something different this time - the Teppanyaki cooking! :) Keep reading to also find out something new at Sakae Teppanyaki.
I think teppanyaki is awesome! It's really fun to observe how they prepare and cook, then slowly enjoy the food. Wx and I would even discuss different chef styles. You know, like gourmets :D
For instance, how many eggs and how much soy sauce to use for 3 servings of the garlic fried rice...
To get...
This!!
Even the shrimpy topping can make a difference in the overall taste. Some chefs will heat it up a bit after the rice is done (this I think is optimal); some set it on the metal plate longer (but I feel it makes the shrimps too dry); and some just sprinkle directly onto the rice without extra heating.
Remember, what is the one best ingredient in teppanyaki? Garlic!! There is the garlic fried rice and seafood stir-fried with garlic. Seriously I think there needs to be more more garlic :p
Besides stir frying, there are other styles of cooking in teppanyaki. Try the lobster stew! Prepared and served in nicely folded aluminium foil trays. These trays are also used in making beef sukiyaki.
Then there is the steamed kind like chawanmushi. Just spray some water and cover it up with a big round lid!
Here's something cute from Sakae:
Green tea icecream served in Sakae froggie trays!! Hehe I took home the trays :p
I think teppanyaki is awesome! It's really fun to observe how they prepare and cook, then slowly enjoy the food. Wx and I would even discuss different chef styles. You know, like gourmets :D
For instance, how many eggs and how much soy sauce to use for 3 servings of the garlic fried rice...
To get...
This!!
Even the shrimpy topping can make a difference in the overall taste. Some chefs will heat it up a bit after the rice is done (this I think is optimal); some set it on the metal plate longer (but I feel it makes the shrimps too dry); and some just sprinkle directly onto the rice without extra heating.
Remember, what is the one best ingredient in teppanyaki? Garlic!! There is the garlic fried rice and seafood stir-fried with garlic. Seriously I think there needs to be more more garlic :p
Besides stir frying, there are other styles of cooking in teppanyaki. Try the lobster stew! Prepared and served in nicely folded aluminium foil trays. These trays are also used in making beef sukiyaki.
Then there is the steamed kind like chawanmushi. Just spray some water and cover it up with a big round lid!
Here's something cute from Sakae:
Green tea icecream served in Sakae froggie trays!! Hehe I took home the trays :p
12.10.2009
Christmasly presence @ Cellcity
Had a little fun today putting up some deco around the office with Patty!
From the big Cellcity logo at the entrance...
To a ding dong bell at our desks...
Lots have changed over the past year, we worked on tight budgets and we watched our products developed into something better.
Sometimes I wonder why we continue to stay on during the down turns. I had trouble but I had fun too. :) Just hoping for a better outcome I guess?
May we all have a great Christmas.
From the big Cellcity logo at the entrance...
To a ding dong bell at our desks...
Lots have changed over the past year, we worked on tight budgets and we watched our products developed into something better.
Sometimes I wonder why we continue to stay on during the down turns. I had trouble but I had fun too. :) Just hoping for a better outcome I guess?
May we all have a great Christmas.
12.05.2009
Eating @ Hand in Hand
Lunched at Hand in Hand Beijing Restaurant (手拉手京华小馆) - dad saw it on the newspapers I think, so he wanted to try it out.
A variety of Chinese dishes - Hunan, Beijing, and Sichuan flavors in dim sum, noodles, soup and traditional style. But was quite disappointing, judging by the few dishes we tried.
In reverse taste rating:
5. Tianjin Goubuli (Go Believe) steamed buns
My dad always boasts about how yummy Goubuli buns are. But I've never tasted any up to standards. Sad to say, it's the same for this. Not enough filling and doesn't taste "hot and fresh" (still newly steamed though).
4. Suan xiang niu rou
There wasn't much "sauce" and the beef I felt was a little bit less than tender.
3. Fried dumplings
Not "fried" enough. It's halfway between boiled dumplings and fried ones.
2. Fried spring onion pancake
Not much of the spring onion flavor. But still quite acceptable IMHO.
1. Pork and cabbage dumplings
Taste quite good. It's just dumplings. I recommend adding mushrooms to the filling, will taste better.
Perhaps I should have tried their noodles. I believe they are known for that? Anyways, highly unlikely that I would go again. If you do go there, tell me if you like it there :)
Rating: ★
A variety of Chinese dishes - Hunan, Beijing, and Sichuan flavors in dim sum, noodles, soup and traditional style. But was quite disappointing, judging by the few dishes we tried.
In reverse taste rating:
5. Tianjin Goubuli (Go Believe) steamed buns
My dad always boasts about how yummy Goubuli buns are. But I've never tasted any up to standards. Sad to say, it's the same for this. Not enough filling and doesn't taste "hot and fresh" (still newly steamed though).
4. Suan xiang niu rou
There wasn't much "sauce" and the beef I felt was a little bit less than tender.
3. Fried dumplings
Not "fried" enough. It's halfway between boiled dumplings and fried ones.
2. Fried spring onion pancake
Not much of the spring onion flavor. But still quite acceptable IMHO.
1. Pork and cabbage dumplings
Taste quite good. It's just dumplings. I recommend adding mushrooms to the filling, will taste better.
Perhaps I should have tried their noodles. I believe they are known for that? Anyways, highly unlikely that I would go again. If you do go there, tell me if you like it there :)
Rating: ★
11.30.2009
Teppanyaki chef exercises favoritism
I actually planned to talk about this in my long pending post along with few other recent happenings until I realized that I actually have a lot more to say for this.
This actually happened at Sakae Teppanyaki, Bugis Junction. Before I plunge into the story, just want to make it clear that this is by far the first time I had experienced such unfair treatment at Sakae. (Favorite branch still in Tampines!!) It's not a total big deal, but it's very unprofessional, especially coming from a teppanyaki chef, where everything is transparent - customers see everything you are doing.
So wx and I were seated at this booth with another family of three. They were there before us, already served with some food, and were chatting with the chef quite frequently. After the chef confirmed our orders with us, he started making our garlic fried rice. For the next 10 mins, the chef only prepped food for that family. In fact, we literally finished our rice before we were served with ours. I really wondered how much food that family had ordered, because even when the chef was finally cooking for us, he was still cooking for them! Then here's where it got worse...
First dish up is the squid. Squid is a common dish in both seafood and beef set. Apparently, that x amount of squid was to be split amongst the five of us at the table - ie. 20% for the each of us. To get an exact even split is tough, but I've always seen the past teppanyaki chefs try their best at it. Do a rough split first then spread the remaining bits among those who got a smaller portion. Seriously, I think I got 10-12 pieces, plus what wx got, we got only approximately 15%. The chef, in his dear judgement, served the remaining bits (1%) to the man of that family. Okay..he is a lot bigger in size but that does not make him deserve more food than I do. We pay the same price, and the chef has no rights to deprive me of what I should be getting for him to suck up to his other customers!!
And... Should teppanyaki chefs talk while they cook? Some hygiene concerns here eh.
In direct contrast, I have seen very nice teppanyaki chefs. Not those chatty slash "friendly" type, but real service. Chinese chef at Plaza Singapura branch, very polite and the only person who bothered with us when the Malay (?) waitress was busy trying to appear occupied - slowly laying out plates at an empty table instead of serving customers first.
Maybe a training program would help? :p Would strongly suggest studying the customer service at Din Tai Feng. Even an appetizer is weighed for every customer, and waitresses are usually friendly.
Ah can't wait to have my grand teppanyaki feast in December! How grand? I should have $90 to spend on my Sakae Card soon :) That's roughly 2 meals for two at Sakae Teppanyaki.
This actually happened at Sakae Teppanyaki, Bugis Junction. Before I plunge into the story, just want to make it clear that this is by far the first time I had experienced such unfair treatment at Sakae. (Favorite branch still in Tampines!!) It's not a total big deal, but it's very unprofessional, especially coming from a teppanyaki chef, where everything is transparent - customers see everything you are doing.
So wx and I were seated at this booth with another family of three. They were there before us, already served with some food, and were chatting with the chef quite frequently. After the chef confirmed our orders with us, he started making our garlic fried rice. For the next 10 mins, the chef only prepped food for that family. In fact, we literally finished our rice before we were served with ours. I really wondered how much food that family had ordered, because even when the chef was finally cooking for us, he was still cooking for them! Then here's where it got worse...
First dish up is the squid. Squid is a common dish in both seafood and beef set. Apparently, that x amount of squid was to be split amongst the five of us at the table - ie. 20% for the each of us. To get an exact even split is tough, but I've always seen the past teppanyaki chefs try their best at it. Do a rough split first then spread the remaining bits among those who got a smaller portion. Seriously, I think I got 10-12 pieces, plus what wx got, we got only approximately 15%. The chef, in his dear judgement, served the remaining bits (1%) to the man of that family. Okay..he is a lot bigger in size but that does not make him deserve more food than I do. We pay the same price, and the chef has no rights to deprive me of what I should be getting for him to suck up to his other customers!!
And... Should teppanyaki chefs talk while they cook? Some hygiene concerns here eh.
In direct contrast, I have seen very nice teppanyaki chefs. Not those chatty slash "friendly" type, but real service. Chinese chef at Plaza Singapura branch, very polite and the only person who bothered with us when the Malay (?) waitress was busy trying to appear occupied - slowly laying out plates at an empty table instead of serving customers first.
Maybe a training program would help? :p Would strongly suggest studying the customer service at Din Tai Feng. Even an appetizer is weighed for every customer, and waitresses are usually friendly.
Ah can't wait to have my grand teppanyaki feast in December! How grand? I should have $90 to spend on my Sakae Card soon :) That's roughly 2 meals for two at Sakae Teppanyaki.
10.31.2009
Sakae Sushi not ideal for Family Dining..
So I finally took my family to Sakae Sushi @ Wheelock Place earlier this month to use my $50 voucher. Picked this location particularly because I saw on the website that it has tatami rooms!
But we didn't get the tatami room :( It was all dark as if that part of the shop is not yet open for business. What's worse was that one of the waitresses actually told us to not put our stroller beside our booths (my niece was still in there at that time). A little disappointing but understandable, as I really thought that the waitresses should offer us a tatami room if they didn't want us to have the stroller in the walkway - could be dangerous with them serving hot food. (We should have requested then too :\) Reason is simple. We were a big party with 4 adults 1 child 1 baby plus a baby stroller. It's very inconvenient to eat while carrying a baby, you know. Instead of asking your customers to adjust to your store plan, you should be trying to accustom to all your customers' needs at all times. That's what customer service is about, right?
So then we ordered 2 unagi-don, 1 gyuu-don, some side dishes, and some colored plates off the sushi train. I must say that the Enoki Niku Maki is quite disappointing - overflowing with teriyaki sauce, too sweet! It's a lot darker (black sauce) than in this picture. But the Saba Shioyaki is not bad for my dad - I think he enjoyed it.
The meal totals out to be $95 - $50 (voucher) = $45. This is my first time ordering ala carte at Sakae Sushi, and I believe it would be my last LOL. To be honest, Sakae Sushi's food is not top grade, though still lot better than those really cheap ones. Ala carte..sure, but cost-wise, is a little too pricey for me. So their buffets are the best - value deals especially if you eat a lot or eat a wide variety! & you have my honest opinion here :)
Just one thing to note when eating buffets:
If you want to use Sakae Sushi vouchers or if you want to benefit from 10% discount and/or 12% rebate from your Sakae Card, then you have to go ala carte. Sad, but the buffets are in fact a "promotion", so not valid with any other promotions.
Oh, and why Sakae Sushi is not ideal for families?
If you're interested in trying out at Sakae Sushi, check out Sakae Sushi's on-going promotions!
But we didn't get the tatami room :( It was all dark as if that part of the shop is not yet open for business. What's worse was that one of the waitresses actually told us to not put our stroller beside our booths (my niece was still in there at that time). A little disappointing but understandable, as I really thought that the waitresses should offer us a tatami room if they didn't want us to have the stroller in the walkway - could be dangerous with them serving hot food. (We should have requested then too :\) Reason is simple. We were a big party with 4 adults 1 child 1 baby plus a baby stroller. It's very inconvenient to eat while carrying a baby, you know. Instead of asking your customers to adjust to your store plan, you should be trying to accustom to all your customers' needs at all times. That's what customer service is about, right?
So then we ordered 2 unagi-don, 1 gyuu-don, some side dishes, and some colored plates off the sushi train. I must say that the Enoki Niku Maki is quite disappointing - overflowing with teriyaki sauce, too sweet! It's a lot darker (black sauce) than in this picture. But the Saba Shioyaki is not bad for my dad - I think he enjoyed it.The meal totals out to be $95 - $50 (voucher) = $45. This is my first time ordering ala carte at Sakae Sushi, and I believe it would be my last LOL. To be honest, Sakae Sushi's food is not top grade, though still lot better than those really cheap ones. Ala carte..sure, but cost-wise, is a little too pricey for me. So their buffets are the best - value deals especially if you eat a lot or eat a wide variety! & you have my honest opinion here :)
Just one thing to note when eating buffets:
If you want to use Sakae Sushi vouchers or if you want to benefit from 10% discount and/or 12% rebate from your Sakae Card, then you have to go ala carte. Sad, but the buffets are in fact a "promotion", so not valid with any other promotions.
Oh, and why Sakae Sushi is not ideal for families?
Sakae Sushi's primary seating areas are the booths, because of the sushi train. But not great for a big family with kids. That's why a tatami room is perfect! Best to come in twos, so both can get their hands on the sushi train running by them :D
If you're interested in trying out at Sakae Sushi, check out Sakae Sushi's on-going promotions!
Oh, I noticed that there's a Sakae Pasta Shop @ Wheelock Place! Worth a try next time :)
10.29.2009
Same Name - Same Logo - Different Company
I signed up for Social Mention alerts to inform me of any "Cellcity" presence out there in the online social community.
So anyways, I received an alert this morning, which brought me to this page. It's a Facebook Fan Page for a US wireless retailer called Cell City. Despite the name being identical to my current company in Singapore, trust me that we have no relations to this US company at all. Having the same name is actually still quite acceptable - 1. the name has not been patented and 2. as we are both in the wireless industry, it's not hard to think of our businesses as "a cellular city" or "building a city in the cellular world" - thus "cellcity". You can't really tell if anyone did copy the other. But to have the same logo (or very very similar) is a little freaky.
Cellcity @ Singapore:
We have been using our logo (plus a couple very minor variations) for at least a year now. I particularly liked the little city landscape captured in that "cellphone" on the right of the text. And what's also so neat about it is the iconic properties of that "cellphone" shape.
Cell City @ US:
This logo is taken from the Facebook page I found. Almost identical to ours, except for the font type and color (tbh, we had this shade of golden yellow/orange in our earlier variations), plus they used a real cellphone image for the icon with the signal sign instead of a city landscape. Other than that, the style of the text (bubbled letters and how "cell" is white and "city" is colored) and the idea/position of the cellphone icon are identical. This logo was uploaded onto the profile May this year. Another logo was used previously if you check out their Profile Pictures album.
Not really pointing fingers here as I don't have any actual evidence of plagiarism here (who came first??) But just a "sigh" at the professionalism of either designers or companies. It's one thing being inspired by another company's logo, but it's another thing when you actually copy 80% of it, tweak the remaining 20% and take it as yours. Hard for me to believe that these 2 examples are actually genuine and original concepts from two different designers for two different companies. Can you?
BTW, every company should be doing this - keep track of brand name mentions and keywords - stay connected with your potential customers the quick and easy way. Social Mention is a handy tool for brands to monitor and analyze their influence/presence in the social media - blogs, Facebook, Twitter etc.
So anyways, I received an alert this morning, which brought me to this page. It's a Facebook Fan Page for a US wireless retailer called Cell City. Despite the name being identical to my current company in Singapore, trust me that we have no relations to this US company at all. Having the same name is actually still quite acceptable - 1. the name has not been patented and 2. as we are both in the wireless industry, it's not hard to think of our businesses as "a cellular city" or "building a city in the cellular world" - thus "cellcity". You can't really tell if anyone did copy the other. But to have the same logo (or very very similar) is a little freaky.
Cellcity @ Singapore:
We have been using our logo (plus a couple very minor variations) for at least a year now. I particularly liked the little city landscape captured in that "cellphone" on the right of the text. And what's also so neat about it is the iconic properties of that "cellphone" shape.
Cell City @ US:
This logo is taken from the Facebook page I found. Almost identical to ours, except for the font type and color (tbh, we had this shade of golden yellow/orange in our earlier variations), plus they used a real cellphone image for the icon with the signal sign instead of a city landscape. Other than that, the style of the text (bubbled letters and how "cell" is white and "city" is colored) and the idea/position of the cellphone icon are identical. This logo was uploaded onto the profile May this year. Another logo was used previously if you check out their Profile Pictures album.
Not really pointing fingers here as I don't have any actual evidence of plagiarism here (who came first??) But just a "sigh" at the professionalism of either designers or companies. It's one thing being inspired by another company's logo, but it's another thing when you actually copy 80% of it, tweak the remaining 20% and take it as yours. Hard for me to believe that these 2 examples are actually genuine and original concepts from two different designers for two different companies. Can you?
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