Another Year Older

Another birthday party, another year older. I had a great weekend with my close friends in Sentosa. I should try to post some pics up. The colonial manor at the Capella was fantastic. The unfortunate part was that Capella did not live up to its "more that 5 Star" reputation. Great product but lousy software. I had to wait 40 mins to check in when they had a 24hour check in,check out policy. I did not even arrive early. I arrived at 2pm in the afternoon and was made to wait cause their housekeeping did not communicate with their catering division. This was just one of the many mistakes they made during my stay. Anyway, I had loads of fun with my close friends and that made up for it.

It's the festive season again :)

I had my first cup of toffee nut latte from Starbucks yesterday! This marks the start of the year end festive season. My favourite time of the year. It's been a while since I blogged so this is as good a reason to start again :)

Progression

Its been some months since I completed the renovations at my apartment. I have stayed over for the weekends but I have not tried staying here during the work week. So I guess this is my first night here during a work day. I guess as time progresses, I will be slowing move out of my parents. I guess it takes time for them to adjust and for me as well. But this is a first step.

Restaurant Sazanka, Hotel Okura, Amsterdam

I love Japanese food in general. I knew I was hooked when my parents first introduced me to sashimi that many years ago when I was still a young boy. I guess I must have been no more than 12 then. I loved it for its simplicity, just a piece of raw fish with nothing but wasabi and light soy sauce. I guess my love for Japanese food, or should I say sashimi and sushi, is because it’s non-oily and for the most part and it’s clear and refreshing.
Since then, I have sampled different types of Japanese cooking. I can’t say I am big fan of teppanyaki. Anyway, as part of the series I am writing on restaurants in the Netherlands, I think I should not leave out Sazanka at Hotel Okura in Amsterdam. The teppanyaki at Sazanka has somewhat made me change my view on teppanyaki. Well, below are some of the dishes we had :

Restaurant Sazanka, Lobster tail cooked in rice wine served with scallops

Duck meat cooked to perfection served on top of a salad, followed by beef cooked in

sukiyaki sauce.

Finished off with a simple fried rice and ice cream wrapped

in crapes flambayed with Tia maria

Visaandeschelde

It’s been some weeks since my last entry. Both the New Year and the Chinese New Year festivities are over. It’s now back to the reality of a full work year ahead. In fact, I just came back from a work trip to Amsterdam. As in my previous post, one of the things I look forward to during my trips are the dinners. We usually visit this restaurant called Visaandeschelde. We were recommended to this restaurant by our Dutch partners quite a number of years back and it has become a ritual that we visit it every time we are in Amsterdam. The chef does a 3, 4, or 5 course chef’s surprise and the menu changes every 3-4 weeks. Here are a few pictures I took during my recent visit :

Do visit their website at http://www.visaandeschelde.nl/ if you want to know more about the place.

Pai Ti Kong - A Hokkien Tradition

I first wrote about the Hokkien tradition of giving thanks to Ti Kong (Jade Emperor, the ruler of the Heavens in Taoism) in my Livejournal entry in 2006. That was the first year I attended Stan’s Pai Ti Kong ceremony. It is the biggest religious ceremony for the Hokkien Chinese. It takes place on the night of the 8th day of the Lunar New Year. The ceremony starts officially at midnight.
The story behind this tradition was that in ancient times, the Hokkien tribe/clan was chased by an evil general and hid in a sugarcane plantation. And on the early morning of the 9th day of Chinese Lunar New Year, they emerged from the plantation and found that the enemy had left and so they gave thanks to the Jade Emperor for delivering them from the enemy. Sugarcane is a must have item for the ritual as it also symbolizes the plantation they hid in. I guess due to the cultural revolution in China, this ceremony is now only a big thing in Singapore, some parts of Malaysia and in Taiwan.
I still remember fondly my grandmother performing this thanksgiving ritual. Back then, it was a lot more elaborate. The offerings included a whole roast pig, braised duck, chicken, numerous types of fruits and of course sugarcane. I remember taking photos of the ceremony. I just need to find the time to dig through all my old stuff in the storeroom to find them. I hope the pictures are still around.
The ritual at Stan’s is a lot more simplified. But nonetheless, it is a good way of keeping the Hokkien culture alive. Since this is my new blog, I have decided to place this posting so that I can share this with my new readers. Do goggle the topic under Pai Ti Kong if you wish to find out more.

Public Transport

 It's well known that the transport system in Singapore is one of the best around. Our subway (MRT) and bus system takes you to almost any part of Singapore. Taxis are also readily available at a relatively cheap price (try hailing a cab in London, Tokyo or New York). 

Having said all these, I have not step on board a bus or taxi for years. Ever since I got my driving license at 17, I have always had a car. It so happened that I had to send my car in for a service the other day. They found a fault that needed about a week to fix cause they did not have the parts in Singapore. Needless to say, I was fuming mad. 

However, when I regained my calm, I thought it would be a good time to check out our public transport system. Moreover, the bus stop is just across the road from my house. OK, I admit my working hours are flexible and I can time it such that I miss the morning rush hour crowd. To my surprise, I rather enjoyed the buy rides to work and back (yes I even secretly snapped this photo with my camera phone). 

I have since gotten my car back from the workshop. But I think for this year, I will try to take the bus to work once a week. I guess it's my little contribution to a cleaner environment. 

Japan Trip 08, Day 5 & 6

It's been two weeks since my return from Japan. I was rather busy over the New Year period and have not been blogging. Anyway, below are a selection of pictures I took during the trip which I have not posted up.

I guess Singaporeans are generally a rather well travelled group and we have also set roots in different parts of the world. An example would be this Singaporean Restaurant found at the foot of Roppongi Hills.

For Christmas, we settled for a nice Tempura dinner at our hotel's tempura bar. This was my first time spending Christmas in Japan. It not a holiday there but the commercial hype about Christmas did creep its way into the retail stores. Most were all decked up and the areas around the major malls were all lid. However, what was important to me was that my closest friends were there with me. I guess other than the spirit of giving and sharing, what makes Christmas special, as with other major festivals, is that we get to spend it in the company of our loved ones and friends.

Well, until the next trip...