12 Jan 2011 - Cruising on SuperStar Virgo (Part 1)

Off they headed to the cruise terminal on 12 Jan 2011 for their cruise. The queue for check-in at the counters looked quite long, he was thankful that they had decided to do the city-check-in two day before. It was their first time on a cruise, and it sure was an eye-opener for him, especially all kinds of people.

They were standing and observing the night sky and vessel when there seemed to be a commotion. A large group of Indian nationals had vacated the seating area and started an unruly queue at the embarkation gate. The poor auxiliary officer had to repeat himself over and over again, ordering the crowd to be in 2 lines.

The result - a more orderly queue.


Looking at the clock, he felt that they should also join the queue. That turned out to be quite a bad choice, an old Indian national man behind them had no qualms about pressing his huge belly onto people backs, which felt very disgusting. Didn't want to be rude to the elderly, so they shifted formation, and he promptly stepped forward to mash his tummy into someone else back. At that point of time, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Still waiting for the stagnant queue to move when a bubbly little Indian national girl came up to him and asked about the queue. Told her 2 lines, gesturing the line they were on and the next line. Then, a group of about 15 Indian nationals appeared out of nowhere, and inserted themselves few places down the line, and the queue started to become messy. Just when he was feeling bewildered how people could so shamelessly cut the queue, he saw the little girl peeking out from the group and grinning at him. He hoped that she doesn't grow up to become like the adults she were with.

Can you see any queue line?


By then, the non-stop chatter and cutting of queues had become increasingly irritating, spoiling the mood already. He was trying to keep it in, lest his actions spoiled her mood. The queue moved along into a snaking barricaded system with width just enough for two, but the chinese belly man kept trying to squeeze beside them. Belly man had space to stand behind them, instead chose to keep bumping himself and his luggage into them. The last straw was when yet another Indian national man clattered into them while trying to speak to his friends in the snaking queue. Never mind that "excuse me" and "sorry" were missing, this rude Indian national bugger could still glare when he was told to be more careful. How could such simple manners be missing?

After what seemed like ages, they went through customs and boarded the ship. They had to walk through a long aisle to the next lobby, and there was another group of Indian nationals standing on either side, whose best effort to give way was maintaining their positions. Imagine the width of the aisle, irritation to the max.

It was a relieve for him when they got into their balcony class room, relishing his personal space. Relaxed, washed up and prepared to go for dinner. A group Indian nationals walked past just as she opened the door, and one of them literally popped his head into the room, moving on only after he spotted the man of the room. Judge the civility for yourselves...

Went up to Level 12 for meals at Mediterranean Buffet restaurant. Still relatively quiet as diners sparsely populated the place. Also, there seemed to be 2 parts to it, the regular section and a vegetarian section. The vegetarian one seemed specially catered to the Indian community, so the contention for food wasn't half as bad as the boarding.


assortment of cakes


some strawberry mousse thing


Met another would be weirdo over at the reception lobby. They were trying to take photographs of the horses, when this cruise photographer came up to them, volunteering his services. They passed him the camera, but he rejected, saying that he's the professional photographer in there. Explained to him that they wanted their own digital copy, but he kept refusing and they spent a bit of time debating right there. She stepped in and said to let the poor chap get some business so that he'd stop the touting. They ended up with no photographs themselves.


Despite the eventful day, they continued with the ship exploration. Went up to Galaxy of the Stars lounge, where only one or two tables were occupied. Game machines were also suspended until reaching international waters. Got a beer and enjoyed the tunes belted out by 2 Filipino singers, supported by their musicians. This was when people started streaming in. The singers were very engaging, and managed to get a group of Singaporean aunties to open up and dance. There was another table of 3 Filipino guests who seemed to be professionally trained in dancing, and they became the highlight of the night, dancing for almost every song.

09 Jan 2011 - Dim Sum and Dessert

Woke up at noon today and she wanted to go for brunch of dim sum at Esplanade Xchange. He took his shower, finished up chapter 6 of PMP and then prepared to go out.

The name of the eatery that they had visited before, Xing Cha Lou,the receipt suggested that it's part of Banquet.


It was easy to get seats as it was empty except for one couple, perhaps because of their bad eating timings.


Then the procurement process started, and the constraint was that the payment was cash terms when he was hoping that it could be paid by credit...

Steamed pork ribs that had tender meat, though the sauce they were in was a little too oily. He is still wondering how they keep the meat tender, as the pork ribs he uses to make soup always turn out to be tough.


Her bowl of steamed mixed meat rice, comprising of rice topped with chicken and pork. Good blend of colors huh.


Soup dumplings (xiao long bao) that were served in cake cups. He's probably mentioned this before, good for catching soup that spill out of the dumplings.


Pork dumplings (siew mai) that had succulent prawns and topped with fish roe. These were different from the usual pork mince dumplings in that the pork used were chunky resulting in a firmer bite.


Close up of the roe, each one is a flavourful burst when you bite into it.


"Claws of the Phoenix" - chicken claws actually, again, stuff that both of them like. Somehow the shin part was omitted.


Next up on the list... she remembered that the dessert shop Ji De Chi was too crowded the other day after they dined at Lai Lai Family Restaurant, and suggested that they head there to try their luck. Arriving at Liang Seah Street...


He had read off a blog about a certain green tea mango dessert and flipped through the menu in an attempt to find it. The green tea roll consisted of the mango fruit and glutinous rice as fillings.


Let's take you closer to the fillings part, mango chunk and glutinous rice within the green tea roll.


Not one to resist the durian temptation, the snowy ice durian dessert also arrived at their table. This is not your regular ice shaving, it was layered in sheets and the ice was really snowy soft, without the irregular ice bits that you have to bite with your molars. Served with refreshing lychee pearls and pomelo pulp.


Close up on the sheets of "snow"...


The damage that left him with 50 cents that you partially see on the left...

07 Jan 2011 - Lai Lai Family Kitchen

A colleague passed him a $5 voucher for Lai Lai Family Kitchen, a place where both of them had wanted to return for a while. This was where they headed after work, arriving slightly after 8pm, hungry and tired.

Placed orders for 2 sets of beef and tendon noodles in no time, with side dishes of braised pork intestine, crispy chicken, red milk tea and mango juice.

The amount looked disappointing, probably because it was from the set menu. Maybe they should have ordered a large bowl of it a la carte. The meat and tendon were still large and chunky, generous enough. And this time round, the soup didn't taste as salty as before, evident as he emptied his bowl.


The crispy chicken lived up to its name, dusted with pepper, lightly salted and still pipping hot. This was also served with some fried fragrant curry leaves. Halfway through the dish, he picked up a piece of chicken and uncovered a dead insect drowned in oil. He made it known to a waitress, who apologised for it and immediately requested for a replacement for them. Good service is much appreciated when online postings complaining of slipshod service attitude are widespread. Big plus point for the restaurant.


The other side dish of pork intestine. They felt that it was a tasty and generous serving, but he also thought that it still smelt a little too strong for his liking. On a side note, this was very soft, as opposed to the springy ones he had tried in Taiwan.

01 Jan 2011 - Crystal Jade (La Mian Xiao Long Bao)

They had wanted to visit the fountain of wealth before catching a movie back in the neighbourhood. However, it seemed that visiting hours were already over by the time they got there. Had a bit of time to spare and she suggested that they grab some food, checking in at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao.

He ordered beef brisket noodles. Noodles were springy and soup was savoury but not overtly salty. However, the amount of meat seemed to be lacking, and he told himself that he should return to Lai Lai Family Restaurant soon for a good bowl of beef noodles.


Her bowl of top grade beef noodles, with seafood, dumplings, egg and some other accompaniments. The variety probably made up for the few thin slices of beef.


Also placed an order for soup dumplings (xiao long bao). Quite good, the burst of soup with the first bite is always gratifying.

the mother of all stars

Have you ever wondered how stars were born? Introducing the mother of all stars, the papaya. He had never realised that papayas had cores in the form of a star. Wikipedia also lists that the seeds of the papaya are spicy, and are sometimes used to substitute black pepper. Should try it the next time round.


Just reading about the floods over at Queensland reminds him of the time spent there. Stubbies were always on the menu for dinner. No Australian beer found in the nearby supermarket, so he got some Stella Artois instead, despite some objections from her.

19 Dec 2010 - Universal Studios Singapore

She could finally visit the castle at Universal Studios Singapore!


The first ride that they took was "Revenge of the Mummy". Bad choice, he ended up with a headache and she took quite a bit of time to recover. So they walked around a bit and took photographs with the random stars appearing on the street.

Had fast food for late lunch at Friar's... just one beef mince wrap, some potatoes and a drink. Unfortunately, only managed to take a photograph of the window in low lighting.


After roaming the park for one whole day, legs were aching and stomachs were grumbling. She suggested dining at The Mussel Guys. Though he had 2 bad experiences at the Vivo City branch, he was starving, no more energy to think up of another place.

Blue mussels - got 2 pots, 500g and 350g. They were so hungry that they almost finished the soup in the pots. Some of the mussels seemed to have gone bad though, maybe a bad harvest.


Her steak and prawn set - 140g done medium well, accompanied by a grilled prawn, broccoli and mashed potato. At least not something that had gone bad.

12 Dec 2010 - Salad Sunday

She went to do her hair and was expected to be gone for hours. What did that mean?

Got up around noon and had chicken soup before watching streaming videos, going on a marathon. Felt hungry again at around 3pm, and had a craving for instant noodles. One packet wouldn't be filling enough, so he rummaged through the fridge and found some leftovers. Some lettuce leaves, one slice of cheese, near empty mayonnaise bottle.

Soaked the lettuce while he slurped up the peppery noodles. Gave then lettuce a final rinse before shredding them. Added a teaspoon of olive oil, a teaspoon blob of mayonnaise, sprinkle of black pepper, and shredded some cheese to top it up.

There you go, the movie snack. Leafy vegetables help cool down a little on a hot day.