Vivocity / Singapore Dreaming / Aji by Hanabi

Suddenly we're going Japanese...

Next stop - Aji by Hanabi at the new Vivocity.

But now I have to sleep becos I have to wake up in 3 hours so that I can go to work at 1:15am (on SUNDAY!)...

Yawn... Had the Monday blues today - long day... Came back home and decided to do some editing for this blog...

So back to Saturday... We decided to checkout the new Vivocity. Outside, the PSI was around 110 and it didn't help that the carpark was half-finished and very dusty! It's yet another badly designed carpark where the cars going down will have to cross paths with cars going up. Mag got really mad when some car decided she was bulliable material and cut in front of her, or tried to... hehe.. Well, at least it was free parking that day.

Vivocity is huuuge! Not all the shops were ready but the crowds were there. We didn't have time to explore the whole place but I managed to buy a belt from Pull & Bear. Check out the virtual tour.

We went to watch Singapore Dreaming at the new GV. Not a bad movie. It recently received the Montblanc Award for New Screenwriters at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Well done, Woo Yen Yen and Colin Goh. The script was in Hokkien and Mandarin but it had English subtitles. I must admit, it moved me to tears. I love the Hokkien song that they used throughout the movie. Reminded me of my mother. Aaahh.. Nostalgia... You can listen to the song at the Singapore Dreaming website by downloading the trailer.

After the movie, we had to grab a quick dinner because I had to go home to catch 40 winks before my connectivity test (work lah). We quickly decided on Aji by Hanabi, a classy Japanese restaurant. The menu was interesting but the portions were small.

The restaurant was full at first so we sat at the counter and watched the sushi chef at work. This time, the guys were not so grouchy :-)


First dish was 3 grilled appetisers that included fugu - puffer fish. It wasn't the fresh type but the well grilled type, so I'm pretty sure whatever poison is all gone and it's now more carcinogenic than anything! The inexperienced waiter couldn't tell us what the different types of fishes were! So based on previous experience at another Japanese restaurant, we guessed that this is the fugu:


Love the weave pattern of this grilled silver fish.


The grilled beef in miso paste was delicious. The sauce was sweet and tasty, and it was served on a "leaf-don't-burn" leaf. Best part was, I swallowed everything because there was no cartilage! (see previous post on Wasabi Tei)


Mag predicted that the bill would be double that of Wasabi Tei and she wasn't half wrong. It was around $62 before the 10% UOB credit card discount.

Tonight, the price includes a hazey view of Sentosa, cruise ships and palm trees.

Full Wash

Fullerton Hotel gets a bath
CLOSE-UP : it sure looks like this guy was splashing his colleague with his strong hose! LOL.. But what cool job - you don't go to work with your briefcase but with your abseiling equipment!

Failed Food Bloggers

Today we went to Katong area to eat. Finally finally tried Casa Bom Vento after so many years. It's just a humble looking eatery but the food was quite yummmmilicious. We ordered Chicken Vindaloo (the guy said very very spicy hot, but what the hey, we're Singaporeans wattt), Baby Eggplant in some assam onion sauce (I love the sauce and finished off every last bit) and Baby Stingray in black pepper and fried basil leaves (the stingray cartilage got in the way).

The food was so good, we started chomping down as soon as it was placed in front of us!

So that's why you're reading this blog with no pictures... and that's why we can never be food bloggers... We're simply too greedy!! LOL...

*Note to self : must go back for Ayam Buah Keluak and Curry Devil...

Happy 40th Birthday!!!

Tomorrow is Singapore's National Day! This year's parade is at the Padang, in front of the old Supreme Courts. I hope it's a smooth event; it should be !! They sure rehearsed enough for it !! 4 dress rehearsals and dunno how many cast rehearsals. I pity the participants, so tiring.

Speaking of the 'old' Supreme Courts... they just finish building the NEW Supreme Courts and it looks really bizarre!! Like a spaceship all set to take off on command. Yup, the aliens have infiltrated us!!! Must be the government made a deal for a good business venture lah... This new building, upclose, it looks equally ugly. The facade is covered with this fake marble-looking slabs that are peach in colour. Not just a few slabs, but the WHOLE BUILDING is that colour! Wah piang eh.. wonder who decided on the colour ; probably someone who is colour-blind or has weird taste.
Anyways, here's the 'old' Supreme Courts with the red VIP chairs lined up for the NDP.

I've never seen this road so empty before! We actually stopped our car for these pictures. The stage, all setup for the main event! I think it would be less stressful watching it from home on TV but there's nothing like actually being there with your fellow Singaporeans, enjoying the cheerful mood, immersing in the national spirit, and probably for a few minutes after the parade, your hearts will still be brimming with love for your country.. hahaha...

Back to Bedlam

This is an interesting CD, James Blunt's Back to Bedlam. "You're Beautiful" has a haunting tune. I also like "High" and "No Bravery". It's one of my presents to my nephew for his 21st birthday. The CD cover has "This CD Contains Adult Material" written on the back. haha... Let's hope he's mature enought for this material...

Here's a song for your enjoyment.... it's called You're Beautiful.

Other than this CD, he also got a Nike shirt, a pencil case, a wallet, a Leatherman Micra and an inspirational book from me.

Lucky fella, he got a Longines watch (from his parents), an Arbutus watch & a great dinner (from granddad) and shirts (from aunt).

As for me, I got this nice Nike Free 4.0 Running shoes from dad. They look space-age, don't they? They're so light !!!!! And they've got these bendy soles so you'd feel like you were running barefoot. Just wish they had them in other colours. M says that now I have to get new gym gear to match the shoes! hahaha... Most of my stuff are red or maroon but what the heck, as long as the shoes are comfortable, I'm happy.

You should go sports shoe shopping with me! Drives M up the wall!! My feet are so flat, most shoes will not be suitable. Sports shoes always have an arch support which I find so painful!

I've worn the new shoes twice now. Still getting used to the soft feeling. There's still a slight bump at the arches but I'm not telling M cos she would just give me snide remarks! So unless she reads this, she's not going to know abt it. haha..!

Glossary of Colloquial Terms

I'm addicted to Rockson's blogs... yeah.. it's really local. And crude too. A good education on hokkien swearing words! But he's so bloody funny and sums up what's happening in Singapore very nicely and interstingly. Here's a little help on common terms and swear words he uses in case you don't get it.

KNNBCCB = very crude way of swearing. It stands for Kan Ni Na Bu Chao Chee Bye. But I wouldn't even vocalise those words in real life cos it's not something I would say. Lots of guys say it, maybe they think it's cool but I just think it's rude and unnecessary.
Kan = fuck
nin = your
a bu = mother
chao = smelly
chee bye = vagina (someone said that this is a nice word to use, as opposed to pussy)

sibei sian = crude way of say "so damn tired" in hokkien. Broken down, it means :
si = dead
bei = father
sian = tired
Dunno why hokkien swear words usually contain mothers and fathers in them. LOL... Guess they used to think cursing fathers and mothers are insulting. But nowadays, that's nothing new! Ha!

ERP = Electronic Road Pricing
We have gantries around the central business districts and orchard road that would collect tolls from cars that drive under the gantries. These work all day (until 7pm). We have prepaid cash cards which we insert into card readers in front of our windscreens and those are deducted by the scanners above on the gantries. From 1 Aug, LTA (Land Transport Authorities = Ministry of cars, buses and roads.. hahaha) are going to add a gantry on an expressway (CTE) and people going HOME from work to Ang Mo Kio would use CTE and get charged until 8pm. It doesn't affect me, so I don't care! hahaha...

CTE = Central Expressway
We have several major expressways that link various parts of the island, hence, full of acronyms that we take for granted. AYE = Ayer Rajah Expressway, ECP = East Coast Expressway, BKE = Bukit Timah Expresssway, PIE = Pan Island Expressway, KJE = Kranji Expressway.

Gahmen = Government. You know lah, Singlish... we tend to slur and join all our consonents and vowels... lazy tongue. hehe...