M.J. (1958 - 2009)

Where were you when you heard the news?

I heard it over the morning radio but I did not really pay attention and was puzzled by the DJ's comment that "we will always remember him" followed by his song. Already my head was spinning from the news of the death of Farrah Fawcett, and so it was quite unbelievable MJ also passed away.

A couple of hours later, the taxi driver also told me about the news. I was stunned. He just larger than life and that it was quite hard to take in.

The last few days have been filled with news of MJ and anything related. The enormous publicity and attention generated by the media and people via blogs, youtube, twitters and other social networking sites showed how much of an icon he was. Love him or hate him, you could not deny he had a presence.

His passing reminded me of Princess Diana's death. It also shocked the entire world. Being in Singapore with limited tv stations means you do not really get the full impact of what is really happening. You saw snatches of the news, and then relied on the internet to get more information.

In the US/Canada, it would be different. All the tv stations there would be giving constant updates plus tributes and shows and all sort of information, and interviewing people from all walks of life on their thoughts and how they are dealing with this.

I remembered being glued to the tv in Canada the days following the death of Princess Diana. All the stations were giving updated information continuously. And I was actually watching a tv show when the station actually stopped the program with a newsflash of her death once it was released to the public. It was surreal. Somehow the constant deluge of information from the media made it more real, and it also made sure it remained uppermost in your mind.

Back to MJ. I am not that big a fan but I do like some of his songs and I did grow up on his music. Influences from the adults :p I know the older songs from Thriller, Bad and Dangerous albums more than the newer ones.

I am so glad I got the chance to see him performed at the National Stadium when he was in Singapore in 1993. And his love for children meant that the first few rows were reserved for children (under 18 years old) and were probably at a special price too. I could not remember how much the ticket was, but it was the 2nd row ticket for us. First row was totally reserved for the suits or sponsors' kids (not on sale at all).

My friend's sister and friends actually queued overnight outside Hard Rock Cafe just so they could get the tickets for all of us when it started selling. MJ was a huge phenomenon in Singapore and so they were interviewed for being such ardent fans.

The concert was amazing and electrifying. The entire stadium was filled. I have sketchy memories of the whole performance but MJ was awesome. It was a show with the full works. It was also his birthday so we were treated to the crew singing a birthday song to MJ.

The security was so tight and strict that we were not allowed to stand on the chairs, which meant I mostly saw MJ from the knees up. That was a real silly rule as people wanted to see his dancing feet, but still after a while we sneaked back up and stood on the chairs. Lol.

I still kept a newspaper clipping reviewing the concert all because we were in the papers. Hahaha. It showed a pic of the audience and we were there :p

But attending the concert was a privilege and blessing since it was on a school night. It was something I have to remember in more years to come. MJ had given many people beautiful memories. He had transcended across barriers and brought people together and inspired many others, including younger musicians.

He heralded the "moonwalk" and his music and dance were all a source of commonality for everyone.

He had touched many people's souls and hearts via his music and performance. He was indeed an iconic figure and the King of Pop.

I think the university professors would also have a field day getting students to think about this phenomenon and many people writing about MJ.

Sheraton Towers Dining Room

Another Saturday, another lunch/tea buffet. This time it was back to the Sheraton Towers' Dining Room. I quite like the place for its simple yet decent food at a pretty ok price. Sometimes you just do not need to have all the rich dishes where you hardly have room in your stomach to really try everything.

The girls were late, so I started first since it was already 12+ pm and I didn't have any breakfast. The sandwiches were what I liked about the Dining Room and they were still good. I liked the toasted seasame seeds sprinkled over the ham/cheese sandwich. The siew mai were also surprisingly decent, same for the char siew pau. The popiah was a bit too dry and it fell apart when I tried to pick it up.

The pie tie was filled with shredded duck making it very yummy. The crepe also contained duckmeat and it was good too.

The sashimi and sushi were a bit sad, not that fresh or great. These were the "hot" items and the platter was always empty and they took some time to refill it. At least there were more choices instead of just the typical salmon.

The roast of the day was grilled turkey breast with cranberry sauce and gravy. Not too bad but I usually only preferred home-cooked turkey meat now :p

More sandwiches. My top three were the ham/cheese with toasted seasame seeds, tomatoes/cucumber and tuna with that pink stuff (I can't recall the Japanese name for it).

The other highlight besides the sandwiches was the laksa which was still very good. Lemak and flavorful. Nice.

Dessert time. The chocolate praline was to die for with its dark, rich chocolatey taste. The chocolate bread and butter pudding with vanilla sauce was equally good. The panna cotta was not too bad. I'm still a chocolate fan :p

For durian lovers, the durian penget which was very aromatic and sweet.

Chocolate lava cake with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream and sprinkled with almonds. You could see specks of vanilla beans on it.

The chocolate oozing out of the cake. I did not bring my camera so had to make do with the phone camera which did not manage to capture the colors and details perfectly.

Next time, I guess :)

OCBC Bank Customer Service

I always have a good impression of OCBC Bank, despite its small size (currently the smallest of the 3 local major banking institutions).

I started a personal account at OCBC Bank in the late 1990s as I wanted an alternative to the people's bank i.e. POSB as the line for the atm is always very long. At that time, there were plenty of OCBC atms around or at least in the area I frequented so that was good.

Slowly, the service seemed to deteriorate. First, you need to maintain a minimum of $1000 in your bank account to avoid the monthly service charge. I found out both POSB and UOB actually just require a minimum of $500. That made it useful if you just want an account for chequeing or bill payment purposes.

I hardly stepped into the branch or called the customer service hotline as I did not really have a need until recently.

OCBC Branch in a town area:
I waited for close to an hour just to be served by the customer service officer. There were 2 lines. One for commercial and one for personal account. Since I was there in work capacity, I waited at the commercial line. Somehow the line was wider and longer, obviously they were used to serving commercial banking matters, BUT there were only 3 tellers to serve the 2 lines.

So one teller was to process the personal banking matters, leaving 2 tellers for the commercial matters. I was wrong. The teller in the middle alternated between the commercial and personal banking customers. At one stage, the teller just served the personal banking customers.

I just did not understand the logic at all, particularly since there were more people waiting in line at the commercial side that day.

Review/Increase of Credit Limit
I called the hotline first to enquire about it as I realized I never updated my information at all. Can you believe they still have my old contact numbers and first job information in their system? That was from when I first opened my personal bank account. I was horrified. No wonder they can never get me on my mobile in all these years if they tried.

There was no form to fill in to request for a review or increase of credit limit on the website. The person from the call center (outsourced) just said to write a note/letter saying I want to increase/review my credit limit. And then they will do the rest.

This sounded highly improper, with no official form or documentation at all. So I hied myself off to the bank to check in person.

The customer service officer at the bank initially said they did have a form for that. So she searched high and low, and even went into the room to find it. But in the end, she had to admit they did not have an official form at all. Double horrors!

In any case, I gave her the copy of what I faxed over to the call center guy so that she could pass it on to someone else to process. And yes, I did get a review of my credit limit. But still, it was quite shocking to discover such an established and old reputable bank did not have basic forms in place at all.

Phone Banking Hotline:
Forget about calling the hotline on weekends, especially on Sundays. I tried twice and was holding for close to 30mins, just waiting for someone to speak with.

The first call went alright, despite the long waiting time. I was told someone would call me back within a week to update me of the outcome of my request.

A week went past and no one called me. So 10 days later after the 1st call, I called the hotline again. I was once again put on hold for the requisite 30mins before someone deigned it was time to speak to me.

The person could not help and said the case was still pending. The bank officer handling the case would call me back on Monday. Monday came and went. No calls.

So today I called the hotline. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself speaking to someone within a few minutes (hence my deduction of no one being around on weekends). Again, the person could not help me and said the officer would only be back at work on Wednesday (tomorrow) and the officer would give me a call to inform me of the final status.

I sure hope someone will call me tomorrow.

Now I understand why some people do not like OCBC at all. They should really send all their staff to improve on their customer service level. And that is probably why subconsciously I just hardly use their credit cards or facilities.

The two banks which I deal with most often are UOB and Citibank. Citibank is always a joy to work with. The customer service level has always been pretty consistent and they are very prompt in follow up.

UOB was iffy initially especially after they proudly hit their 1 million customers in credit card users. It would take forever (also around 30mins to 45mins) just to talk to someone when you call the hotline. But now it is a breeze. Then again, I am not sure if that is because I am using the number specially for the Solitaire cardmembers. In any case, I will be able to talk to someone within mins. It was the same for Citibank on the platinum hotline number (but for Citibank, it seemed like everyone holds a plat card anyway).

In any case, I never have to call the bank more than once to check on my request at all. Why do I get this feeling I will need to call the OCBC bank again on Thursday?

Fish Curry with Prima Mix

I happened to walk past Prima Taste at Centrepoint and decided to buy the Fish Curry mix to try. This was the result. Pieces of fish with eggplants and tomatoes.

The curry was Indian style with lots of spices and chilies and assam. So it was pretty nice, since I loved assam for the tangy gravy. Due to the spices, it felt very heavy and rich. Utterly delicious over white rice. There was nothing better than savory curry drenched rice with fresh fish and veggies.

Gavottes Wafers

I picked these up at Cocoa Trees which is having a promotion now. Buy 3 and get 1 free. That is pretty decent pricing. The other two I gave away as gifts, so I am left with the orange dark chocolate flavor and the wafer with praline.

The pictures on the box looked so sinful and delicious that I have not opened my boxes yet. I shall slowly savor the crisp wafers.

Rose Veranda @ Shangri-La

After so many months, or has it been over a year, I finally made it back to Rose Veranda at Shangri-La. I used to like it as it is pretty much a cozy place and the lunch/tea buffet lasts from 12 noon to 6pm during weekdays. So we could have a girly afternoon just gabbing away or bring a book and relax there.

But it underwent a renovation last year and so it spilt into 2 sessions which was not that conducive to a nice relaxing afternoon stay. So I was delighted to discover that it went back to the 12noon to 6pm single seating for weekdays, so off we went.

The very comfy cushiony armchairs, perfect for curling up with a book. It was big enough to put my bag next to me in the chair. There were red chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, new plateware and glasswares. The teapot was still the same, from Wedgwood. But almost everything else have changed, with new chairs and sofas and possibly new carpet too.

I am such a sandwich person. I loved the cheese and tomatoes sandwich. So light and refreshing. The Thai prawn cake (otah) was also very yummy that I had more of that. The Thai beef salad was not too bad and smoked salmon was decent too.

Buttered rice with beef rendang was good. The beef was tender and broke off easily when using the fork to flake bits off. The chicken was average. The salmon on skewer was surprisingly moist and came off the stick easily. The dumplings were stuffed with veggies, not too bad.

More sandwiches. The croissant was a surprise. It was stuffed with herb cream cheese which went well with the bread. Sushi from the Japanese counter, no more sashimi unlike last year. They were ok. I found the rice a bit hard and dry.

There was also a roast beef counter but I did not get to try it. There were also some dim sum selection, salad, cheese, crackers, miso soup and other small appetizers which I did not try.

The local DIY dish for the day - chicken noodle soup. Yellow mee with shredded lettuce, hard boiled egg, bean sprouts, cucumbers, shredded chicken, fried shallots and chili for garnish and flavor. This was not too bad. The soup was a bit salty but with the chili, it made it tastier.

On to the dessert counter. I had so much! The star was the chocolate praline. It was pure dark chocolate with a hint of sweetness with a cookie crispy crust. So so so good. The scone was light and fluffy, almost like the American biscuit. Heaven with the clotted cream (melting in the picture cos I used the bigger plate which was warm) and strawberry jam.

The jam could be better with real strawberries in there. The tiramisu was wet, soaked to the core with espresso and topped with mascapone cheese. Very nice if you like the wet type. I chose it specially for that, though there were other which were drier. The lemongrass and chocolate mousse was different, it took some getting used to because of the lemongrass.

Mini chocolate profiterole which was delightfully light. Cream puff topped with chocolate. Nice and I am not really a profiterole fan. I like the bite size portion.

Creme brulee was to die for with the glazed burnt sugar over the vanilla custard. Carrot cake was crumbly with delicious cream frosting. Black forest cake was rich with cherries. Very nice. The durian cake was not bad either. The slice with the raspberry was also durian with pandan? I thought it was strawberry shortcake but it was not.

There were more dessert in shooter glasses and chocolate fountain with fruits and bread and butter pudding which I didn't get to try.

After trying 3 different types of tea from a selection of 102 varieties, I ended the meal with a cappuccino. I liked how the sugar cubes were enclosed in wrapper. More hygienic though probably cost more in production and environment disposal.

Just the two of us that day. Eat and drink and read and chat. What more could a girl ask for :)

Lunch @ Inagiku

I am becoming a regular at Inagiku for lunch now :p The FAR card really helps to make it more affordable to dine there at least once a month. Jacq decided on the Business Lunch Set which came with a a pork stew, sashimi, rice, miso soup and eel (swapped for the veggies). The starter was a choice of chawanmushi or salad and dessert was fruits. Looked yummy. We chose chawanmushi which was fabulous with its generous ingredients and silky smooth egg texture. No bubbles at all.

I wanted the otoro and sea urchin so I decided to splurge and ordered the chef's chirashi bowl. I also requested for no shrimp and eel. This was so good and I got tired of eating halfway. But I did manage to stuff myself and finish it off :p

The otoro was heaven on tongue, fatty without being too much. The scallop was so sweet and the sea urchin was just to die for. I am slowly becoming a convert to sea urchin. It is such an acquired taste, with its initial seafood fishy-ness taste.

We swapped our fruits for ice cream (additional $5 to upgrade, but after the FAR card discount, it was only $2.50). Green tea for me and black seasame for Jacq. Lovely end to the nice meal.

This time, we were not given the green tea truffles with our bill. Maybe that was only available previously.

Coffee Club @ Raffles City

We went to the Coffee Club at Raffles City for dinner. It was not a very good idea to be seated by the glass railing where you overlooked the Swiss Cafe below. It would make you wish you were there feasting on the pretty decent buffet spread instead of what you had ordered. The strawberry milkshake which was not too bad, even with the Meadow Gold strawberry ice cream :p At least it was not watery, but thick it was not either.

The baked seafood pasta covered with cheese. There were lots of seafood in it, just too bad I was not that fond of that much squids and dried mussels. They could be fresh but it tasted like the Chinese dried mussels to me which was pretty much a deal breaker for my palate.

I should have ordered sandwiches instead. The sandwich promotion (choice of sandwich plus side of fries, salad and a drink) was still on.

Dream Day Wedding: Viva Las Vegas

This is my latest favorite pc game - Dream Day Wedding: Viva Las Vegas. It will only be officially released on 26 June 2009 though you could also download it from many of the online game sites. Besides the usual hidden objects section, there are more mini-games within it which require you to think more. Plus you get to upgrade the reception area with the Palladium money which you can earn either through finding it or when you talk to other people.

Being in Vegas means that you get to be in the gaming room where you can try your hand in TallyHo which is where you need to get 21 points, or matching at the slot machines.

You can also get trapped while searching for the hidden objects. Then you need to find tools which will help you escape from the enclosed areas. You also get to learn another language when you are searching for things in the bistro (French) or gelato shop (Italian) but help is at hand in the form of a dictionary which will translate the words back into English.

At the end of it, you will arrive at the honeymoon destination. One of them is Greece, the default location. Based on your previous choices and actions, you could also get to the alternative location which is France.

I can't wait for the game to be out so I can buy it. Unless I decide to just sign up for those online game sites and download from it. Need to do more research on that.

Wellness Village @ Pan Pacific Marina

I am finally going to finish up my package over at Wellness Village sited within Pan Pacific Hotel in the Marina area. I bought the package (14 sessions) since August 2006 as my workplace was nearby and I thought I would be able to finish it within two years max. How was I supposed to know that it would be so hard to secure an appointment? And the very reason why I signed up was because the opening hours were till 10pm or so and that they were open daily.

So I have about 4 sessions left and I hope to be able to finish them before the year is over. Currently I need to make my appointment 1 month in advance. I tried calling for an appointment with 1-2 weeks notice for weekdays (afternoons or mornings) and they were booked solid. Weekends? Don't even think about it.

I am beginning to suspect if they have a quota per day for package holders so that they can reserve some slots for the hotel guests. On my last visit on Friday night, I noticed many of the customers at 830pm were all hotel guests.

Their scheduling really needs more tweaking. My appointment was for 7pm. I was there around 620pm since I had some free time and did not mind waiting at the spa. My treatments were for a body massage and a foot massage.

At 650pm, I checked with them that my treatment would start on time and they assured me that it would since the therapist was available and they were just waiting for the room. That was fine with me. But it was 7:05pm when they told me to follow them.

I was led to the sitting area outside the treatment rooms since I was doing a foot massage. The first thought which came to my mind was "why did they need to wait for a room if they were going to do it outside?" Previously, the foot massage was done inside the room, together with the body massage. That was, an hour body massage with an extended 30 minutes on the foot.

But now, it seemed like they changed it again. 30 minutes of foot massage on a chair a la at a foot reflexology centre, before ushering me into the room for the one hour body massage. It just seemed like very poor planning on their part in their ability to juggle and manage the flow of customers.

The therapist (Jolene) was ok. I needed to get used to her. Initially she seemed very hesitant and unsure but she had the strength despite her very slim frame. I was tempted to request for a different therapist for the body massage but decided to just give it a try. Good thing I did, as after a while she did find her rhythm and I found my impatience slowly melting away. She did a fantastic head massage as she was not too hard on the scalp.

Wellness Village is only a place to try if you have cheap deals (easy to find since they always have promotions) and if you know your schedule one month in advance.

Bottega Veneta - Night and Ottone

Gorgeous colors from Bottega Veneta - Night and Ottone. Night is a color which shifts from midnight black/blue to a dark stormy grey. Ottone (means brass in Italian) looks more metallic and goldish-bronze. My camera setting was bad, so the colors are not true to life.

Using flash, you see another version of the colors. The New Pyramid in Night and Mini Cabat in Ottone. Love the bags and the texture of the leather.

Disclaimer: The bags are not mine :p

Hot Weather + Spoiled A/C = Bad Timing

I have been putting up with my "dsyfunctional" air conditioner in my room for almost a year now and it has finally gave up and spewed hot air instead.

My "old-fashioned" a/c which we bought in 2002 or 2003 (still less than 10 years). It was super cold, blasting icy cool air when it was new, with a very high horsepower to aircondition my fairly big room.

But since last year I had been having problems with it. Loud strange noises started emitting from it, cranking sounds, till finally I managed to get someone in to take a look last August or September. It was repaired and it worked fine again.

Then a few months later, it started spitting out ice. I could hear it but I could not find the evidence until I removed the cover and saw it was indeed iced over and bits would be ejected out. I tried to scrape the ice out but it was tough. Once the ice was removed, it would be cold again, otherwise the air was very weak.

So we got another person to fix the ac in March or April this year. It got better and the room was back to the original (2002/2003) state. Icy cold and oh so comfortable in the heat. But hardly a month or so later, it stopped blasting any cold air at all. Instead I got strong gusts of warm air, like a fan.

We got the same guy back to check it out and he said it was due to gas leakage cos there was a hole. It would cost another couple of hundreds to fix it. That was daylight robbery and so we decided not to fix it. By the time we finished all the repairs, it would probably be cheaper to just get a new one. Plus the hole was not there the first time he repaired it, so I suspected it was him who punctured a hole so that he would get "repeat" business. How could a hole suddenly appear when no one touched it or opened it at all?

So now my room is an oven with the unrelentless heat in our endless summer. I am relegated to the other room for the time being while waiting for the new a/c to be installed end of next week.

Good working air conditioner is a godsend and marvelous invention to anyone living in the tropics.

Another Dinner @ Sun with Moon Central

It was great catching up with ex-colleague over a Japanese dinner. We decided on Sun with Moon Japanese Dining over at Central since the 30% off promotion would be ending soon. This time I got my order right - salmon and swordfish sashimi. I actually wanted swordfish the other day but somehow ordered hamachi (yellowtail) instead. These were so yummy.

I had no idea what this dish was, but it was mashed potatoes mixed with roe (mentaiko?) and topped with salmon. Delicious, especially if you loved potatoes.

I got N to try the foie gras. She was a bit hesitant initially but she was won over by the foie gras here. Like me, I am not a foie gras fan and tend to avoid it as I never had good experience with it at Western restaurants but the version at Sun with Moon is simply fab. It does not have a very strong gamey powdery taste. I think it is the slightly sweet sauce used to brush the foie gras.

We also shared the beef stew in miso which was lip-smacking good too. The beef simply melted in our mouths though they were so fatty too. I do wonder if those white bits were really fats or something else. In any case, I removed them as I was not keen on gooey soft jelly like bits.

We had desserts of green tea ice cream topped with red bean and the tofu cheesecake. Nice way to end the meal.

Pontian Wanton Noodles

It is official. I am a Pontian Wanton Noodles fan? I had that 4 times in a week now!

Somehow I was always so eager to dig in that I never took the pictures. Lol.

Pontian Wanton Noodles is now a franchaise with many outlets all over Singapore and I have tried the noodles from 3 different places now. So far, my favorite is still at Far East Plaza despite the higher price.

The noodles are pretty bouncy with a bit of bite and texture to it and they pride their noodles as free from preservatives and will not turn soggy after a while. I wonder what is the "special" ingredient to do that.

Why do I like Pontian Wanton Noodles? And this is coming from someone who has developed a phobia about wanton mee after having it every Tuesday for 2-3 years when growing up.

Somehow I like that there is variety in the ingredient and the options for the sauces. Then you can add mayo, chili sauce and pickled green chilies too.

Ingredients:
noodles, char siew pieces, fried wantons, regular wantons in soup and lots of veggies

Sauces:
1. Chili sauce
2. Black sauce
3. Chili with black sauce
4. Tomato sauce

The price is pretty decent too. For a plate of fried wantons or wanton soup, it is only $3.50 at Far East Plaza ($2.70 at Kovan) and there are 14 pieces in there.

Far East Plaza prices
$3.50 small bowl
$4.00 big bowl (just more noodles)

Kovan prices
$2.70 small bowl
$3.20 big bowl

I don't remember the prices over at the outlet near OG at Sim Lim area.

A pretty satisfying meal which is under $5. What's not to like?

Sally's Salon

I hardly play games on my laptop now and at most I will play those which do not require any downloads at all. I much rather play online games. So while browsing around yahoo games, I chanced upon Sally's Spa. It is the newer version of Sally's Salon. It is so fun. A time-management game where you have to keep the customers happy and also find the most efficient way to perform the duties.

So I went to search for the game as I refused to buy online. I prefer an actual CD where I can install and remove as and when I like. Plus other people can also use my CD to install and play the game. The price is about the same too.


Sally's Salon is more on the hair salon where you are supposed to wash, cut, style, blow and do manicure, eyebrow trimming and others. There are 10 levels of 5 days each. Pretty fun but I still prefer Sally's Spa. Will wait for that to appear in the store.

Sally's Spa has an added hardness cos you need to manage the product stock too, besides the steambath, facial, massage and jacuzzi.

Fun games are always welcome.

Sun with Moon at Central

It was back to Sun with Moon Japanese Dining over at Central since it was still having the 30% off food items promotion. I was not feeling particularly hungry and so ordered 2 dishes. Salmon sashimi to supplement my main of mini chirashi. The sashimi was fresh and was quite think too. How I missed the thick pieces of salmon sashimi in Vancouver.

The mini chirashi was good. The scallop was so sweet. All the seafood was wonderful when paired with the sushi rice underneath. Yummy. It came with a bowl of miso soup which was a perfect end to a satisfying simple meal.

Yet Con

I just had lunch over at Yet Con along Purvis Street. I have heard about it being a very old and traditional place serving Hainanese food and known for its chicken rice.

The rice was pretty ok, fragrant and al dente. The "white" chicken was a bit of a disappointment. I had breast meat and it was very dry and there was no sauce poured over it? For such an old establishment with its old school tables and ambience, I would have expected better.

The soup with shredded cabbages and green onions was better. Light and tasty, plus it was not oily at all. We all know that the main thing about chicken rice was also about its condiments. The ginger was average and oily. The chili did not give any oomph too.

The highlight was the plate of baby kailan in oyster sauce which came in a huge serving. It was fresh and cooked just right, and the sauce was great over the rice too.

TT ordered a side of liver to go with her chicken and it was shockingly expensive. For a person's portion of liver (about 4 pieces), it cost $8!

So our total bill came to around $24 for just 2 plates of chicken rice (regular and thigh/drumstick part), 1 portion of liver and a plate of veggies.

Very expensive lunch. I doubt I will ever go back there again. There are more reasonable priced and better tasting chicken rice in the Purvis/Liang Seah area.

Location
Yet Con
Purvis Street