marcissmus

Nostalgia

2008-08-15T04:15:00.001-04:00

For 43 years this sacred dust,
has used its future to frame its past.
Will all that is never come to last,
Today, here, then gone, how fast?

Started working, and turning 25!

2008-06-27T12:28:00.007-04:00

Hey guys

this is a long stretch because I have just eased into my new job and am resultantly not getting any rest. I reach home latish now and everytime I do I just wanna hit the sheets.

Being in the corporate world is fitting lah; I like the opportunities and intrigues so much that I have taken to it like a fish to water.

I'll be turning 25 in a week's time; sigh, still trying to get over the depression of adding a year to my age.

So anyways, here's a quick look at what happened in the past 2 months:

At the Jalan Besar Cohesion organised by the three of us, with support from the awesome Jing Jing from PAYM.

And here, never piss Simone off.

;)

My baby cousin Jerry in his first month of life

Marc

April is a time for getting in the mood for ORD

2008-04-13T23:16:00.008-04:00

Hey all.

I just got my new digital camera, courtesy of dad.

It's a Canon S5 IS and it's super gorgeous.

So now I can update my blog with pictures again.

This past week I have been mostly milling around as I am clearing leave for ORD (leaving the Army). Got my room into some semblance of orderliness as I prepare to transit into ORNS.

Apart from that, I have been meeting people, including Sheryl and New Look New Life Shiping (taken with the old camera so the photo's kinda edgy).

Btw, Shiping can never be rave one lah; she's the type to "inspire me to sing poetry to the full moon".

I also met up with Cat and Chris for brunch, both of whom I have their Nu Rave Birthday kits which I have yet to disburse.

And La Mammy and I went to the Bombay Cafe. This is to forewarn you, the Thosai and Bathurra there are huge and very luxe, with paneer and chickpeas, so if you wanna do them, go easy on the starters. Despite the yumminess of the Chaat and Ragda Patties, mom and I struggled to finish everything.

Just last night, my partner and I went to check out East Coast Park. The guys behind 1 Rochester opened 26 at Playground. The establishment was WOW. The whole placed is intelligently segregated into 5-6 private areas. It is gardenesque and very gorgeous. I think I'll go check it out again this weekend. The awesome thing is that, they do brunch, so that's very nice.

So, that's it for now.

Life's awesomest. I like very much. And for those who have been making contact, like Ling, Florian and Alice, good hearing from you!

:)

Marc

No this blog isn't dead

2008-03-31T05:56:00.005-04:00

Hey!

I know I haven't been assiduous about updating this blog, but that's because I'm so busy with work, and transitions abound now as I am preparing to enter the productive workforce.

Anyways, the last 2 months were full of stuff, but as my camera died, I'll just upload the bits of pieces, 3 to be exact.

1. CNY 2008

My two girl cousins have blossomed into models to-be, so lemme know if any of you guys have any contacts. As for Jonathan, his vehemence still shows when he attacks food. CNY was great this year, and I feasted so much I kinda gained 2000g, which has deeply impacted me, for life. Sigh.

2. U say Party We say Rave @ Zouk

This is one of the nurave disko sessions that I am still deeply addicted to.

Those jugs were finished by 3 people; Long Island mind you. We totally raved after that.

3. Sushi with Beng and Jonathan

This place at International Plaza was awesome. Everything is hand-made and the rice was really springy and flavourful. The fish was also succulent; the chef even glazed over some of the sushi with a blow torch such that they became tartine-d. I'm definitely heading back.

Incidentally, that was also Beng's last night in at home before his return to Melbourne. But heck, he's having a ball of a time now, posting funny videos on his blog and all.

In the meantime, life's good here; I found a job and I'm gonna start work in May. Before that though, I'll be going to Vietnam with Chris for a few days to make office wear.

Anyone wanna tompang?

Marc
31 Mar 08

CNY, Florian and er, YAY

2008-02-06T03:49:00.000-05:00

Hey all,

I wanna wish all of you a prosperous and successful Year of the Rat.

In this coming new year, I hope that success finds you even as you find yourself; that you'll meet that perfect person (or marry them), and that you'll always be surrounded by family, good friends, good food, good music and good fun.

And of course, please take some time to enjoy some Chinese New Rave.

:)

Mein Freund Kommt

Florian is now in Singapore, and yesterday we spent a whole day hanging out, at various places, including a great spa and a super Japanese restaurant.

And as those who know will know, Florian + Marc + Cat = Whole day of philosphising fun.

We talked about Policy, Entrenched authority, Economic development and Life in General, thus revisiting the days of 2002-2005, when we were all innocent students having lots of fun. Now that we are all innocent working adults having lots of fun, we are reminded that it's in the company of great friends that life is AWESOME.

Thanks for coming by pal; and the rest of you people, come to Singapore, or if you are already here, let's meet up.

Xin Nian Kuai Le, Gong Xi Fa Cai, Bu Bu gao Sheng, Nian Nian You Yu.

Marc

2008

Looking forward to... THE PAST.

2008-01-11T10:59:00.000-05:00

Hey guys,

sorry abt the lack of updates cos seriously, I have been very busy.

Dec all the way to now was very hectic - lotsa work and community work stuff. But I like being in this state; it makes me feel productive and work-life balanced. I realised the harder I work, the harder I play, the better I feel.

So anyways, here's some stuff of what happened in December and early Jan.

1. Hongkong and Macau

I finally went to Hongkong!!! And it was..... sigh, a little underwhelming. I mean, I like the place and all; its really vibrant, full of big shops and great shopping, and home to some of the best dressed people in Asia. However, unfortunately for me, three things went awry, first, the fact my brother and I got sick from food poisoning after eating, ironically, our best meal in HK at the Dai Pai Dong in Sheung Wan, 2, the the place was so smoggy that we barely could see more than 500m away for most days, and 3, Mickey mouse and Minnie mouse totally devastated my innocent preconceptions of Americana when they started to sing and dance to Cantonese pop.

Macau was interesting too, although a lot quieter than HK. We went mostly casino visiting, including attending the grand opening of MGM. It felt way too similar to Las Vegas though; I had dejavu flashbacks when I was there. And I saw this girl who looked so much like Shiyang, I actually thought she was Shiyang, and well, you know, did Shiyang stuff.

Grandpa and I pondering about what Mei Kei Mao Si said.

The Venetian @ Macau. Just like Vegas huh?

Po Lin Monastary and it's amazing blue sky.

But all the same, I had a nice time there, a little unfortunate, but definitely worthy of a weekend trip in the future. And the shopping is so, so awesome.

2. New Year Countdown
Chris and I threw the VERY CHAMPAGNE NEW YEAR at a friend's place. We were happily swimming in the pool cum spa, and enjoying the hot tub until genius Chris decided to push the emergency stop button, thinking that it was the whirlpool switch.

Nonetheless, it was an awesome evening when in the company of good friends, some better than others because they are nu-er rave ;), we welcomed twenty o eight by prematurely popping the Moet et Chandon and watching the reflections of fireworks off the CBD buildings.

3. Thinking about people.

It has been almost a year and a half since I last saw many of you, especially the overseas guys, but it feels like I only last met u yesterday.

My NY wish for this year, is to have a reunion of sorts.

Can?

marc

2008

Have a Nu Rave Nu Year

2007-12-31T06:19:00.000-05:00

So that day, I was like talking to my friends about the past, like, you know, 2007, and I was like, wow, that's so RETRO.

Sigh, I am so glad that we live in this Nu Rave age.

Happy 2008 and a merry new year.

Refresh your Sad Sodden Life

2007-12-01T02:33:00.001-05:00

Be happy, be crappy, be sappy, be fun!

Nolens Volens November

2007-11-18T09:34:00.000-05:00

Hi peeps,

sigh I can't help my continuous slide into Hedonism.

I have decided, at this juncture, to enjoy life a little; to eat more, play more, and work myself a little less, so that I can space out my energy until I ORD.

Anyways, camp stuff has been busy and CTC is getting to me a little- the daily grind of mundane regurgitation, memorisation and structured responses is making me a little zoid-ish.

Thank god for electroclash + fun stuff; weekends are a great respite, and this is what I have been doing.

Two weeks back, John Pornne, Joanna and myself went to Zouk for Gabriel and Dresden. We partied till 4, and it was only with reluctance that we pulled ourselves out of the club cos we both had to rise early the following Sunday.

Sunday was actually quite fun: I went with Goy to SPACE to gawk at designer furniture, before settling at Bakerzin for their superb 9,90 tea set, which came with 2 dessert tapas and any drink. Bakerzin is one of the local shops that I am damn proud of: Combining design and delicious desserts, it's a winning concept that I hope will be exported around the world one day.

And then this week, today, I met Mr Bala and John to celebrate with Mr Bala for his success at work. We went to this place called 'Wine Garage' at Clarke Quay for brunch, and it was awesome lah! We had this super nice anti-pasto platter comprising beetroot puree, cured ham, goat's cheese, olives and smoked salmon as the starter, and then burgers and zucchini fritters for mains. The burgers were beefy and flavoursome, moist and well-cooked, so it had that WOW factor that will make me wanna eat it again. The fries were also good-crispy and fragrant. Another gem discovered.

Yeah.

After that, I met Goy and Charlotte [ :) welcome back mam] for the A is for Andy Exhibition. Some Genius had the sense to bring in an exhibition of Mr Warhol's Prints- spiffy spiffy spiffy. Of course, being popart poptarts, we totally enjoyed ourselves.

In the area, I also stumbled upon Made in Singapore, a shop selling loads of locally made stuff. Way beyond cool, it's a new hangout.

Ah, a bad week redeemed by a good weekend.

I make for me very nice.

:)

marc
2007

Halloweenie 2007 at Zouk

2007-10-30T09:20:00.000-04:00

where's wally?

i don't know.

but it was solid. sordid. pornish.

that's halloweenie twenty o shaven for u.

there was king tut, beer slart, high skool girls, men with curls, hard gay, dead mae and all that trash.

Of course,

only at Zouk.

Happy halloweenie 2007!

Kids, Big Kids and Bed Buddies

2007-10-12T22:53:00.000-04:00

Hey peeps,

so far October has proven to be a Fest.

In the early part, my YEC organised a Children's Day event for almost 200 children at Hong Lim Park, and that turned out to be pretty hectic. Basically, all of us helpers played several roles, including Ops Personnel, Kid Entertainer. Missing Parent Locator and Balloon Man. It was tiring, but, as trite as this sounds, the cuties made all our efforts worth it.

Also, this month heralded the Mid Autumn Fest, so we were stuffing ourselves with Mooncakes and tea. Sheryl and I, being the Big Kids that we are, also went to East Coast Park to carry our retro looking lanterns! Hee, I'm so proud of my Chinese Heritage.

In the same week, Goy, Vanessa and I went to watch the Performance Art Fest. It was spectacular (duh!) and memorable. Of the three acts we saw, one involved a man examining a fish. The fish smelt so bad that the whole room stank of fish juice and it was really gross. At the end of the day, well, we still didn't know what he was trying to do.

The second act involved this guy who made another guy play the violin. The violin was so badly played that everyone in the room was baffled, and after a while it got a bit tedious. However, at the end of the performance, the instructor told us that the guy playing the violin was actually a random Thai construction worker that was plucked off the street barely a few hours ago, and his mantra was simple- these foreign workers, as they go about their lives, remain anonymous and un-noticed. But when they are made a spectacle, they confound our imaginations and interpretations because we can no longer contextualise them.

It was a good exercise in image and reality, and that guy has my fullest support. The third act was a woman who played a prank. She basically got the audience to volunteer to be tied up with cable ties to her, and at the end, she freed herself from the chain she constructed, running away with the scissors and leaving everyone else stranded in the chain. It was hilarious watching them chase after her. Indeed, the perf arts fest was intriguingly good, and I am looking forward to next year's installation.

And then, just yesterday, Cat, CZ, XH, Amanda + Boy and myself, we went to Mohammad Sultan to check out two places, the first, Le Tonkin, a Viet restaurant and lounge, and next, Martini Firm, a supercool bar.

Le Tonkin was interesting in the sense that its courtyard s exactly what I wish for my house, if I ever get one. Dedon Chairs and floating lanterns set amidst a sturdy and quaint backdrop of young bamboo make for a simply tranquil setting that is so enticing. Due to the exorbitant prices however, we decided to just settle for coffee, tea and a couple of beers.

Not satiated, we proceeded to Martini Firm and whoopee, I now add another place to my Fav Bar list. Martini Firm looks kinda like some of the Asian Bars in NYC, but instead of comfy seating it has daybeds, kinda like the Beds in Duvet but smaller. They also provide loads of pillows and cushions so it was ueber comfy. And the chocotinis are delicious. The bar, entirely white-washed, is mood-lighted with my preferred kind of colour changing lights, and was thus an enthralling experience for me. Sheesh, awesome possum. Next time around I am going there to eat. I heard that the food is pretty swish.

So that's all for Oct so far. I'll be darn busy with CTC so I'll get back asap!

Marc

2007

Nu Rave Nu Kraze Dangst Whateva Thang

2007-10-09T23:58:00.001-04:00

When Crystals met the Soho Dolls, they simply Trashed the Rental plus other songs of the moment.

Paul and Andre in the mood for Rave

2007-09-23T00:24:00.000-04:00

So yeah,

that day I was with Paul and I got totally high. He was, as usual, spinning some of his magic in Zouk and I got totally entranced. A little bit of booze and that excellent stuff that he was playing combined to make me feel like as though I was in some ethereal world.

And then two days back, I went to listen to Andre at the Ministry. He burned the floor with his classic opener, Ecstasy, before blasting off 9pm. And then midway, he threw in a crowd pleasing stunner, a remixed version of Mr Brightside.

It makes it so incredible that these Deutschlanders play such great trance. I thank Paul Van Dyk and ATB, for gracing our decks.

:)

Hopefully, the Nu Rave Nu Craze people, ie, New Young Pony Club, Digitalism and Crystal Castle, etc, that have so stolen my heart will come to our shores soon as P and A have done.

And now, for the other things:

Two weeks back, I went back to TJ for the TJ 50th anniversary dinner. Wow, my "high-school" looks great now, lotsa sculptural art everywhere and with a spanking new building to boot. I went with John, Mr Bala, Simone and Kelvin, and it was good fun catching up.

And then last week, we went to celebrate Goy and Stephanie's birthday at Food for Thought. FfT is an indie cool kinda place, opposite the national library, serving a myriad of salads and sandwiches. The food comes on a chopping board, and is served deconstructed, so you gotta make the sandwich on your own. That makes it fun, cos you can mix and match the flavours. Almost everyone was smitten by the place, and I am glad that they were. Thanks of course, to the genius of Chris who recommended the excellent place.

Apart from that, well, it rocks to be an officer. Last week I was made an Officer in Attendance for some high level delegates from a foreign country, and I had to bring them around Singapore. In the process, I got to check out some pretty spiffy places, including Oscar's at the Conrad Centennial, Prime Society at Dempsey road and Han She (My Humble House) at the esplanade.

I must say that the placed which impressed me most was My Humble House (http://www.tunglok.com/) . Everything about the restaurant was awesome. The decor was kinda bourgeois-chic, with chairs whose backrests extend about 1 story upward. The views were fantastic-the whole cbd was laid out in front of us from where we sat, and the food was amazing. Modern Chinese was something that I have never tried and tasting it for the first time was just mind-blowing. We started with a Amuse Bouche of sweet plum tomato with salad sauce and pork floss, which was tart, sweet and savoury at the same time, making it a shot of flavour that was intensely delectable. We then proceeded with the mini-banquet, having first the starter of double boiled soup with lotus roots and wolfberries. The Superior stock was so sweet that you felt the lingering sweetness in the mouth after each spoonful of that stock. After that was the dim sum trio, which featured three pieces of artistry whose taste matched its look. This was followed by the main meat, a creative interpretation of the traditional cereal prawn dish. It came with a lemon sauce which added some zing to dish which nicely cut the richness of the food. The result was a layering of taste that developed one after another, first the sweetness of the prawn, then the tartness of the lemon, and finally the earthy and fragrant notes that emanated from the fried oats. Fantastic. The next main, the carbo dish, was something that really surprised me. The guys there puffed out some rice before immersing it in some kind of superior sea food stock redolent with delectable slices of seafood. A raw egg was cracked into the mixture and then presented to us as well, gruel. Honestly the appearance of that dark brown mess with floating egg yolk appeared insidious. However, its fragrance and taste was just, WOW. Never had I had anything like it before and this is perhaps my ambrosia. The slightly burnt smell of the rice and the richness of the seafood stock complemented each other perfectly, making the "porridge" taste outta this world. We then ended with a dessert, a home made mooncake of various flavours.

I think Han She is the best restaurant I have eaten in in Singapore, and it has refocussed my food preference from modern Western to Asian, It was honestly, WOW, and I am glad to say that Han She has reaffirmed my faith in the Singaporean Restaurateur.

Dangst, what a great two weeks. How's yours?

Marc
2007

Eat, Read, Sleep

2007-08-26T10:48:00.000-04:00

Okay a little update from....

The start of August:

4th Singapore Short Cuts, 1st week of August.

Bings, ever-steady and always resourceful when it comes to tickets, managed to lay his hands on some for the gala premiere of the 4th Singapore Short Film Festival. There was food served, and the makers of the 5 films shown that day were there to answer questions and add to the discourse on the local film industry. Particularly worth mentioning is the film 'Bedroom Dancing', which basically showed 2 people reproducing (without censoring the details ) in their flat. Because they did not close their curtains, the male therefore got arrested for indecent exposure, in his own flat. Apparently based on a true story, the filmlet was, Wow.

On the national day weekend, my family drove up to Melaka for a food fest. It was a fun trip, although a little tedious because dad, who had a stroke of genius, decided to take the silly old road instead of the North-South Highway and thus made the trip longer by 2hrs!!!

Melaka has changed a lot since I was last there: There is a brand new shopping centre opposite Makota which has posher brands and a greater variety of stuff, including one selling Taiwan like goods (so characteristic of all the "youth" malls in Singapore right now). After shopping, we went down to the best place to eat in Melaka, which is the Portuguese village. We had the usual- oven-baked brinjal, sambal lala, crispy calamari, fresh-made otah and yum, the best ikan bakar ever! Dinner was so good that the whole family has decided to make a trip to penang and eat our way back to Singapore in December.

Fast forward a week, and Chris, Goy and I went to visit the Book Cafe. Woah, that place is way cool, with super comfy couches and great coffee. The placed is also designed in Chicago Elevator Style, making it ueber cosy. Nice nice nice.

And then this week, Goy and I decided to visit the Singapore Art Show. It was fantastic, with a range of media being showcased this time. My two favs were a video exhibit showing a woman exchanging clothes with random people, bra and all, and it was deep. This is because it brought out the message that, in other people's shoes, do we still feel as we are? Do clothes make a man? The other was this picture below, a modern tribute to the female, an empress in the world today, serene and waiting to be served. Awesome possum. If I can dig out photos, I will also post stuff about Wild Oats, Food for Thought and Tuckshop. Oh yes, if you guys get the chance, two must-watch movies this month:

1. 881, a show about kitschy stage-singing taking place every Hungry Ghost Fest in the country, in reflection of our cultural heritage, and,

2. Die Edukators, a German film that I'm glad Cat brought me to watch. Florian, if you are reading this, know that I think we are the tag-team. You know what I am saying, except of course, no free love. :):):)

Marc

2007

Happy 42nd

2007-08-19T07:57:00.000-04:00

On Friday ah, I met my friends for zi char at Chin Chin Kopitiam. After that, we went to a bar at Dempsey hill. Very fun lor! they go and remake the old camp until very nice. Now it got so much character.

After that, too early, so Goy and I went to Arab street to blow shisha at Ambrosia. We both decided to drink mint tea, but I also discovered that they have my favourite beer in the world, the Franziskaner Muenchener Weissbier, from Germany.

After that, too late already so we must take taxi home. But luckily taxis here are cheap. Only 1 pound fifty to my own home. So lucky.

The next morning, my mom and I went to eat roti-prata, an Indian dish that is described as a pancake. We ate it with a lot of curry, because that's how we have been eating since mom was born.

Halfway through the breakfast, my Army friend called me to tell me that one of the platoon instructors is getting married, at a CC. He invited all of us, and I am so excited because Malay weddings always got a lot of sedap, delicious food.

Fast forward one week, and I saw the national day parade on tv. this year damn chioh ah, but the stupid in-construction integrated resort keep appearing on the TV lor. Too bad also that I miss the fireworks, because I had dinner with my whole family, from my uncles to my grandparents. We were all at gong's house, too far from the bay area oledi.

This year they say the national day theme is Singapore, City of Possibilities. True lah, even the national day bag they give can take out and mix colour one. Ay I got blue and white. Anyone got red, green, purper and yellow? Multi-colour damn power sia.

So anyway, yes it is true that we are a city of possibilities, anything can do but don't get caught lah. But that doesn't speak out to me, because really, Singapore is my roots, my home and my life. If I speak liddat in angmoh countries sekali they whack me up ya?

Write all these write until so touching. So embarasing lor. But really ah, I am very proud to be a son of Singapore. Red, white and pure, siala, I want to wish our country a happy birthday, lah.

Going home

2007-08-05T10:33:00.000-04:00

Hey people!

Yesterday I went to with the YEC guys to Dempsey Hill area to chill, and boy was it fun.

We went to House, a creation of the Spa Esprit Group. The massive compound included a bar, a few private function rooms and a restaurant.

Sitting out there with cool people in the balmy weather, well, it's good to be home. Here are some pics from the night.

Shiok.

And, Tipin and Azman, welcome home!!!

Marc

2007

Birthday 2007

2007-07-14T22:48:00.000-04:00

Being 24 years old feels...

like I'm 23. Gee, I am young at heart!

This year's birthday spanned a whole week, and there are too many things, so I'll list them out;

1. Bingying's Birthday Cake Surprise

My bud randomly popped up on friday, during the period when I was diagnosed with conjuncvities and when I was most down, and presented to me a Blackforest Cake from the Mezzanine cakery. I was damn touched lah... sob, almost teared. Bro if you are reading this thanks yeah? Really appreciated it. And that encounter also signalled the start of the festivities ;)

2. Dinner with my family at Hanabi's

I was craving for Japanese food, so for my birthday dinner we went to Hanabi's at Odeon Towers. The food was good, and the variety was decent. However, service was sketchy and the quality at Hanabi's is no longer as good as I remembered it to be. So while dinner was enjoyable and the venue, fine, well, it could have been better.

3. John, Moanie, Li-En, Kelvin and Yingkit at Cafe Moroc and Samaar

Met up with the TJ peeps at Arab Street to catch up. Everyone's doing fine: Kelvin, whom I haven't met for three years, is well on his way to a !!! 1:1 !!!. Yingkit, whom after not being my friend for the past 6 months, became my friend again. John is bulking up like crazy, Li-En transformed into a Christian Dior type and Simone is now a funky, creative type bent on taking over the world of advertising and copy-righting.

It was fun, although I now realise that there others who are better qualified to be Camwhores than I am.

4. Lunch with Bob

Bob and I went for lunch at the Blood cafe at Paragon. We shared Laksa Pesto and a Kangaroo Steak, which was gamey and erm, very Delicacy tasting. But more importantly, it was fun catching up with Bob and we are in the midst of planning a trip somewhere.

5. Lunch with the MATC, Sheryl, Mel, Andrew and CZ at Novus.

Melwyn is a super genius, judging by his near perfect GPA,Andrew is my friend from camp who is such a great friend he is trying to save me from eternal damnation and CZ is going overseas for training soon.

So it was fitting that a whole bunch of us met up at Novus to enjoy good food in the company of great friends.

I have been dying to check out Novus since it opened, but dinner there would cost upwards of a hundred bucks, so we settled for its more reasonably priced brunch. On the menu that day were swishy stuff like:

Mozzarella Salad

English Breakfast

Omelette stuffed with blue swimmer crabmeat and lobster sauce

amongst others, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable session.

This year's birthday has been awesome possum, and I will like everyone for that, including those of you whom weren't here physically, but whom still took the effort to call me or email me from a few thousand miles abroad.

Thanks guys. I am the luckiest guy on the planet.

Marc

2007

Ein weisses Buch

2007-07-05T00:30:00.001-04:00

Bob and I went to see the John Clang exhibition at the Substation. It's a photography series exploring the idea of translocation, using image juxtaposition as the medium of expression. We decided to act translocated as well.

June Jaunts

2007-06-26T06:39:00.000-04:00

I am now on a stay-out course, meaning that I get to go home everyday, so life is nice.

In the past three weeks, I met up with almost everyone: Chris and Goy; Sheryl; John, Li-En and Mr Bala; CZ; Bings and Bobby and Cat.

Finally, some order in my life! We also went to check out some cool places:

Da Paolo Bistro Bar @ Club Street

This classic Italian place on club street is one of the better places for Italian food in Singapore. They are famous for their pizzas and pastas, although for pizzas they have an outfit somewhere along Greenwood avenue.

Anyways, I had duck-liver pasta with wild mushrooms and it was exquisite: Pan fried duck-liver and mushrooms with handmade pasta served with a generous dousing of Olive Oil. Yum.
We then had desserts to share. My favourite for the evening was the caramelised crepe.
Deliciozo.

The Screening Room

Boutique cinemas are now sprouting up around the island, and the Screening Room is one of the more luxe ones. Here, you can enjoy your movie with novel barfood and a cocktail while lounging on one of the designer chairs. However, we skipped this and headed for the rooftop bar instead. The AnnSiang hill area is nice because you get the see the dramatic cityscape towering above the surrounds of the Buddha tooth relic temple and the conservation shophouses. Bobby, Chris, Kern, Cat and I had a fine time catching up on the comfy bar. Nice.

It's always good to have another rooftop bar to chill out at.

Al Dente Trattoria

Last Sunday, Goy, Chris, CZ and I had brunch at Al Dente Trattoria. This is one of the chichi places in the Esplanade compound that I will never be able to afford. Mr Goy, being the genius that he is, procured some Amex vouchers for the venue and so made it affordable for us. For brunch that day, we shared amongst us three pizzas:

Mushroom, Meatlover and Salted Swordfish. The latter was especially interesting- raw slices of salted swordfish, aragula and cream-cheese. It was interesting and addictive, and I look forward to having it again sometime.

After that we retreated to Samaar for a blast.

And, other than eating, Bings and I went on an intense arse-hurting cycling expedition to the Changi boardwalk two weeks back from the ECP. I still can't walk properly but it was a nice cycle. The boardwalk is awesome for sunrises and one of these days we have to do an overnight cycling trip. Apart from these joyous jaunts, my Unit recently celebrated our CO by having a CO night, and we were made to dress like Spartans for the event.

Don't laugh.

:)

Marc

2007

Vesak Day 2007

2007-05-31T01:23:00.000-04:00

2007's Vesak Day commerates the enlightenment of Buddha 2551 years ago, and my family and I went to the temple this morning for the celebrations.

It's a simple process: We first pray to the gods, and then participate in the 'Bathing of the Buddha', a procedure that is supposed to cleanse us of our sins.

That was followed by a vegetarian feast prepared by the temple. Although I am not a religious person, I do value my religion because it forms the basis of my heritage.

Today's temple visit also gave me a chance to meet up with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, so it was fulfilling. Anyways, pictures speak a thousand words, so here are the pics of today's festivities.

1. My temple

2. Bathing of the Buddha:

My grandpa overlooks my brother bathing the Buddha, and then it was my turn.

3. Eating vegetarian.

One of the Eight Percepts is not to kill, so on this holy day, we go vegetarian for symbolic reasons. And wow the vegetarian food at this temple is so full of flavour that I wouldn't mind going vegetarian for real :)

Hmm, maybe it's time to sign up for one of those catechism classes with the Buddhist youth group...

Happy Vesak Day guys.

Amusing Muses in March and April

2007-04-11T07:32:00.000-04:00

Life in NS has kinda morphed into a routine, sometimes interesting, sometimes dreadful, but I realise, never boring.

I have been spending the past two and a half months working out how to use Photoshop and InDesign for the magazine that I am producing for my Wing, and that has taken up a very good bit of my weekend.

So life is kinda predictable now: Training on the weekdays, and then weekends, it'll be all meals out, Sat night clubbing/barring and then work and work in between.

Despite that however, life is still fun, and here are some notable experiences from these two months.

1. Lunch with Sheryl at the Bombay Cafe:

This little eatery near my place is gorgeously pink and full of character- Hindi music blasting off the stereos and Bollywood films screening on the flat-panel tvs, and not forgetting of course, a neon pink bar.

To top it all off, superb food: Killer bahturras and thosais.

2. Brunch at Cafe Le Caire

Chris, Goygeous and I went to cafe Le Caire in the middle of March for their supposed good mezze, and so we did. The hummus were all homey and grainy, and the foul fantastic. But it was the shisha that was the showstopper: It came full of flavour, and is much better value than those at Samaar's. Nice. Total damage for all the food above? S$20, serious.

3. Amusing Musings at the Museum

The National Museum of Singapore has finally come into its full force. Having gone through a major refurbish since two years ago, it is now fully opened, along with 3 new establishments: Novus, an ueber cool restaurant, Cafe Wa, its cafe outfit, and Muse Bar, the new 'in' place opened by the same guys who started Graze and Jia.

In these two months I checked out Wa and Muse.

Wa was with Cat, whom I managed to sustain our monthly sessions with.

And Wa was WOW! Great food, great environment, superb coffee and affordable. And they boost their cool quotient by having tonnes of design books lying around. Wa is set to become my new hangout spot.

I also managed to visit Muse with Sheryl.

Muse was Phillip Starckish all over, a lot like Jia, except that it was a bar setting. The highlight there, however, is not the decor, or the crowd, but really, the cocktails. Sheryl and I had Martinis- she the Chocolate Martini and I the Muse Martini, and both were delicious. Definitely a place to bring people to and to have a good time.

Nice.

I seriously am in love with the Museum.

4. and finally

Cafe Del Mar.

It's interesting how Eivissa-ish Sentosa is becoming- full of bars and clubs and hotels; there is even a full-fledged seaside promenade now. And it is fitting that Cafe del Mar has established its first international outpost here.

The bar is beautiful, set on Siloso beach, and the music screamed CDM. However, the chill vibe was absent, probably cos the cafe here is currently the place to see and be seen, so it still hasn't come into its full potential as a chill-out bar. Service was also spotty, but that night was a good night- the drinks came strong enough to knock me out.

So yup, there's the stuff for this two months.

Now it's your turn to lemme know how you are doing.

:)

Marc
2007

Chinese New Year

2007-02-19T03:08:00.000-05:00

Hey guys

yeah I know. It's not that this blog has been discontinued, just that I have been finding it hard to upkeep it. Anyways, this fantastic 4 day CNY break is a boon for me so yup, here's wassup in recent days.

As you guys know, 2007 is the year of the Pig, not just any pig, but the GOLDEN PIG. It comes around once every 60 years and is supposed to be very auspicious so the sentiment in Singapore is postitive.

It's my first CNY in 5 years and I am really happy to be back in Singapore. For the New Year, Singaporean families in general spend a lot of time and effort on three things- sprucing up the Abode, cooking and eating Food and spending time with the Family. Our family is no different, and we do the same, just as my grandparents did.

On the eve of Chinese New Year, we cleaned out our house in something known as "Spring Cleaning". All the old wares are thrown out and new things are bought; the home is given a makeover in red, red being the lucky colour of the Chinese people, and we put up decorations on our pussy-willow tree, which is basically the Chinese version of the Christmas tree. We also plaster Chinese greetings allover the wall, in hope of ushering good luck for the coming year. I am kinda proud of my house right now, it looks ueber festive.

So, after Spring Cleaning, we went to my gramps place for Reunion Dinner. I have been looking forward to this ever since I was in Taiwan because it was when the whole family came together to feast on grandma's cooking. I have been missing this for four years now so Reunion Dinner was really nice. Awu made her famous fish in ginger sauce, nourishing chicken soup and her mixed veggie dish, amongst others, and it was all so delicious. Nice. I also met up with my cousins, who are, as I realised, smart and gorgeous babes with brains. Pity the younger generation of Singaporean males who are going to kill themselves as these girls trample over them.

Anyways, the next day was the first day of Chinese New Year. Decked out in my new clothes which I brought from Taiwan (below),we went around "Bai Nian"-ing. Basically, it involves giving two mandarins to an elder and wishing them well. In return, they will tell you their wishes for you in the coming year and give you some "Ya-Sui Qian" in a red packet. Well, it seems that everyone's wish for me this year is to settle down and have 10 kids so yeah, hmm, I'm gonna pass for a while. And, after not "bai-nian"-ing to my parents for 4 years, it was kinda weird this year, but hee, at least it was nostalgic. This is us dressed to impress. Cool stuff huh.

After the first day of CNY, the rest of the days were all spent feasting, visiting tonnes of relatives and friends and yup, even more feasting. We went back to grandma's place on the second day for another feast. This time, we had "Supreme Yu Sheng", which is basically a salad which we toss to usher in good luck. This year's "Yu-Sheng"had the requisite salmon, but it was upgraded- my uncle bought abalone and caviar so it was bourgeois-ified. That night, my dad also cooked his trade-mark once in a year CNY FEAST. He prepared 8 innovative dishes (from scratch, mind you) , and invited a few privileged guests for dinner. Sheryl was amongst the lucky people and she and I had loads of fun eating dad's cooking, and of course, drinking some of that Dom Perignon that my uncle brought over. I have to admit, dad's really polished in the culinary department, so I have to learn a lot from him. And, these are some of the photos from that dinner.

So okay, my fingers ache from typing, a result of all that mahjong, so I shall stop here.

CNY was great this year, but I wish you all were here to celebrate it with me.

Miss you guys.

Happy Chinese New Year

2007-02-13T04:40:00.000-05:00

In the year of the Pig, this Hog wishes all of you the best in your endeavours.

And of course, may you guys always be happy with whatever you are doing.

:)

Marc
2007

All Hallow's Eve @ Zouk

2006-11-04T21:48:00.000-05:00

Okay guys

sorry for the long lack of updates. This week has been quite tough: Just came back from Section Field Camp when the Sergeant Major told me that he would confine me this week for something that my section did wrongly four weeks back, and so I burnt my saturday and just booked out.

As such, this will be short, but, here are some pics from Halloween 2006 @ Zouk!

Surprisingly, Halloween is becoming quite massive in Singapore.

Okay, now I gotta run off to the Art Musuem to catch Zahia Hadid before watching the Dim Sum Dollies' Little Shop of Horrors with her Majesty, before I book back into camp.

Will try to update this again next week

Marc

2006

Random Stuff in a Tough Tough week

2006-09-02T02:18:00.000-04:00

Hey guys,

woah, this week has been particularly harsh: First, I am down with this buggy flu virus and its been making me sub-conscious. Second, work is getting a little heavy because we're trying to get this project ready by next week, and, there are still some bugs on the website that are still irresolvable! Finally, because of a combination of both, I feel like a lardball: I can't run or swim cos of the flu and work, and gym is so... static.

But okay lah, it's just two more weeks when I... hmmm, go back to OCS. Which is worse I wonder? Staying in the office, or becoming an occifer.

Last week, I managed to meet up with Chong Calvin (after a two year hiatus) and Xinghong. Calch and June managed to get us into Coco-Latte.

The dj, a friend of June, was playing a mix of indie-rock electronica and the graphics were hilarious: Random animals and an intimate sequence from the film "Conan the Warrior". Mr Goy also bought Sheryl, Chris and I a round of drinks so it was a nice, affordable night out. After clubbing, we went for prata at river valley road. Yum, the feeling of slurping a Milo Dinosaur and eating cheese prata at 3 am rocks socks. I got home at around 5, read the newspaper, ate breakfast, and then proceeded to Changi aiport at 6 plus to see ykit off. He's going toTaipei for 6 months and we're going to visit him soon. Sigh, the lucky ones.

Btw dude, don't chew too much betel nuts (or any kind of nuts for that matter ah) ;)

I'll bring scrabble when I see u there, soonest.

Sunday, I met John for Indian food so we went to Little India. We ate at my family's favourite Indian place, some quaint shop selling Chettinadu cuisine, and we had so much solid food: Mutton curry, poppadums, spinach curry, yoghurt, curry veges and fish burgedil. After becoming ueber stuffed, we proceeded to Samaar for Shisha. The not-so-virginal John (of course, in a shisha sense and stuff) became quite philo after the session and it was like, oh-my-god, totally deep being with him.

After that, I rushed down to meet Bings at the National Museum to catch 'Passabe', a film about conflict resolution in East Timor. The documentary was edgy: It was filmed in a very raw manner such that at times, it became awkward watching the characters in the film: Voyeuristic, but also moving.

Anyways, this film is being shown as part of the Cine.sg series and I am quite keen on catching some of the other films, so those interested, lemme know ja? Btw, the nat museum is damn chio at night lah. Serene sia?

Grrr. Am going to snooze off now so that I can turn off my tap/faucet of a nose.

Sniff.

Mrc
2006

Two Weekends Off

2006-08-20T00:51:00.000-04:00

Wow, it has been two weeks already.

So anyways, last week....

My supportive Brather Beng celebrated his 21st on Saturday and we had a huge BBQ at my place.

Lots of people came, and I'm glad that everyone had enough this time, unlike the Great Famine of 2005 when a gang of people turned up without RSVP-ing. More importantly though, monkey boy had a hell load of presents, nearly 600!!! bucks worth and I'm jealous sia.... Dangst, all I got for my 21st was a free cocktail!

On Sunday, I brought Sheryl to the Red Dot Design Museum for MAAD because that place is so her, and hee we had loads of fun doing random things. Afterwards, we had one of the yummiest ice kachangs in Singapore at Maxwell Rd HC. Nice.

Following the museum outing, I met Bings and Charles for a play at the National Library. JBJ was hot, wicked, smart and witty, and we all agreed that it was one of the more intelligent works on offer this year. Plus, it was my first time entering the new NL theatre so that was interesting. The interior is hmmm, predictable. I realise that the esplanade's auditorium has set the precedent for theatre design in Singapore, so most of the new theatres look, smell and feel alike. Once inside, you wouldn't be able to tell if you were in the durian, UCC or NL. But to be fair, it had standard: Good acoustics, excellent seat arrangement and sufficient space, so it's not bad; just not too original.

And note to Jiahao: Okay okay I get it LAH. I will try to change my smile the next time round.

Fast forward to this this week and...

On friday, I went to watch a movie with Bings entitled "Cold Stone". It was a film examining the shallowness of the emerging culture of materialism amongst the Chinese people and I felt that it was brilliantly made. I also found the movie refreshing because it had a point to make, and I highly recommend it.

Then yesterday, Sheryl and I went to Loof bar for Vic's 'Welcome back to Singapore Party' and Sheryl's 'Elegantly Wasted' event. It was damn packed, and because the crowd was [S"wanky"/s], we had to [S"wank"/s] our way through it all.

Welcome back to Singapore.

;)

Happy 41st

2006-08-09T08:34:00.000-04:00

As I stood on the balcony of the Swissotel, I saw the Marina Bay area sprawled beneath my feet, framed by two borders composed of the clusters of skyscrapers which are Suntec and the City. I turned my eyes and I noticed Clarke Quay lighting up in different colours every few minutes. I looked around, and I saw the glittery malls that will be filled up by the fireworks spectators after the show. And then I found myself starting to figure out what to have for dinner. And which bar to visit with Sheryl after the display. I turned my head left and I saw East Coast Park. I suddenly remembered that I had to sms people if they would go cycling with me during the weekend. In my gaze, the new national library caught my eyes, and I felt happy, because on Sunday, Bings, Charles and I will be making our way there for a play as part of the Singapore Theatre Festival.

And then the first of the fireworks came, then the next, and I was captivated by the spectacular display. My grandpa and grandma started oohing and aahing, and I felt myself being infected by their exuberance.

In innumerable ways, and in inexact forms, pride in my nation welled up in me. Everything before me was created with the sweat and back-breaking toil of Singaporeans past, and, their stupendous idealism that willed the transformation of this city into the form that it is today. Optimism quickly surfaced, because I realised that Singapore was created by the effort and idealism of its people, and these are not lacking in my generation.

Blazing red and white, I knew, there and then, that I will always be a very proud son of Singapore.

Surviving the first week

2006-08-08T06:53:00.000-04:00

I am finally back in camp after a four year hiatus, and I must say that the feeling of being back there is... scary.

When Ben and I saw the cadets march pass us with their empty stares and hallowed miens, the sense of trepidition and fear just welled up in us, as we cognized their feelings, one which is an amalgamation of mental fatigue, physical exhaustion and sleep deprivation.

But that starts only in five weeks; now, I am serving my NS stint as a non-combat specialist (i.e., I am doing clerical work) and I am tasked to do this project which has been pretty challenging to work on. Best of all, at least until 18 September (when all hell breaks loose), I get to book out every night and sleep in my own bed (although, not a lot cos I usually have to bring work home). And because I get to stay out every night, I can put into practice my physical training schedule, which involves all of a 3.2km/2 mile jog in boots and slacks, followed by a 750m swim and a 30 minute gym session.

But I get to book out all the time, so, I still have some social life (although, as Charles and Bings are clearly cognizant of... not many friends). So this is what I have been up to for the past one week.

Last sat nite, I went to East Coast Park Food Centre for dinner with mom and beng. We had all the famous foods there, the Meng Choon Satay Bee Hoon, the Cai Tao Kueh, the Char Siew Mee and Sup Tulang. Mom also ordered a big bowl of half cooked cockles and we had a lot of fun eating the little guys, staining our hands with lots of juice in the process.

After dinner, Sheryl and I met up to catch Adam's Apples, which was a great movie and which we definitely understood because we went into the cinema only forty minutes late and missed only half the show (and not the whole entire show!!!!) Wow, how lucky we were!

;)

When the show ended, we decided to head down to Giraffe at Dhoby Ghaut for a drink and the bar is actually worth checking out because of its very reasonable prices and nice atmosphere. There are seating areas inside and outside, and the whole palce is styled as a cross between Thai Minimalism and Safari so it was atmospheric. Best of all, the water feature in Istana park provided a scenic backdrop to the whole place, giving it a feel of tranquility right in the heart of the city, and we appreciated that. So yup, Giraffe gave me good vibes.

The next day, Sunday, I met up with the Ross, Charles and Tips to go Museum-ing. We visited the super unique MAAD Flea market at the red dot design museum where apart from the highly creative and original wares on display, other things were also displayed. After that, it was a trip to the newly revamped (and still in construction) Singapore National Museum for the Stylo Mylo 41 years of Singapore Fashion Exhibition,and then a trip to the Singapore Art Musuem, which has this quaint courtyard and interesting sculptures. So yup, a very arty Sunday, lah.On wednesday, Sheryl and I went blading at ECP in the day. I am still learning, painfully, the secrets of blading with neither permanent arm damage, nor, making mince meat out of cute kiddies. Best of all, Sheryl turned up in a get-up that was completely blue, as if to highlight something. And guess which song came up in my head?

After that, I joined my family at the Swissotel (which was a present to our mom for her birthday) to catch the fireworks fiesta, the third of six fireworks displays in the month of August. We managed to get a room on the 48th floor and the views were awesome. From the balcony, we could see the whole of the Marina Bay Skyline and the Suntec cluster. Interestingly, I noticed that the Conrad hotel is visibly "13" in design, due to some geomancy principle. Cool huh? And when the fireworks started, my whole family became captivated by what was possibly the best view any of us ever had of fireworks. Rather than looking up at it, we were looking at it, given our position on the 48th floor of Southeast Asia's tallest hotel, so that was nice. All in all, it was a good night, and mom really enjoyed her birthday present.

So yup, that's about it, for now, I guess.

:)
Marc
2006

Yo Happy Birthday Dude

2006-07-31T00:21:00.000-04:00

Don't worry pal, even as you grow older and start fathering 10000000000 kids, we'll still be your friends.

Three Ways of Marcissmus

2006-07-30T13:09:00.000-04:00

A final update before I head into NS. Since the last update on my life back in Sing, the things I have done can broadly be categorised into three kinds of activities: Travelling, Discovering and Falling in Love, altogether which make up part of the way of Marcissmus.

1. Travelling to...

Bali
From 25/7 to 28/7, I went Bali with Mr Gan for a four day pre NS psyche-up session and it was definitely a highlight. Bali is ueber charming, with lots of beaches and culture. We spent most of our time there eating the delicious food from the Warungs: Nasi Campur (something akin to Nasi Padang), Nasi Goreng, Bakmi Goreng, Mie Ayam, Ikan Bakar, the bestest Gado Gado ever and Sate, which is slightly different from the local version in that the meat is a lot fattier. We also had the opportunity to go to the Monkey Forest in Ubud which was really interesting. We saw lots of mating monkeys, and also ancient ruins reminiscent of those found in the Inca countries of South America.
In Bali, I also had the chance to stay in a private villa, which was really awesome cos we had our own plunge pool and meditation hut, both of which were sea-facing.
2. Discovering
In this past year, maybe because the economy is doing well, tonnes of places have sprouted up, and the past three weeks have been a frantic attempt to check out some of the cooler places before NS. Below are some of the mentionables:

Marrakech
Clarke Quay is being overhauled, and its new look is superb. There are these angel tent things that are lighted up by colour changing lights. Just staring at them intrigue me enough to want to go back. Random art exhibitions there also help make the whole CQ experience all the more complete. But of course, it is the the twin stalwarts of the area that make it so moreish, the first of which being Marrakech. Marrakech is this new shisha/hookah place run by Harry's. The shishas there are weak but flavourful, especially the banana shisha. The bar is also beautifully themed, with private booths, swing chairs and dais which make for cosy, comfy and roomy chilling.

MoS
The other anchor in CQ is the Ministry of Sound. Possibly the largest nightclub in Singapore and definitely the largest MoS to date, this massive complex has five different areas tuned to five kinds of sounds and experiences. So far, I have already gone there twice and I am looking forward to more. Sheryl and I went there for Candyfloss night one wednesday and it was damn cheesy but really fun. Thank gawd the Mambo crowd remained at Zouk; the MoS crowd was more free-styling, although I think if MoS wants to up its cool quotient it should take better care with its crowd selection. On saturday, Mr Goy, Xinghong, Takae and myself went there to watch Paul Johnson and that rocked. Amazingly, I also met Patrice there, and that was really surprising cos I have not seen him for three years already and then randomly, we met up in Sing.

Bar Baa Black Chic
Little India has always been one of my more favoured hangout places because of its high culture and great food, but recently, on Perak Lane, a seemingly low key bar opened. Named Bar Baa Black Chic, it is kinda inconspicuous from the outside, but the bar boasts one of the best sound systems in Singapore and, to seal the deal, the uppermost floor is bedecked with booths, drapes and cushions, making it one of the better places in the country to chill. The place is also highly unpretentious, with the guy at the door speaking to us in Hokkien specked Singlish so that was a nice change from the the snobbery of similar establishments. BBBC has definitely earned itself a semi regular.

Q Bar
Last night, Sheryl and I were determined to check out Q bar so we went there. Extremely hyped up in recent days, we just had to see for ourselves what the fuss was about, and when we were there we understood why everyone was talking about it: The crowd was beautiful, and, many of the people there spoke in accents: In short, a high society kinda place. We went there for Sheryl's ueber chioh friend's party (you know, the one whose name rhymes with Shaolin ;) ) so that alone, was worth the party. Hee.

Samaar
Samaar is still gonna be my favourite place in Singapore, and last week I brought mom, dad, beng and Xiaoping there, and, I am glad they enjoyed Samaar as much as I always did.

New Asia Bar
Although NAB took to charging a ludicrous $22 for the first drink, her royal highness and I decided that it was worth the fee for the views of Singapore from the 70th floor of the Swissostel so we went there. The music was really horrid (dangst, top 40s?) but the crowd was much better than the ones in the past because the punky kids have been kept out by the punitive entrance fee. But okay lah, we did get a window seat, and that was awesomest. 3. Falling in Love
Okay okay, game's up, I am confirming all your suspicions that I have been madly in love for the past four weeks already, and yes I have been seeing her at least three times a week. You guys all saw it coming huh?
.
.
.

I am in love with...East Coast Park ;) and I have been jogging, cycling and today, for the first time, bladed, along its palm lined shores. And the East Coast Park Food Centre is one of the most atmospheric on the island. Not only is the food good: Black cai tao kueh, sup tulang, satay beehoon, beef noodles, char siew noodles, ikan bakar and satay, but it is one of the only two places I know of to date where you can dig your toes into the sand and enjoy the sea breeze while sipping a chilled, sweet young coconut for the price of a pancake in NYC. My baby ECP, I hope our love affair will never end.

So guys, that's all for now, I guess.

:)

Marc
2006

Cooking for Four, Cooking for Two.

2006-07-29T03:54:00.000-04:00

Well, just got back from Bali last night and now I am in the mood for blogging, my other choice being to pack my duffel bag so hmmm....

On monday night, one day before I flew to Bali, I decided to don my chef's hat to cook an appreciation dinner for the family (whom I have not been seeing because I keep going out all the time) to thank mom and dad for sponsoring me in part for the bali trip. This was what I made:

As a starter,
Cold silken tofu with Shinjiro sauce and pork floss

For the mains,
Baked miso cod with wasabi mash potatoes and blanched, buttered asparagus

And for dessert,
Kueh Boloh tiramisu served with a shot of bailey's irish cream.

Well, the family enjoyed the dinner and I am glad they did, cos I spent almost a whole day in the kitchen cooking, but which of course, I enjoyed immensely.

And then on tuesday, on the day I was to fly off to Bali, I made lunch for Sheryl after her royal highness decided that I was worth having lunch with. So for her I made,

As a starter,
Three quarter-boiled egg with marinated tuna and sea salt

For her main,
Salmon Tartine with butter sauce, served with mashed potatoes and a blanched duo of baby corn and asparagus. But for myself, because of the western dinner I had the day before, I decided to keep it simple. So I had for my main,

Mee Kia (thin egg noodles) with black vingegar, soya sauce and a dollop of oyster sauce, baked marlin marinated in rice wine and soya sauce and the veges.

For dessert, we had tiramisu, made the day before, and greek yoghurt, which we, or rather, she, artistically plated and modified.

Good food and damn awesome company. Nice.

Europe Part III

2006-07-19T23:41:00.000-04:00

Sheesh, finally some time off to complete the last of the Europe series. It's been two.five weeks since I am back, so I hope that I can still remember everything with reasonable clarity.

So anyways, after Venice, we found ourselves in Munich, the capital of Bavaria. Munich was totally unlike what I remembered, or expected. The last time I was there, in 2004, the city was kinda sedate, without much going on. But this time round, Munich was simply abuzz, with a kind of vibrancy possible only from being a Weltmeisterschaft Host. The streets were thronged by fans from all over the world:The infamous chanting English chavs, the happy Germans and the crazy Mexicans.

Throughout the city, shops had footballs and national flags hanging from the their ceilings and shopfronts. Even the bakeries had football bread, which are basically buns shaped and decorated to look like footballs. Honestly speaking, I have never experienced a Germany so fun before, not in the previous 8 times I have been there. It's like WM lessened everyone's guardedness, and for the first time, describing the Germans as fun-loving is not misplaced. It was awesome to have been in Germany when World Cup season was in full swing. In our two days in Muenchen, we basically just chilled a lot, visiting cafes and walking about the stadtzentrum. Everyday, we would visit the Virtualienmarkt, a bazaar like food market selling Bavarian Cuisine where we would arm ourselves with Weisswurst (veal sausage meat stuffed in pig intestines and eaten with a kind special sweet mustard), Bratwurst (grilled or fried spiced sausages), Feuerwurst (spicy sausages), Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes with shallots and spring onions) and Lebekaese (Liver Cheese), before retreating to Marienplatz where the Neues Rathaus (Cityhall) is to people watch, especially those crazy fans who love fooling around this particular plaza. After that, it'll always be a walk around the area before retreating to Erding, which stands right at the end of the S2 subway line. Therma Erding is basically a fully equipped spa built at the site of a natural spring. It is pretty much like the Aachen Spa, except much bigger. The spa is relaxing, and it easily became the highlight of our time in Munich. A special thing about this spa though is the Schwefelquelle, which is a well that channels unadulterated, stinky thermal water directly into pool where you can sit for a short while. The water is very mineral rich and is extremely warm to sit in. It is supposedly good for curing lots of diseases so I beared with the smell in hope of rejuvenating myself. And it kinda worked because after Munich, my pimple outbreak started to visibly ease so that was therapeutic. This spa, being very large, also had several themed areas, including a waterfall located inside a fake cave, a turkish spa area and massive waterslides in Abenteurland (Adventure Land). So it was nice, although the water slides were closed for renovation when we were there. After the spa, we would normally get back into the city late, so there's only one place to eat well, and that's the Hofbrauhaus ( Yard Brewery). On the first night in Munich, we managed to catch the Brazil vs Japan match, and that was electrifying. The whole place was amazingly raucous, and the samba samba Brazilians broke into song and dance whenever anything seemed to be happening so it was really party to be there. To counter the Brazilians, Japanese fans in the crowd would break into chants and Banzais so it made the whole experience even more surreal. Over Schweinhaxe, Wursttellr (mixed Sausages), grosse Brezel (giant pretzel) in the Hofbrauhaus, WM season was in full swing for us too. On the second day, we took some time to visit the Englischergarten, which is this huge park in Munich styled after an English Garden. Apart from seeing lots of naked people, we also had beer at the Chinesicherturm, which is a quintessential Munich experience and definitely recommended for everyone. We stayed for two nights in the Thalkirchen Campingplatz, which was pretty alright, except that the majority of the people staying there were Swedish. That was a small problem, because the Swedish people were a little nuts over their football, and coupled with lots of alcohol and loud cheesy techno music, the campsite became a little too fun for comfort. But nonetheless, the atmosphere there was really chilled and foot-ballsy, so it was alright I guess. But on the night Sweden lost to Germany, OMG I am so glad we moved to Fuessen already.

Fuessen, as you guys probably already know, is the town nearest to Hoheschwangau where the Neuschwanstein and Hoheschwangau are. We stayed there for a night so as to maximise time in the castles, and to soak in the atmosphere of a typical Bavarian village. Our time there was quite fun, because we stayed at this little hotel that was totally weird. We were the only guest in this humongous mansion, and the rooms were decorated in 1920s kitsch style, lots of blue and pink and flowers. In fact, it was really out of a horror film kinda place: big imposing windows, a proprieter who was a little senile and who wore all black, and with black cats running around the place. It was kinda scary staying there, but yeah if it was bad for me imagine what it must have been like for Brandon, who of course, had to have fun with our landlady. Sigh...

The castles were, on the other hand, not scary at all. We hiked up a treacherous path to Marianbruecke (Marian Bridge) where for risking our lives (sorta), we were rewarded with stunning views of the New Swan Castle. In the area, we also had the opportunity to visit some lakes, but that of course, was not the point for Brandon, who thought that the lake's swans were more interesting than its glassy reflecting surface and dramatic mountainscape backdrop. Bother.After Fuessen, we caught a 6 hour train ride to Frankfurt, or Bankfurt, as it is more commonly known (due to its 7 or so skycrapers) where we spent our last few hours browsing the shops, visiting Roemerplatz where the cathedral is, and having another Sushi buffet.

But the highlight of Frankfurt of course, was our luxury hotel stay. Thanks to lastminute.co.uk, I managed to secure a twin room at the Dorint Novotel Niederrad for about the same cost as two hostel beds, so that was awesomest. Nice.

So yup, that's basically a wrap up of an unforgettable trip to Europe.

Ah, the good life...

Dangst I gotta stop pining.

:)

Marc
2006
Singapore

Civilization IV

2006-07-15T01:12:00.000-04:00

This is random, but Singapore's skyline made it to the cover of Civ IV.

The First Week at Home

2006-07-09T11:18:00.000-04:00

This one week has been hectic, but, in a good way. I have so far managed to meet up with my people, some of them a few times already, watch most of the soccer matches, check out three of the numerous places on my Singapore Sacred Scroll, and, celebrate my birthday.

1 July

When I walked out of the airplane on 1 July, I got a huge surprise cos my cousin Caroline was actually at the gate to welcome me back, and that was really something cos the last I knew, she was still studying. But now, she's all posh and stuff, working for Jet Star Asia. Nice cousin, nice.

Later, Sheryl and I went to Samaar for an evening of great conversation and Chicha. We managed to nick a seat in the rooftop garden, and the night was balmy, breezy and filled with stars. Supercool, lah!

:) Pity that I don't have pictures though.

2 July

On 2 July, I celebrated my birthday with my family. It was cool cos it was my first time celebrating it with them since 2002. We went to "Crab King" for a crabless dinner (because they ran out of crabs), and then cut a cake at home. I was really happy, cos being able to celebrate my birthday with mom, dad, beng and my sorta sis-in-law is a privilege that I have been longing for for four years already.

4 July

On Independence Day, whilst many of you were watching glorious fireworks, well, I was playing mahjong from 11pm to 6am and enriching Jiahao, Yingkit and Bingying's pockets with money for what must have been an orgasm-inducing 7 hours of fun for them.

Dangst.

5 July

Sheryl and I went to check out Loof Bar, one of those places that I have been meaning to check out for a long time. It was really nice, with a sky garden concept and surprise surprise: Beds. Nice.

6 July

Yunting and I met up for turkish food at Baghdad Street. We went to Ambrosia for dinner and all I can say is, it's going to be my only time eating there cos the food was very very disappointing, not least pricey. The authenticity of every dish was suspect, and whilst I don't mind localisation, well, at least get the taste right. Unfortunately, Ambrosia really screwed up lah, so, Ma'as Salama guys.

But after that we went to Samaar for dessert, and that was good because Samaar is always good. I had Helwa, which is like this floury cake like dessert that is eaten with pita, raisins and dates, while Yunting had this baked apple and ice-cream dessert.

Sweet desserts, sweet company, sweet evening.

7 July

Sanne and I finally met up. And it was important, and, sensible, that we did. It turned out to be a very meaningful night.

8 July

Rosston, Yingkit, Charles and I went for a dose of local fare at Smith Street. Gosh, there was an amateur karaoke competition going on and the contestants were so grate that I almost reeled over several times. But the food was good: finally got to eat my sambal stingray, char kway teow, Fei Fei yuntun mian and wu xiang. 9 July

Hee, just came back from a birthday dinner with Mel, Sheryl and Shiping. For a whole week, they kept me in great suspense about this "surprise" dinner, and dangst it was such an awesome dinner.

At 6, Mel promptly came to pick me up in his swanky new Jaguar. We then headed to Rochester Park, to North Border Bar and Grill, for Tex Mex food. This really knocked the socks off me cos it was so flavoursome, so spicy and so shiok that I wished it was a buffet. And the killer molton chocolate torte basically proved my point that no place else in the world can beat the dessert scene back home. The chocolate lava basically flowed right out of that mean guy, and it tasted so good, so comforting and so "Gee, I am really glad to be home" that I am pscyhed up enough about chocolate now to go for the chocolate buffet at the Fullerton on thursday night.

Nice nice nice!!!

PS: Anyone wants to check out Graze?

:)

Marc
2006

Remus

2006-07-09T11:02:00.000-04:00

Hey guys

introducing the world's greatest concentration of cuteness: My baby cousin Remus

Total cuteness.

Europe Part II

2006-07-06T00:47:00.000-04:00

Hi peeps,

so I left off at London huh?

well, we were in London from the 13th to the 17th of June, and it was great being back there. Actually, having been to the States for a year, I grew to appreciate London a bit more than I did. And skimming through the classical European cities of Amsterdam and Paris before coming to London made me realise that yes, although London doesn't have the kinda fancy Barouque/Louis XVII/Heidi like architecture (not a lot anyway), it does have a lot of nice, brown/black industrial revolution era relic tenement buildings, abandoned warehouses, graffitied walls and random plots of abandoned land, giving it a highly unique character that motivates creativity. The Tate Modern, for example, is a perfect example of this. Once an abandoned power station, it now retains its Orwelian 1989 look while looking funky with a nice colour-changing light installation atop the old chimney. And inside, it is wonderfully restored, its starkness complementing the art symbiotically, which is exhilarating. London is thus this energetic centre of creative destruction, where in the weirdest places you'll chance upon random havens of ueber cool: A non-descript bar accessible only via sewerage steps, a mega club housed in an abandoned meat market, and a thriving rasta market housed in ancient horse stables. Super chic.

For us, most of our time was spent in the Covent Garden Area. I missed C-gard a lot more than I thought I did. When I ate my Ben's cookie while sipping my Cafe Nero Americano, I realised there and then how happy I was to have made the trip back to London. At least I have proper closure, which made me more prepared to return home to Singapore. C-Gard and Soho were also where we had most of our meals. I went back to The Stockpot for their good value but tasteless meals; Bar Italia was revisited, although the experience was marred by a pathetic service crew. We also had lunch at Misatos, which I realised served very average portions of food compared to the US, as opposed to how oversized I thought their portions when I was still studying in London. I also went back to the Paddington area, around my old home in Westbourne Terrace, to revisit Levanthian for their excellent desserts: Dates stuffed with honeyed crushed almonds; Buttered apricots, Baklavas and Turkish Delights, and Mint tea, which were excellent.

Apart from the food, we spent most of our time in London chilling out, this time around. We spent one full day at Greenwich park,soaking in the sights and reading Florian's mags, while of course, demolishing a most perfect picnic of English tea: Marks and Spencer's pure butter sultana scones with raspberry conserve and Cornwall clotted cream, EAT sandwiches, Cafe Nero coffee and M&S shortbread fingers. Gorgeousest. The next day we spent most it in Hyde Park, chilling out and enjoying Greenday Live from their concert next door. I spent the entire time catching up with Mr Ramseger, which was fundamentally fulfilling :) . In between these chillings, we also found time to visit Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Poodle's Apartment at Number 10, the House of Parliament and Harrods. Unfortunately for Brandon, London decided to go on a full-on makeover which meant that most of the interesting sights were shrouded in layers of scaffolding and plastic. But then again, that made London even more authentic because as these buildings were covered in their layers of scaffolding and plastic sheets, they actually blended in better with their surroundings. But London is dripping with cool, and is full of buzz and energy more akin to Singapore than Europe, and this made me cognizant of the fact that if given, again, the choice to choose a place to study in Europe, I would have chosen London.

After London we went to Rome, and Rome was nicer this time cos it wasn't so hot, and we didn't do too many things. We went to Ancient Rome to see the Colosseum, Palatine Hills and the Fora Romano on the first day, and on the second, Brandon went to redeem himself at the Vatican City while I went shopping :) Hee, I was at the Museum before so I didn't go again this time, but I did go to the Vatican City cathedral. The Vatican city cathedral is indeed the grandest church I have ever been to because it is not only significant, but is also commensurately colossal, ornate and Bernini-grand. And it feels very sacred, despite the millions of tourists who throng its hallways every year, so it was a nice experience to be there at the centre of Roman Catholicism.

In Rome though, we spent most of our time in the Pantheon Area eating. We basically almost always had food in our hands, be it Gelatto, Pizze al taglio, Capuccino or Coke. In fact, we had at least 6 scoops of Gelatto a day, which made us Jelat like hell, but it was well worth the discomfort. And anyways, gelatto is supposed to be less fattening than ice cream cos it is made from milk and not cream, so yeah, we could eat them without feeling liked we've sinned. Of course, no visit to Rome can be complete without a trip to Pizzeria Da Bafetto and so that was where we went for dinner every night. Da Bafetto is this Roman institution solidly packed every day with locals enjoying what is supposedly one of the best pizzas in Rome.The food there is so good, with the most excellent bruschettas and pizzas, pizzas which are so thin crusted and packed full of the most flavourful ingredients that you actually need to fold it into half (Calzone-isation) to be able to lift it up to the mouth. It was enjoyable, and the coolest thing was, the owner actually recognised me my previous visit a year ago so that was kinda cool.

On the 20th, we left for Venezia, and Venezia is, hmm, interesting. We were both glad that we only stayed there for a night cos while it is pretty, it is also very compact and totally doable in a day. We covered all the most important sights, namely, the Rialto and St Marco's Cathedral, before scooting off to chill out in the tonnes of cafes and gelaterias. I mean, I had seen these twice prior to this trip, once in Venice last year with my parents, and once in "Venice" with the guys in Las vegas and stuff so yeah, whatever :D On the 21st, we took this ueber long bus ride to Munich, which was quite sad cos the bus toilet reeked and made the whole bus smell like hmmm.... guess. Brandon and I were smelling our mints all the time to prevent sickness, which of course, Mr B. had proven very adept at during the entire journey ;)

14 hours later, we found ourselves in the Bayern Hauptstadt of Muenchen.

And the experiences there, dear friends, will be in another post coming up soon.

:)

Marc
6 July
Singapore

Back in Singapore

2006-07-02T23:17:00.000-04:00

Hey guys

I am now back in Singapore. For the past two days, I have been eating non stop, and now I feel perpetually bloated (and am still in the mood to eat!). But seriously, the feeling of waking up to the aromatic smell of Java Bean Kopi-O, Bak Chor Mee and Kaya Toast... Shiok!

In the past two days, these are the things I have done:
-Gone for Chicha with Sheryl at Samaar's, which is definitely most awesomest and one of the key reasons why I am glad to be home ;)
- Met my new baby cousin Remus (who's so cute lah)
-Met up with everyone in my family
-Met Bings and Jiahao for Zichar at Lorong 9 (Gosh, so good)

and celebrated my birthday with my family for the first time in four years, at, hmmm, Crab King at Defu Lane, which was yummy. Strangely, as a cake we had a Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte which I was trying to eat whilst I was still in Germany but strangely couldn't find.

So all is good so far; but right now I am

i) Missing NY and my people there
ii) still nervous about re-acclimatisation. I have been burning up and showering at least 5 times a day and still I'm hot and perpetually feeling sticky. I am so glad that it is cloudy today.
iii) Re-adjusting back to the local culture. Suddenly, when everyone speaks Singlish and walks faster than me, it's surprising.
iv) going to CMPB for my medical check up so that's making me a little edgy.

So there....

But I'll catch u guys in a bit, cos I am going to Depot Rd.

Marc
2006
Singapore

Europe in Brief

2006-06-16T05:49:00.000-04:00

Hey guys

I am now back in London, and I have a little time before we set off for the Isle of Dog and the City so yup here's a quick update. Pictures will follow in a subsequent post, once I get back to Azman's place in Aachen.

So, basically, we arrived in Aachen late on the 6th of June, and spent three days there. I really love Aachen, it's my favourite city in Europe and the three days there were amazing. Since the first was burnt travelling there, we really only had two days. On the second day, we went to the Drei Laende Punkt, which is a point whereby the three countries of Belgium, Netherlands and Germany converge. This is also the highest point in the Netherlands, so that was interesting. Well, a trip to Aachen cannot be complete with a visit to the Thermal Springs, so that's
where we went for the night. The Aachen Spa, Carolus Therman, is probably the nicest European styled spa I have experienced. It's really cosy inside, with three main pools, two outdoors and 1 indoors. One of the outdoor pools is like this huge washing machine thing whereby every half and hour or so, it starts swirling you around a circular channel. I have no idea what it is for, but it certainly is fun. The other outdoor pool is my favourite pool in the complex. It has three main features, first, hydrobeds which you lie on and be submerged in heated water, but which also exposes your face to the cool, icy air. Then there is this huge jacuzzi like bench which alternates with the hydrobeds, and finally, this powerful jet of water on the ground which massages your feet. Awsomest. The indoor pool is more regular: Jacuzzis, hot+cold pools, steam rooms, rainshowers etc. So we spent about two hours here, before heading home to have dinner where Brandon impressed the both of us with his spaghetti alfredo.

The next day, we went to Monschau, which is one of the best preserved medieval villages in the Aachen region. That was quaint, very European and beautiful. Hiking's the main activity there though, so we hiked around the mountains a bit, and took die Uberraschung there, before heading back to Aachen for, of course, the Spa. After that we went to the Brauhaus for some excellent home brewed Koelsch Bier, and ate Schweinhaxe, or Pork Knuckles, to complete an excellent stay in Bad Aachen.

On the 9th, we went to Dam Dam Amsterdam, and had a ball of the time there. Amsterdam is zany, in reflection of the quirkiness of the Dutch people, and it's a really funny city. Houses are never straight: they are always leaning in or out, or left or right; Canals seem to go nowhere; the Dutch language is cute, and the Dutch people are quite flashy and most definitely orange. We basically spent our two days there going around the city, exploring every nook and cranny, both on foot, and on bike (where, yes, we have a million adventures to recount), getting from Vondelsplein to Museumsplein, Leidesplein to Rembrandtsplein. Nice. And the food in the Amsterdam, lekker. We had Vlammse Frites, or Flemish Fries, which are thick cut and served in huge cones, with a whole lot of sauces, including the ueber incredible satay sauce,drenched all over the top. And then the Stroopwafeltjes, which are thin butter wafers stuck together with caramel. :) And of course the Rijlstafel, or how we would call it back home, Nasi Padang. We had had the Rollmops, which were basically stinky herrings soaked in vinegar and eaten with pickles. Trust me, it tastes worse than it sounds. I almost puked when I took a bite of it but durian eater B Paladino sickeningly consumed it with flair and relish. I almost died of gagging watching him 'savour' the monstrosity that is the rollmops.

So yeah, after Amsterdam is Paris, and Paris, all of you know lah, is just how it is, super cultured, super big, and super even. Of course, old favourites like L'Encrier were revisited, as were the major sights and sounds. We were in Paris for three days, and on the second we went to this restaurant called La Fondus, which I am sure many of you can remember. Well, we got so pissed that night, big major story to tell here too. But I'll story-tell when I see you guys soon, lah.

:)

Right now, the Greenwich is a calling so I gotta go.

Check back for updates in the last week of June for updates.

Miss u all lots, as usual.

Marc
2006

Mom's NYC Visit

2006-05-24T10:43:00.000-04:00

Hey peeps,

I am now in Atlanta. The day is awesomely sunny, and later we are going to this place called Stone Mountain for a picnic. But as usual, I wake the earliest so hee, now I have some spare time to update the “Blog that had been”.Anyways, I’ll start from the week mom was in NYC, all the way until she left.

Basically, mom came on the 12th of May, and then on the 13th we went all the way down to the Canadian border to see the “most amazing” Niagara Falls. We went there via Chinatown Bus Tour, which was an eye-opening experience. I will NEVER ever take a package tour again. Most of the time was spent on the bus, and when we actually reached the darned falls after 8 hours of driving, the tour guide actually said something along the lines of:
“Oh, it’s raining. If the rain doesn’t stop, then we cannot see the falls because you all might get sick after getting wet”. And I was stunned, cos I mean, hey, we came the darned Niagara Falls tour and then now this punk was telling us that we cannot see it because of drizzly rain. Gee, thankfully the rain did lighten after dinner and we got to see some of the falls. As for the falls, they were, er, okay. I mean, the thing is that, it looks nice and stuff, but maybe because I have seen the world’s two biggest fall systems, the Victoria Falls in Zambia and Foz do Iguassu in Brazil that I was seriously unimpressed by the Niagara. In fact I was disappointed because there were only a series of two major falls, with very few satellite in between. But mommy was happy, cos it was probably the first time she had seen falls so grand. But unfortunately, she decided, at one point, that the squirrels in the park were more interesting than the falls, so we ended up chasing the furry mammal for one of the two hours which were allotted to us for sightseeing. Which brings me to my next point, which is, 16 hours of traveling just for 2 hours at the falls? Hmm, NEVER AGAIN, the darned Chinatown bus.

We came back to NYC on the 14th, and that being a Sunday and mother’s day, warranted a special occasion dinner, so Mom and I, we went to Peter Luger’s Steakhouse, the steak that all other steaks in NYC are compared to. We were ultra lucky to get a seating at 2145, because the place is always incredibly packed and the last time Cherf ate there, she booked a solid month in advance. The steak there was awesome: Seared on the bone, the flesh was succulent and juicy, and oily but fresh tasting, everything a porterhouse should be. Mom was like, “wah, this is the best steak I have eaten”, and I have to agree with her, because it was really that good. We also ordered Bratkartoffeln, but it sucked because it was burnt. The other side of beefsteak tomatoes was thankfully good: GM Beef tomatoes which were super sweet, served with raw onions. Perfect fodder as a accompaniment to the steak. Mom left as a real happy mom that night.

The rest of the week was just too much of a blur: We basically ate at restaurants for every meal, and then I graduated, and we went to see so many sights, so I shall just put up a few highlights.

Graduation has been settled in the previous post, so have a look there; the rest of the stuff, I wish to share with you guys three things:

1. The Producers:
Shiyang, Brandon and myself, and our families, went to watch the Producers, a musical about these people whose vendetta is to create the world’s worst play. It was hilarious and so fun to watch; at one point mom was laughing till she had stitches at the side. And we were seated almost in front of the stage, so we could see everyone very clearly, and that added another dimension to the performance. And this whole thing was a major coup: We managed to get seats worth $110 for $26, so it was really good value too. Nice.

2. David Letterman Show
People wait for up to one year to get themselves on the David Letterman show. On Wednesday, after graduation, we were randomly walking on Time Square when this lady started asking us whether or not we wanted to watch DL live on that day itself. At first I was suspicious, because her deal seemed too good to be true: Watch DL with no strings attached. But as we spoke to her, we found out that there were some cancellations on that day, so they were setting their contingency plan into action. We were thus the lucky people chosen to be the replacement audience, so we did get to watch DL live, no strings attached. It was a crazy experience being on the show: Mr B. and I had it on our sacred list for aeons and now randomly we managed to score a major coup like that. The studio set was much smaller than I imagined, and it was actually very cozy. And the show was immensely entertaining. The guests for the night were Jennifer Garnet and Mary Cheny, Dick’s daughter who wrote a book about (sorta, I guess) her lesbianism. The first speaker was nice to look at, the second was very intellectual, dangst, sorta like my kind of girl. Sheesh… Hmmm…. Anyways, DL is definitely one of the highlights of mom’s trip, and certainly one of mine as well.

3. Pearl Oyster Bar
Rebecca Hanger’s Pearl’s Oyster Bar easily became one of my all time favourite restaurants in NYC. Mom and I went there randomly because she had this lobster craving, and I am glad we did cos the food was really good. We ordered one half of a 1 ½ pound lobster served chilled, which was the worst dish cos the lobster was way overcooked, and I thought even I could do better than that. But the rest of the dishes, marvellous: The fresh oysters were fresh and sweet, the fried oysters tasted heavenly, and then the best dish in the house: the lobster roll
Sweet lobster meat marinated in top grade mayo and served on a bun. It was so simple, but so good- a stroke of genius really- and mom and I were like going a little gaga at its taste.

When mom left, she definitely left happy, and wowza, this last one week in NYC has been everything the city is hyped up to be, and I am incredibly amazed, there and then, by the variety of experiences this small island of Manhattan can offer. Gosh, how, how how, can I leave NYC and not feel like I left pieces of myself behind?

Graduation, graduated, and, graduate.

2006-05-19T01:10:00.000-04:00

Ahh.... Finally

And here are more pics

Here's Alice the Malice, Juli and Me. We live on the same floor in Harmony.

Me, Shiyang, Jojo ( she's a major Chinese media celeb here in the US) and Mr B.

That's Mom and Me

That's Ernh and Cherfie, my Singaporean pals here at Columbia

And that's Zachary (my Shisha buddy) and Meself.

And right here, above, our pretty moms.

Snax Party

2006-05-18T01:50:00.000-04:00

Hey guys

sorry for the lack of updates; this week has been a whirl: Mom's here, I am trying to consolidate NYC and move out, plus, I graduated. But now, finally, I can take a short breather so here's what I have been up to for the past two weeks:

CU Snax Party
I finally threw in the towel for the Snack Shack on Tuesday 12 May, the day I took my last exam for many years to come. That, my friends, consolidated 56 sessions of hard, sometimes thankless, work. To celebrate a successful year, the Snack guys threw a party at Judd's on Wed, so here are some of the pics from the party:

This is Mr Arbiter (centre), my boss: At age 22, he's already the proud owner of two businesses.

And then this is Miss Kiat, a fellow Singaporean. She's the first actress friend that I have, so that's cool lah.

And right here is Gene, a member of the board and a solid pillar of support. On my left is Matt's GF (can't remember her name; Drank like a goldfish that night)

Here, we have Dave Barlett and Stan Tan. Dave is the most efficient and passionate night manager ever, and I always look forward to working with him cos he just has a knack for getting things done effectively and super quickly. Beside him is Stan, a fellow Singaporean who hangs out with the Snack guys a lot.

And then the person I will miss the most: Matt Stauffer, our most esteemed delivery person who fulfilled 8 orders past 3a.m. He's also my best friend here at Columbia ;) And we so rock. Always always rocking.

Sigh, and it's all auf wiedersehens from here

This is the shortest one year of my life. Ever.

Marc

2006

NYC

Next up: Niagara Falls

Sunday Brunch @ Marc's

2006-05-07T15:13:00.000-04:00

A few days back, I was just consolidating my life in C Park when I realised that the end is much nearer than expected.

I mean, Mom's coming next Friday; Monday and Tuesday I have exams; Tuesday and Wednesday nights I gotta work, and then Thursday I gotta work and get my room ready for mom, so basically the MARSEA Trio won't be having much more time to hang anymore (as three anyways; we'll be hanging with our parents when they come). So I decided to get Shiyang and Brandon down for brunch today, to celebrate the coming of the end of the year, and to to mark the last few days of our time here in NYC.
I spent three hours labouring in the kitchen, to prepare something that would come sincerely from within, and these were what I made:

For Starters:
Smoked Atlantic Salmon Roulade with mashed Avocado
Rice Wine and Honey Baked Chicken Wrapped with Steamed Chinese Cabbage Leaves

Then as the Main:
Pan-seared Filet Mignon with Red Wine or Mushroom Sauce
Served with Creamy Mash Potatoes and Buttered Long Beans

And then as Dessert,
Greek Yoghurt and Honey Stack, served on Grape Sorbet

Making these. though, made me consider the poignancy of my life. In the past four years my relationships with people have been characterised by transience. Not that I regret them, but now I must deal with the repercussions as I prepare to go home.

So wish me luck, guys, to tide through this huge trough.

Sheesh, life.... I don't know what to make of it sometimes. I really don't.

Marc
2006

Central Park Picnic

2006-05-05T23:19:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I finally cleared up all my chinese work, so I took a well-deserved breather. Making the most of the glorious day, Cherf and I went to Central Park to picnic and nap.

As the warm sun carressed my face, I tuned into Fountains of Wayne, shut my eyes, tanned and slept.

Ah, the simple pleasures of life....

Thesis, Done

2006-04-30T17:50:00.000-04:00

And so it is done.

16 040 words...
8 days of non-stop writing
Almost 100 hours without proper food or sleep
Severe arterial damage due to the consumption of junk food
And total whiteness due to the lack of sunlight.

But it's done.

16 040 in 8 days.

Heck, I don't even give a shit about the grade anymore.

How am I going to finish my thesis?

2006-04-24T10:40:00.001-04:00

4 more days, 5000 more words, and almost no research.

Gosh, now I am really scared....

Big Nick's

2006-04-23T15:09:00.000-04:00

Now that I'm in full-swing thesis mode, my daily schedule goes like this:

0930 Wake
1030 Write Thesis
1500 Lunch
1600 Write Thesis
2100 Go to Library (Cos light in room sux); Write Thesis
0200 Dinner somewhere nice
0430 Sleep

Normally for dinner, we would go to Roti Roll, which is an Indian bread place that serves the nicest filled pratas, and Tom's, the suckiest diner in NYC but the only one which stays open late at the heights. Occasionally, we would venture beyond 110th St, and last night we did. We went to Big Nick's, a NY institution open 24hrs a day. The menus there are so large (14 pages) that they come in booklet form, and they actually have a content page. And Nick's is just super for comfort food, esp at 3am...

They have this legendary burger called the Sumo Burger which weighs in at nearly half a kilo, but we had it the last time so we decided to try out new stuff. I had the Greek burger while Mr B had a Monte Cristo, which is a really American thing: Turkey melt on French toast... And we had this super processed nacho to share: Canned beans and Whiz Cheese on a bed of Out-of-a Packet nachos.

I mean, the food at Nick's is not that great, but it sure beats Tom's anytime. And we know that whenever we get out of the library cold and starving at 2,3 or 4 am, when everyone else shuts us out because they close, that Big Nick's will be there to welcome us in its warm embrace, feeding us with comfort food and making sure that we have the energy and fortitude to start the next day, no matter how hellish it is.

I like Big Nicks... I really do. And I love NYC.

Del Frisco's NYC

2006-04-21T12:54:00.000-04:00

This evening, my tutee*, Xiangdong, brought a few of his classmates and me to dinner at Del Frisco's, which is officially the poshest place I have been to in NYC.

The decor was grand, in fact a little extravagant, with balustrades, red carpets and wooded panels.

The place was also huge, probably because of its location on Sixth Avenue in Midtown (one of NYC's two main financial districts) which sees it entertaining many business people. In fact, more people in the restaurant were suited than not. So anyways, it was in this colossal setting that I would have the best steak I ever had in NYC (not that I tried many; but enough).

The Food

For starters, I had the Crab Cake with Cajun Lobster sauce. It was truly the gorgeousest crab cake.

I mean, most crabcakes have lots of Mayo, and sometimes a little potato. But this guy was just made of crab: thick chunky lumps of sweet crabmeat baked to perfection and served with a fragrant lobster sauce. I would have gladly eaten a hundred of them if I was entitled to. Dangst, I wish I was more thickskinned than I already am.

And then for the main course, I had a 16 oz Prime Ribeye, which turned out perfect... the second time round.

I ordered it medium rare, but the first time it came out, it turned out medium well, so I sent it back to the kitchen. The second time round, the steak was pretty much up to expectations. Upon slicing, blood oozed, but didn't spurt. And it was piping hot; no cold centre! (I know, but after being here for a few months, I have learnt to have no expectations for food). So anyways, it was a bloody good steak. And the taste: Juicy pieces of beef marbled with lots of velvety, meltingly good bits of fat, eaten with a just little pepper and rock salt flakes. So dreamy, so himmelich... And because of the booboo, the restaurant actually doubled our sides
and put it on the house, so that was awesome. But while the steak was perfect, the sides were kinda a let down, except for the onion rings, which was impressive cos it was stacked really high, like a bunch of hoola rings.

The creamed spinach was okay, not bad but not good. The potato au gratin was bad: The cheese used was American cheese I think and it turned out really bland. Plus the potatos were undercooked such that they were still hard, so it was really disappointing, because it looked so promising.

But nonetheless, everything together was a huge amount of food, and so they scored well on that.

After the ginormous main, I order an equally gargantuan dessert, the seven layer lemon cake, at the behest of the waitress.

Me: "I am torn between the Warm Chocolate Tarte and Parfait. Which would you recommend?"

Waitress: "Well, actually, we have a seven-layer cake. It's one of my faves. So delicious!".

Me: Hmm, 7 layered cake... Sounds big. "Ok sure. It better be so good though."

Waitress: Flashing a brilliant smile "Of course! It's one of my faves. "

OMG, bad choice, bad choice. It had as much flavour as a lemon pound cake, if not less. And at $12... it was so disappointing.

Nevertheless, despite that sad excuse of a dessert, I left the restaurant feeling really happy, because the meal in general, especially the steak and the crabcake, was really good. I think I might return to Del's one day, just to eat these, but probably on Prix Fixe Fridays when 3 courses go for $35.

An excellent night out, and I was sitting around a table with Xiangdong's mostly Chinese classmates, entertaining them immensely with my sophisticated use of a highly evolved form of Mandarin.

* If I haven't mentioned before, I am giving tuition to Xiangdong, a guy from China who is here to learn English. So I am sorta helping him learn English using my "excellent" mandarin as a bridge ;) Dangst, I feel so... Confucius.

New Swear Word

2006-04-20T21:44:00.000-04:00

Today NYC was burning, with the temp actually reaching about 27/28 degrees C.

So in between Chinese Foreign Policy and History of Modern China, we were sitting on the grass patch near the Steps, surrounded by tonnes of people, most of whom were undergraduates. We had a conversation that went like this:

On inter-generational wealth; Not in verbatim

Brandon: If I were rich, my kids are not going to get a single cent from me. They can dream of getting fat on my wealth.
Marc: Yeah, if my parents were rich then I would not have so much drive.
Brandon: I know. I have come to the conclusion that the undergrads in Columbia are all fat, spolit, f*cktards.
Marc: OMG, f*cktards! That's new.

Well, I am so happy that I came to Columbia because I get to learn something useful everyday. Gee, what an awesome school!

Marc
2006

Shiyang's Birthday

2006-04-18T20:42:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Shiyang had her brithday, so we used that as an excuse to take a break from the heart-stopping; brain-damaging, sleep-depriving sheeploads of work we have right now.

It was a truly great birthday, an amazing unwinder and typifiably NYC in style. And Shiyang dressed to kill that night, in her get up of pure white.

We met at 7.30 for dinner at Cafeteria, probably the poshest diner in NYC. The style was contemporary, the waiters all happy and the food, passably tasty. All of us had burgers (I mean, it's a diner, so what do you expect?), which was not too bad. The patty was quite thick and it had a lot of juice; it just didn't have a lot of beef flavour, for some reason. This was followed by Molton Chocolate Cake, which was redeeming. When it first came out I thought it was a joke, because the plate was so huge, but the cake itself was so small. But that mean little bugger packed a lot of flavour: the chocolate cake was very warm and was oozing with a burnt cocoa aroma; upon breaking, the chocolate lava literally poured out, making it so rich and full tasting- it was seriously splendid. The waitstaff were also excellent: They brought out, at our request, a sundae with a sparkler for the birthday girl, so that pleased everyone immensely. So, we all had a good dinner, mind you, in NYC, and we didn't have to sell arms and legs for it.

Cafeteria therefore = repeatable.

After that, we headed off to Madame X for drinks. Madame X is designed to look 17th century Euro-chi, a lot like The Scarlet in Singapore actually.

The lounge was a lot pretty, but also a lot small. We were thus relegated to the bar, which was quite uncomfortable. In the end, we stayed for only 30, and then we left for Crobar.

Crobar, as always, was superb. Dave waxman was playing that night, and his music was so so good. He started off with really clunky sounds, but that became more synthesised as the set wore on, and it was so good that I felt blended in with the music at certain points. Also, this was the first time I clubbed with Mr B and Shiyang together, properly. In the company of great friends, boosted by a cause for celebration, and made even more exciting by the fact that it was an illicit night out, Shiyang's birthday is going down in history as one of my best days out in NYC.

If you're reading this mam, thanks for everything.

Travel Plans

2006-04-07T18:35:00.000-04:00

After three months of endless Mon and Weds working for Snax and the East Asian Library, giving tuition and sorta cutting down costs, I proudly declare that I have FINALLY hit my minimum savings target which means, I can actually travel around Europe this summer before going back to Singers.

And if I am even more prudent in the next four weeks, I might even have enough conchshells leftover to go to India or Indochine before I erm, have fun with spiders.

So here's the deal:

The Grand Plan

May 21-30: Atlanta and perhaps, Florida (if all goes well)

June 5-30: Europe

Frankfurt-Cologne-Aachen-Amsterdam-Paris-London-Rome-Venice-Munich-Fuessen-Munich-Frankfurt-Aachen.

Those interested: I'll be in Aachen from 6-9 June, and then again from 26 to 30 June. And London, I'll be there from 14-17 June.

As for July: Things still up in the air, but I'm settling on one of these three:
1. India with Sheryl
2. Tibet with Willy or
3. Singers with you awesome guys.

Finally, things have become tangible.

Sweet.

Peace out,
Marc
2006

Mom's coming to Grad

2006-04-06T22:54:00.000-04:00

Whoopee, just got news that mom's gonna come for my grad.

:)

Marc
2006

I Love Myself Day

2006-04-06T22:23:00.000-04:00

There was a time long long ago when every thursday night was Movie Night. We would go to Mr B's for Moviefest. Those were the days of simple, unadulterated joy....

Pure Junk Food and Cheesy DVDs-
Papa John's Double Bacon and Pepperoni Pizzas with Transfats Garlic Dip, Potato Chips, Reese Peanut Buttercups, Poppycock Popcorn and fresh-baked cookies.

Sadly, now that term paper hell month is starting, this little institution of ours has come to a sad end. Auf Wiedersehen happy days of yore. Hello crappy, depressing and sleepless term paper pb month.

But I shall console myself by making Thursdays "I Love Myself" Day. After 11pm, NO WORK. I will eat ANYTHING and spend WHATEVER. Takeaways will be justified. No tidying up the room, or any washing up whatsoever. And to seal the deal I shan't brush my teeth before I sleep.

Marc

Spring is finally here

2006-03-29T17:53:00.000-05:00

Today was a scorching 20 degrees and everyone was out at play. And I really mean everyone. The steps of Low were practically un-navigable.

Ah, the smell of Spring in the air. Time to stock up on Tylenol.

Two good meals

2006-03-26T19:16:00.000-05:00

26 March:

In the California post, I was ranting about the goodness of a Johnny Rockets shake. Tonight, we managed to find a real, fully functioning JR right in the heart of NYC. And the milkshakes were...

:)

27 March:

Today, we went to Prune for lunch. Before I ate there, I didn't get the hype. Why did this little restaurant, located in the middle of nowhere, literally nowehere, have an incomprehensibly long queue of NY chichi types?

So we left our names with the people, and were told that we had to wait 1.5. At this point, although almost doubling over in hunger, Cherf and I decided that we should just eat there. To fill the interim time, we went in search of Pommes Frites, which was also in the neighbourhood. Sure enough, Pommes Frites was reminiscent of those fantastic fries you find in the Benelux countries. We had our gigantic "small" sized cone with satay, curry ketchup and parmesan peppercorn sauce and it was quite delicious. Although definitely not as good as those served in Europe (and this being NY, came in at twice the price), being able to find a little bit of Europe in the lower East Side was a quirky experience and that made everything agreeable.

We stayed for a while, and then headed back to Prune. Prune is very understated, designed more like a spartan dining room than anything, and its prices, considering that this is NYC, are reasonable. Brunch sets range from $11-$19 with coffee and tea coming in at around $3.

I ordered egg benedict with Swiss roesti and it was quite superb. The egg yolks broke beautifully over crisp toasted muffins and the Canadian bacon provided just the right amount of saltiness and smokiness to make this quite the perfect egg benedict. The roesti was okay-Marche does a much better version, but the quality of the egg benedict compensated comfortably.

However, that egg benedict itself cannot make me sit down in front of the computer and start ranting off about it. It was the pancake that Cherf ordered which sealed the deal. As you guys can already discern from my previous posts, pancakes are one of my favourite foods in States, and I have them about twice a week. I have always been looking out for good pancakes in NYC and normally when I get to any American brunch places, pancakes will be my order. However, this time round, though I saw pancakes on the Prune menu, I gave it a skip because the description was:

One oven baked pancake with pear served with real maple syrup-$13.

I mean, S$20 for one pancake? I decided to give it a miss. Further, I was in the mood for savoury today. Thankfully however, Cherf decided to go for it, and we're both glad she did.

When the pancake came, there was this robust fragrance that emanated from it. The scent was rich and buttery and full bodied, and was quite a stunner just in terms of smell. And although it was just one pancake, it was one large pancake. It was not huge; I probably will have to eat two to feel remotely full, but it was not small and Cherf could not finish it. When it was placed on the table, I looked longingly at it and Cherf cut a piece of it for me. Drenched in maple syrup, I put that little bugger of a pancake in my mouth and the taste that subsequently developed impressed me so much that I was literally stunned. You see guys, people always talk about NYC as being a great place to eat and stuff, but sadly, good food places are hard to come by. I mean, seriously, the restaurant scene back home can easily beat NY hands down a a few times over. NYC has its superstars, but the general quality of food leaves much to be desired. But when I ate that Pear Pancake, my impression changed. The taste of that gorgeous piece of dough: Crispy on the outside, yet moist on the inside, with each bite bursting with an intense pear-aroma. Eating that pancake was a complete sensory experience. So good, so warm and so superlative.

S$20 for a pancake? Whatever.

And two good things: After eating the pancake,

1.Now I am starting to believe that maybe NYC's dining scene is not so bad after all so that's swell.
2. Prune is rocketing straight up to the top of my list of to-repeat brunch places.

Ihop won't be so lonely anymore.

2 good meals in the span of 15 hours. NYC has hope after all....

Scratching an itch

2006-03-25T12:18:00.000-05:00

Doing my Chinese presentation now and so I created this visited countries map.

In keeping up with my reflectory mood:

In the past four years, I feel lucky to have been able to visit many amazing places... Entertaining passengers from Lagankhel to Lalitpur; sleeping under the stars in Marrakech; galloping across the plains of Terelj; becoming vegetarian after the bus ride to Chintetche (for a bit anyways), feasting at the kelongs of Batam, getting lynched in Panama; romancing the old cities of Europe, breakfasting at Neal's Yard in CGard and falling in love with suburbia in the US of A.

Now, as I am sitting here having to do all these work, my mind goes out to the world. Since I am completely immobile now (lest I wanna flunk out of school), the next best thing is to think about future plans. So here are my plans in the visible horizon. And if anyone wants to come along, please gimme a shout, especially for the India part:

For the next three months:

1. Atlanta (End May)
2. Europe (6 June to 30 June: Hopefully Aachen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin, Dam' Dam' Amsterdam', London and Oxford but probably just my beloved Aachen and a couple of days in London.)
3. India. Or Indochine. Or Redang. (In the month of July; Max budget incld. airtix S$1k)

Must...scratch...itch.

Marc,

2006

...

2006-03-25T02:38:00.000-05:00

Six weeks left, so much love to give, but so much fear and angst.

What should the next move be?

I love my crisis-driven life, as it whirls me by on Chemical Brother's "The State We're In".

Transient Life

2006-03-24T17:11:00.000-05:00

This week has been quite depressing for me, because the inevitability of my return is drawing closer day by day, gradually but inexorably, and I am conscious of it.

Of course, I look forward to going back, because most of you and my family are back home, and predictable, stable and palpable life can only begin when I am back.

But at the same time, I feel melancholic because I will be leaving people behind, pieces of myself which I can never recover, because the context in which these relationships are embedded will slowly change through time over space, and my memories will ebb and probably fade, either in vividness or intensity. Poignant regret is gnawing at me, and I feel terribly burdened.

But I would rather have lived and died, right?

Marc
2006

V for Vendetta

2006-03-19T03:16:00.000-05:00

Just came back from watching V for Vendetta and I just wanna urge all fo you to catch it because it is so so good, especially for those of you in London.

Conspiracy theories, revolutions and lots of wit. Ultra leftist I agree. But super nice.

Watch it or regret it.

Serious.

Links to more photos and a chance to experience NYC uncensored

2006-03-18T15:03:00.000-05:00

Hey guys

I cannot put as many photos up on this blog as I want to, so please check out Brandon's site in the Links Section for he has loads of pictures there, including those of good ol NYC. The photos he has are updated pretty regularly.

Additionally, NYC is the home of Rap and Hip Hop. The angst and anti-establishment nature of this great music has its roots in the R-Cities of Harlem and Washington Heights. At http://www.hawkworld.net/vortex/ghetto.html, you can have a preview of what NYC residents do in their homes to make them great counterculture popstars.

What you hear is a conversation between a mother and her child. Look out for highly exciting sound bites like:

Son: "You fu*kin' b!tch, mom!"
Mom: "You muthafu*ker"

Enjoy it guys, enjoy.

Spring Break 2006

2006-03-18T12:50:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, long lack of updates will be corrected by this post. Just came back from California yesterday and I must say that the trip was superfantastisch. I mean, if you guys know me, you'd know that whenever I travel I scrimp on every damn thing, eat bread and cheese, drink tap water, walk wherever I can and steal ketchup from Macdonalds. But this time round, I went with Posh People and had no choice but to get a taste of the extravagant life. Now I am forever ruined. Yes, I am broke, and yes, I will work myself to death to pay for the sins I have committed. But this was one crazy trip.

We started our 5 day trip in Los Angeles, which was entirely up to expectations. The streets were palm lined, eveything was easy and clean, and it was really just like in the movies: Lots of glitz and crap and neon lights and pot holed roads and vintage cars. On the very day we arrived, we hit this place called the third street promenade which is reminiscent (to me anyways) of Noosa heads and other Sunshine coast places: lots of nice mosaic tiles, buskers, landscaped gardens and brightly painted shops. The smell of coffee wafted through the cafes and permeated everything. Although it was cold, buskers were out in full force, everyone looked tanned and smilish, and the girls were wearing things not suited for cold weather. Awesome. Then in the evening, we went to Daniel's friend's place for a Luau, which was enjoyable. We basically had a bbq and the feeling was so familiar it felt unreal...

The next day, we drove down to Las Vegas and I have to say, Las Vegas is like nothing I have seen before. Driving through miles of nothing in the Mojave desert, seeing only succulents and Joshua Trees and remembering Miss Jebamoney's and Elwin's lectures on pediplanation for almost four hours, we suddenly saw this mass of buildings basically erupting from great beyond that is Las Vegs. What we saw there made us wince in pain and delight. Everything was extravagant to the point of being being obscene. We saw Paris, we saw Luxor, New York, and of course, Venice,IRs which are even more beautiful than their originals. Sigh, how I wish Paris really looked like "Paris". But anyways, the glitz of Las vegs is seriously astounding-the only thing is the kind of reaction it garners from you-either delight or pure disgust, or a weird mixture of both.

One thing I am glad of is that Singapore is building only two IRs, and that they are not placed side by side. Splendor is only splendid if it makes something stand apart from the crowd. In Vegas, because every damn hotel shines through in some ways, they all look and feel the same after a while. But each resort was definitely beautiful, moneyed and exciting. The kinds of shows and people they attract make for a very vibrant scene. I mean, gaudy and trashy as it is, Vegas is electrifying.

On the second night, we went to this bar called Ghost Bar which sat atop the Palms Hotel. From there, we could could get a bird's eye view of Las Vegas and that was pretty awesome. And the hotel that the bar sat atop was one whereby the lights that lit it up change colours every few minutes, very much like the ipod bar at Stadium cove and that was most excellent.

And in Vegas, you cannot not eat right? When we were there, we had buffets two nights in a row. I mean, normally, you would expect, from hearsay and urban legends and Discovery travel and Adventure, that Las vegas offers fantastic buffets and food. But food was such a let down. The prices, in terms of numbers, were as high as those in Singapore, except that now we are paying in USD for spreads with no lobsters or scallops or other premium stuff, even at the most extravagant hotels:Oh, those b$#%@... And the four of us always ended up with less than an hour for the buffet. Sigh...

How can you tell who's NOT Singaporean?

Alice: Hi "Paris" Restaurant, what time does the buffet close?
Lady in Fake 1600s Parisian Clothes (in Filipino accent): We close at 10, but the buffet spread will only be taken down at 1045.
Marc: Well guys, it's 9:42 so I think we should eat here tomorrow.
Alice: But an hour is a lot of time for a buffet!
Brandon: Yeah an hour is good.
Marc: Er....

We ended up grabbing obscene amounts of food at 1044, piling the table with more than 20 plates of dessert. Our serving lady freaked out and we caught her talking to the manager while pointing to our table several times after. And you would think that we would have learnt our lesson. But the next day, we went to the Bellagio at 9 and they cleared the food at 10. The horror of it all, OG, the horror. Alice became so sick she could no longer look at food, Brandon almost died of vomitting, Shiyang was less bouncy than usual with her overexpanded stomach and I could no longer form connections between food and pleasure, which means bad. That said if you wanna have a buffet in Vegas, go for the one at the Bellagio over Paris (if these are your choice sets) because while it is $2 pricier, the seafood is a lot freasher and they actually serve sea bass. Just stay far far away from the Pasta Counter.

Ironically, the best meals I had in Vegas were at two equally excellent establishments: the first is the perennial favourite: International House of Pancakes. As I said, I fell in love in Ihop ever since I realised the embodied anticipation that Mr Ramseger imbued in me over the three years I was in London through his relentless regaling of the glorious food they serve there. Ihops are so good, so delicious and so affordable that everyone should have breakfast 24 hours a day. Melting butter emplaced on soft, fragrant and fluffy buttermilk pancakes drizzled with butter pecan syrup, served up with a side of crispy bacon and hashbrowns with their edges burnt to a lightish-dark brown, with two eggs sunny side up and bottomless coffee...

The other thing worth eating in Vegas is ironically fast food. Unbelievable but true. In-N-Out Burgers is unlike any of the fast foods I have tasted. The beef patty just tasted beefy, without the chemical crap that the other fast food places add to their patties. The tomatoes were huge and succulent, and the grilled onions imparted a very robust fragrance to the burger. And the accompanying freedom fries were shredded on the day itself, giving it a very light, fresh taste. And the milkshakes were rich and thick. Gosh, how can I ever eat other fast food again? Dangst the fact that In-N-Out can only be found in California and Nevada. Darnicles.

That very evening, we went back to LA in search of Hollywood. We managed to see Rodeo Drive, which basically is a cluster of very posh shops set in very posh surroundings, and then erm, some other stuff (at this point, I was so tired I was totally off I had no idea what happened after).

The next day in LA, we went to the Orange County. The OC is ueber schoen. More than anything, it reminded me of east coast Aussielia, with nicely manicured gardens and promenades, palm trees, vibrant cafes and indie shops. We had lunch at this place called the Beachhouse in Laguna Bay and we were seated on a deck directly overlooking the beach, and that was an incredible experience. The food was passable, but the views were worth a million bucks. And we managed to get slightly tanned. Whoopee!

After, we had Johnnie Rockets Milkshake for dessert. Initially, I was skeptical of the quality of the dessert because JR is one of those chain things and as I thought about it flashes of Billy Bombers with their horrific milkshits kept appearing in my mind (since Billy's does look like Johnnie's).However, the chocolate peanut butter shake is ..... so so good . If they made anything like this in Singers I would pay Dylan's prices (S$16.20) for a cup of it I swear. Ooh, why does Cali food have to taste so much better than NY food?

After Laguna, we went to the beach at the Ritz for some suntanning and frisbee. I mean, I always thought that frisbee was a (sorta) rough sport: lots of diving into the sand, jumping around and yes, Shiyang even attempted to slice my balls by throwing the friss between my legs. But Brandon Paladino profoundly changed my impression of that. As he caught the frisbee, he gracefully executed pirouettes and other refined moves reminiscent of Swan Lake. His graceful leaps, flowing hands and serene expression made this frisbee game more like Ballet by the Beach. It was so beautiful that by the end of the game, I literally was crying with great joy. Oh, the happiness at watching something so beautiful. Ahhh....

On the very last day, we went in search of Hollywood LA and we saw the Kodak theatre where the oscars were held, and located the Hollywood sign just for the bragging right. :)

LA and Las Vegas were nice, and I got alot more out of this trip than I expected to. So there guys, this basically sums up everything. Hopefully, I'll be able to post accounts of my previous trip to Panama soon, in consideration of the copious amount of work I have right now to clear before Cancun.

Wish me luck.

Spaeter
Marc
2006
New York

I hate snow

2006-03-02T11:37:00.000-05:00

Two nights ago it snowed when we were delivering for CU Snacks, making us cold and stiff. As we rode through the darned snow shower, the wind and the speed of the bike made the snow so sharp, slicing up our uncovered faces and causing our skins to tear in the searing dryness of the frosted air. Bleeding lips and frozen toes, that's what delivery guys do for dough.

And then today, March 02 at 1140am, it is snowing outside. The snow is nice and flakey, the "Hey come out and play with me" kinda snow. And I am distracted, because my heart is out there. Yet in 5 I have a History of Modern China II Midterm and I am unprepared for it. Screwballed.

Darned snow. Darned snow angels. Darned snowmen. Darned Midterms.

Blog War

2006-02-24T03:18:00.000-05:00

Sunday, Shiyang and I went to Chinatown at Flushing. Because that's really far off from Manhattan, no one really goes there. Shiyang was there just a few times, and it was my first. So why this boring part right? Well, because I have an incident to relate.

Shiyang: "Marc, I hear that there is a really good Yang Rou Chuan near Hei E Supermarket"
Marc : "Awesome. Let's go there'

10 minutes later:

Marc: "Hey Shiyang, are you sure you know where it is?"
Shiyang: "Let me go ask someone".

At this point, Shiyang walked forth. She passed numerous people, and headed purposefully towards a mama shop. And then she asked:"Do you have any idea where the Hei E Supermarket is?" in the most flawless Chinese.

Now, Shiyang walked past all these Chinese people yeah, walked passed all the Chinese storekeepers. Towards the mama shop.

And the guy inside was one hundred percent unmistakably Indian. So Indian that you would expect to see flower garlands hanging on his window and Hindin music in the background, which were absolutely present.

At this point, Shiyang casually, ernestly asked him with a straight face, posture unchanging:

"Ni Zhi Dao Hei E Shi Chang Zai Na Ma?"

The the Indian guy asked: "Lotto? How many?"

I started spasming with laughter at this point. Because she thought: Hey this is Chinatown. everyone must speak Chinese here.

Well, I am glad no one spoke to me.

So the moral of the story is, yes, so not funny. But here's the challenge. Who ever walks up to an obviously non Chinese person and speaks Chinese with a perfectly genuine straight face and not laugh, lemme know. I will glorify you.

Awesome possum.

PS: Heehee, who has got the upper hand now muah ha ha ha ha!

I hate Mondays

2006-02-23T20:34:00.000-05:00

Am now waiting to go for Movie Night Thursdays, and I wanna let all my stress out.

Every week, I dread the coming of Monday because it would symbolise the start of hell for me.
10 hours of work and school, and I am totally totally beat. The only thing that's worse is Wednesday, because Wednesdays I work longest. But actually hmm wednesdays are not as bad as Mondays because the end of Wednesday symbolises the start of my weekend, so...

Anyways, just to share with you guys what my Monday and Wednesdays are like:

Mondays

0730 Wake
0900-1100 Work at the East Asian Library
11-1300 Chinese Lesson
1300-1400 Admin
1400-1600 Jog @ Central park in semi preparation for Spring break and to ensure that when I return to NS I won't die.
1600-1830 : Language exchange
1900-2030: Do work esp Chinese homework where I have to write my Zhou Ji every Mon and Wed, and read for my colloquia.
2100-0330L: Work at Cu Snacks. Well, we come all night.

Wednesdays:
0930: Wake
1100-1300 Chinese
1300-1600 Work at the East Asian Library
1630-1730 Finish Chinese Zhou Ji
1730-1800 Do reading for 1810 class; grab quick bite
1810-2010 Colloquium
2010-2030 Rushed dinner
2100-0330: work for CU Snacks.

Super!

:)

Zzz

Year 2005 in Review

2006-02-18T12:21:00.000-05:00

2005 has been a big year for me. In retrospect, it was especially intense, marked by key milestones. Here's my year in retrospect.

January

Vienna was beautiful around New Years, because the Weihnachtsmarkts were still bustling with activities. This is in front of the Rathaus, which was enhanced by an intense blue light that gave it an aura of mystery. I was there with Axed, and I cannot deny that it was romantic.

February

Chinese New Year's at Cat's. It was a huge hit because of the massive amount of food and good company. And the Huo Guo warmed everyone up on this cold cold night.

March

Dublin was dreary and wet, but it gave the city a kind of poetic, melancholic feel. And because of the moisture, everything was very green, and I could not stop thinking about leprechauns.

In the picture is a spike. This is the 'Monument to Light' and it is the most awesome sculpture ever. It gave the city an amazing amount of room and character, and I spent hours just wondering around its base.

April

Was back in Singapore for Easter Break, and the family went to the Tree Top walk at Kent Ridge. It was really fun, with Beng (and OMG Mom too!) deciding to act cute.

May The Last Supper. Us guys had our last dinner as school came to a close. Well people, you are all wicked. And the memories of the 3 years at UCL, I'll hold dear in my heart.

June

Tallinn, Estonia was the very first stop in our Transsib trip. The sun never set, and that was a crazy experience because we could never tell what time it was. Tallinn looks right out of a fairy tale, and the city's tourism board fully exploited that by stationing people around the city centre.

Us:"What are you wearing? Is this the traditional costume of the Estonian peoples?"

Girl in costume: "My master the wizard sent me here."

Us:"Er, Crap."

July

The final leg of my transsib trip with Cat, Zerhx and Chris. This trip took us from Tallinn to St Petersburg, Moscow, Irkutsk, Livstyanka, Ulaan Baatar, Terelj, Er Lian and then Beijing.

Visiting Beijing was an eye-opening experience. I felt really proud to be of Chinese heritage when I was there, and this really gave me to impulse to wanna pursue Chinese studies for my Master's. So there, course of life changed. And the food was ueber amazing, and the Beijingers, friendly. I seriously hope to return someday. And the Beijing beauties, awesome! ;)

August

The CBD remains my favourite part of Singapore, and whenever I look at a picture of it I long for home. And of course, meeting up with the guys is always the biggest thing I look forward to all year long.

September
Columbia University is beautiful. The people are cool, the courses are okay, and NYC is awesome.

October My first, and hopefully not the last, time celebrating Halloween. We dressed up as a variety of bastardised scary creatures. I was a wizpire and ooh did I get meat.

November
Brandon invited Shiyang and I to Atlanta for Thanksgiving.

One month before thanksgiving

Mr B.: "Hey Marc, do you want to come to Atlanta for thanksgiving?"

Marc: "Er, I'm not sure. I want to go skiing. Skiing is fun! Or maybe California to get some sun. Or maybe to Mexico."

Mr B.: "Okay. Just let me know if you want to come."

Marc (secretly) Please forget to ask me again, so I won't have to say no and make you think that I am an asshole.

Just like life's little twists and turns, going to Atlanta became possibly the most crucial milestone in my life thus far. The irony of it all huh?

Thanksgiving dinner was an ginormous quantity of novel and delectable food. Till now still I cannot forget the taste of sweet potato casserole topped with a caramelised pecan crust. And the company was ueber kuehl.

And Atlanta had all this good food and open spaces. This trip helped me put NYC, and the US of A, into perspective.

Thanksgiving 2005: Burned into memory.

DecemberNew Year's Countdown at Time's Square.

Unbelievably

cold, exciting and fun.

with the

Awesomest

pals in the world...

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1

"Huh? Where's the ball?"

Eventful year huh?

On the beauty of Beijing

2006-02-17T04:14:00.000-05:00

I was just randomly thinking about the coolest things that happened this week, and Shiyang's expression whenever I mentioned this came to mind.

So, what is cute with this picture?

Chinese beauties. We lucky Chinese guys.

NYC Snow In

2006-02-17T03:06:00.000-05:00

12 Feb 2006, NYC was heavily snowed in. Apparantly, snow reached a record breaking 66cm, so it was pretty awesome. The entire city took on a different hue that day: It was clean looking, fresh and definitely festive. Even the rats stayed home to enjoy the day.

As the snow collected outside, I could not resist the temptation to go out to Central Park. I mean, the snow was so ridiculously high the view outside my window became half obstructed by the massive snow pile. So Cherf, Peishan, Decky and I decided to head out to CPark, and it was a most excellent choice.

NYC was truly beautiful that day, and although it was freezing like hell, it was an experience like no other. We were jumping around in the snow, making snow angels and just diving into the ground because the snow could cushion our fall.

We later had brunch at Kitchenette, which rounded up a pretty good day. On the way back we stopped by Columbia, and the whole damn place was more crowded than on a normal school day, cos everyone was out. The steps outside the Low Library became a snowboarding site of sorts, and the scene was totally crazy.

Pics: Top to Bottom
White Summer; Butler Library; Cherf and I @ Great Hill in Harlem Central Park; Central Park at Night; Brandon goes Cyrogenic

I got back at about 4pm, and then Mr B. called to ask if I wanted to go to C Park again. So it was totally cold, I was totally wet, and my ankles turned blue cos I chose to wear shorts in the snow.

And to that, because my brains were frozen, I said, "Hmm, why not?"

Awesome Possum.

So I changed into long pants, put on my gloves, and went off to Central Park again. This tme round, instead of going to the park around Harlem, we went to the lake and the Great Lawn. The Great Lawn part was especially fun cos we destroyed all pristine patches of snow and made snow meteorites as we tried our best to make snow angels. And while it was supposed to be completely dark, warm orange light pollution bathed the great lawn with an orange glow, which made the scene all the more picturesque.

After that, we chanced upon this slope where people were sledding, and being really lucky, we found a perfectly usable sleigh at the sled dump, so we spent the rest of the evening tobagganing. Even Brandon's realised attempt to kill a kid could not diminish the excellence of the evening.

And to top it all off, we went for dinner at taco bell. Grande Meal, mind you, Grande Meal.

When New York Snowed-In, I had one of the best days ever. Gee, I guess the freaking slush is all worth it huh?

Copacabana, Ipanema and Botafago

2006-02-03T12:17:00.000-05:00

Copacaba, Ipanema and Botafago, three of the most precious pieces of prime real estate in the world, fronted by people speckled beaches, so full that you could barely see a piece of sand. Lots of beautiful Muitos in their bikinis, a riot of colours, a bustle of activities, riveting energy that is at once infectious and nerve-wrecking.

When I was there, these were all true!!! Look at the pictures. All the souls lying around everywhere, in their bright and attractive swimming gear. I really enjoyed my party with them. Seriously, I learnt so much about the Brazilian culture and stuff whilst spending my day at the beach with all these once people.

From top to bottom: Copacabana, Botafago and Ipanema beaches.

Whoopee, I so love Rio.

Brazil Trip Part One

2006-01-29T15:31:00.000-05:00

Okay guys, sorry for the long long delay. I have procastinated but now I am sitting here and getting down to it, to redeem myself. As promised, here is a photo update of my Brazil trip. I shall do it in a few parts; this is part one of X and will specifically cover Rio, the first part of my trip.

As I mentioned, Rio, according to the tourism board, is supposedly an incredible place-lots of hot Bikini Girls, Jesus and Sugarloaf Mountain right? Well, unfortunately for me, Rio pretty much sucked because of the weather. Blimey, but this is one place I shall never return to again, because I seriously did not enjoy it. For one, the city was way too sprawled to do on foot, then, there was the lack of a sense of safety to the person, and then most fundamentally, my experience in io was so marred by the bad weather. Seriously, the trip got off on such a bad start I was wondering why I chose to leave good ol' NYC for. Well, I'll let you guys get a feel of what I mean:

This is what people expect of Rio: See Jesus below-

Well, for my trip, this was what He looked like most of the time, and personally I think these two photos can more than describe my disappointment with this supposedly fantastic city.

I was supposed to spend four days in Rio, but in the end I cut short my trip to two days because it was raining incessantly there, and the forecasts weren't promising.

So, on the first day, rather than fly off to Pao de Acucar and Cristo Redentor, I went to the CBD instead. The guide books, and the people I met and spoke with tended to give me vibes that Rio's CBD would resemble Johannesburg, as opposed to say, Lisbon or NYC. Fortunately, I found the CBD pretty fun and safe. In Centro, there was this bustle in the air; all sorts of people- the rich office types, the poor, the mavericks and the tourists were all mingling in the shops and streets and restaurants; some groups were huddled in little allies, observing others silently; some were pushing drugs; you could see pickpockets at work here and there. At once, I felt safe and scared, excited but also filled with a sense of trepidition; cautious but also wanting to explore. The city centre is indeed a place of contradiction, where the old meets the new,; where the rich face off the poor; and where you could seek a sense of security in the masses even as you felt awkward as people started brushing past you (sometimes, to pickpocket you or to knife your bag). It was quite fun. And of course, the rain only added more fun to all that by creating a 'let's dodge puddles of murk' scenario in which every step I took was Super Mario style exciting:

Marc's Day of fun in Rio Centro

Rio's CBD:

I liked the diversity of buildings in Rio: How the old is juxtaposed with the new; and how beside a derelict building, you can find a spanking new building. This building especially captivated me. In a sense, I felt that it conveyed the essence of the Rio centro: Old but new; derelict yet full of life.

And then yeah, a few of us decide to go for mass in the CBD. Mass was fun!

Right now, my wish list

2006-01-25T13:42:00.000-05:00

Dangst, I was just thinking about the things I really want right now, because I am so broke that I must carefully ration out the things I can indulge in.

I am now working as a delivery person for www.cusnacks.com so those of you in Columbia, pop by sometime, order something and leave me a big tip! And of course, the bigger the tip, the erm, more interesting the delivery. I am working from 9pm-3am, mondays and wednesdays, and maybe on sundays 8-12 as well.

So, wish list:

1. A new shirt, preferably striped
2. An ipod video.
3. Springbreak either in California or Cancun.
4. A trip back to Atlanta before I fly off, this time, to properly indulge in the nightlife and restaurants
5. Visit Europe once more before I go back for seven years.
6. And yes, for a long time, I have wanted "These Nights" by Rene Amesz, but this can only be purchased in the UK at www.chemical-records.co.uk . Sigh, how I wish someone would give it to me as erm, a friendship day present, sigh.

So I am gonna slog my ass off for these. Yes I must.

Marc
2006
25/1/06

Well, so a blog.

2006-01-19T11:55:00.000-05:00

Hey guys

This blog, well, it's for you. These years, I have countlessly regaled you all with stories of my life abroad, whether or not you wanted to listen to them. So I thought, well, it would be nice if you guys can see some pictures too. So yup, here's the blog, here are the pics. I am not gonna update this regularly, but you will know when I do.

:)

Marc
2006
NYC

A little belated I know, but now is better than never.