Me, Myself & I Weekend

Saturday night I was bored at home so I decided to go to town and walk around. I wanted to get a haircut but the Salon I wanted to try at Plaza Singapura was already closed when I got there at 8pm.

So I just trooped to Da Paolo Gastronomia in Paragon to try out their beef pie or pasta. I haven't had dinner and I sure was hungry haha. Too bad they had no more beef pie so I had the lasagna instead. I sat down at one of the benches along Orchard and ate my lasagna. It was very good, though a bit sour and too beefy tasting. Maybe a little sweet cheese could have done the trick.

Anyway, I just took in the sights and ambiance of Orchard. Sometimes I find it therapeutic to be alone as it makes you ponder and think about your life. Cheesy huh. But seriously, it made me realize how lucky I am. This past week was hell for me at work. Seriously, I have never been so stressed and agitated by work. This "alone time" made me connect with myself again.

I also wanted to get in some exercise so I walked from Plaza Singapura to Far East then dropped by Cold Storage to buy my weekly grocery. Then I walked all the way to City Hall MRT lugging along my grocery bags. By the time I got to the MRT it was 11.30pm and I sure was tired but happy to have squeezed in some exercise.


Today I finally got my haircut at a neighborhood salon. Then for dinner, Aileen and I cooked Spinach Fettucine with cheese beef sausages, cheddar cheese, button mushrooms and green olive pesto. I actually promised to cook a meal for Aileen & Bill since they have been cooking so much lately and I wanted to return the favor from getting free meals haha.

I intially planned to stir in some mint in the pasta but Aileen said it might ruin the taste so we came up with this brilliant idea of making Mint Iced Tea. I never realized what a big difference the mint would make to the iced tea, it was so refreshing!

So that was my weekend. Tomorrow is the start of another work week. Ugh. Next weekend, March 1-3, I'll be going to Tioman Island to Malaysia with Zach. A much needed break that I am so looking forward to. I'm crossing my fingers that Salang Beach in Tioman looks exactly how it looks like in pictures, or even better.

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Jumbo Seafood, Riverside Point (2)

Valentine's Day here in Singapore was really busy, I guess like anywhere else in the world. Whether with a loved one, family or friends, It's always nice to celebrate this day of L-O-V-E.

So here we are finding an excuse to pig out hehe. Zach was the one who chose Jumbo so that pigging out wouldn't be as guiltful since we were craving for seafood.

There were sooo many people at Jumbo and we were actually lucky that when we got there, there was an available table inside, when most of the other bigger groups had to have their name waitlisted.

Zach chose this appetizer "Donut with Seafood paste" (S$8). I didn't like it. It tasted funny, like fish balls wrapped with bread and sesame seed then fried till crispy. I do like fish balls but not this way. Maybe I'm just not used to the taste. Aside from that, it was super oily.

I wanted to have plain white rice but Zach insisted on "Seafood Fried Rice" (S$ 12). Another oily dish. To be honest, that's what I don't like with chinese food. Oil is everywhere, even in the stir-fried veggies. This wasn't the best seafood fried rice I've ever tasted either.

I chose the "Deep Fried Red Tilapia" (S$ 28). This is one of my favorites. The fish was super crispy you can actually eat the head, not that I did haha. It's funny though, when the waitress served this, she started to break the meat apart before I could take a picture of it. It originally looked like a butterfly with the meat spread like wings. But I know in chinese restos they usually do help in serving the food by slicing the fish or duck or whatever.


I already featured this in my first post on Jumbo - "Cereal Prawn" (S$ 20). I just learned that if you had it deshelled it would cost you like 2-4 bucks more. But I didn't mind because I really wanted the cereal to coat the shrimp's meat. This is still my ultimate favorite!

And the star of the meal - "Chili Crab" (S$ 38). This was actually very expensive crab but it was well worth it. There was so much meat in the humongous claws and this is actually good for 4 people. I normally don't like the trouble of fishing out the meat of the crab but I enjoyed this for a change.

The aftermath. Hahaha. Looked like a bomb went off on the table. Yum Yum Yum! Dinner came up to $130.18 including taxes. Very expensive for my standards actually but it's ok we normally don't eat lavish meals if there's no occassion.

No rating for Jumbo since this is already my 3rd or 4th time hehe. But food was still very good. The service was also great. The waitresses were aplenty and they were very attentive, always making sure to fill your tea cups.

30 Merchant Road

# 01-01/02 Riverside Point

Singapore 058282

Tel: 6532-3435 Fax: 6538-3433

Business Hours:

Lunch 12.00pm - 2.30pm

Dinner 6.00pm - midnight

"Live, Love & Eat!"

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Slumdog Millionaire (100th Post!)

Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?". But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating. Jamal proves his innocence by telling the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to each one of the game show's questions. When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out...
http://sg.movies.yahoo.com/Slumdog+Millionaire/movie/15064/

Can you believe it?! This is my 100th post! Wow. 8 months later and this blog is still alive. To think lately I've been quite lazy in updating my blog. But it's also because work has pretty much preoccupied most of my time. Whatever free time I had was kept for sleep.

So I watched this movie last week. My expectations were sky high because of all the hype and awards this movie has won. My verdict - it was ok. Like what Simon is fond of saying, I wasn't jumping up and down but it wasn't bad at all. It was just ok.

Admittedly though the cinematography was astounding and the story is really unique. I think more than anything, what made the movie garner so many distinct awards is because of the fact that a bollywood movie finally made it big in the US box office. I think we all know how big the movie indsutry is in India. I heard there are like hundreds of movies year round.

I was just wondering why they chose "Who wants to be a millionaire?", I mean this game show was famous when I was still in school - at least 7 or 8 years ago. Or is it still famous in India?

My rating for Slumdog - 3/5.
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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

"I was born under unusual circumstances." And so begins "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man's life can be.
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809785152/info

Once again, I'm the odd one out. Despite the movie having raked in an outstanding $119,950,285 in the US Box Office (according to yahoo movies), I found the movie curiously flat and boring. I just didn't get it. Yes it was an unusual love story with the aging-backwards twist to it but what's the point? There were so many loopholes in the movie that left me dumbfounded. I so wanted the 2hour and 47min movie to end because I knew what was going to happen anyway.

Yes the effects and visuals were stunning but I would like to quote Todd McCarthy (Variety) when he said "what technology gives, it can also take away". For superficial viewers who love CGI effects, the movie is undoubtedly superb. But for people like me who look for value in a storyline, I found it so-so. The movie was so caught up in the "aging" angle that it lost the human touch and connection that I was hoping for. I was expecting to be moved and emotionally-affected by the movie but instead I was left dry and nonchalant.

I don't have much to say because I stopped paying attention an hour and a half into the movie. I wasn't so curious after all.

My rating for this movie is 2/5.
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Fitness Blog #5

Someone commented in my blog asking what's happened to the last "F" for "Fitness"? I wanted to bitch slap her and say "Mind your own effing business!". Then I realized I have really taken the "fitness" aspect of this blog for granted. Zach also told me why do I bother paying hundreds of dollars a month for my gym membership when I'm not using it. Darn it, I didn't have an answer to that.

I read this article that Oprah wrote on how & why did she allow herself to gain back 40lbs when she was in tiptop form just 4 years ago. It really comforts me to know that even one of the richest people in the world has the same insistent problem as mine. Weight Problem. I always tell myself, if I were rich I probably wouldn't be fat because I could hire my own chef, have my fat sucked out, have my own personal trainer, etc etc etc. But I guess even Oprah finds it difficult. And like Oprah, I also gained back 40lbs (18.18kg) in the past 3 years.

So staying true to what I wrote in my 2009 resolutions, I will try my darndest best to keep fit this year. After some prodding from my cousin Aileen, I bought a new mountain bike. Just a cheap one but it works. In the past 4 days that I've had it, I've already biked 15kms twice. One time even up and downhill. And I've also gone to the gym twice last week. Ha! Now who's the man?! hehehe.

Credits to http://www.flickr.com/photos/goatsfoot/2519275714/

Singapore has got to be the most biker-friendly country in the world. There are bike-parking terminals in all MRT stations and some towns even promote sharing of sidewalks for pedestrians and bikers. That's besides the fact that road conditions here are perfect with no single pothole in sight. Plus, there are mountain biking trails and park connectors everywhere. I love it!

So biking is our new hobby! Aileen & Bill's wedding is coming up real soon, in 5 months actually, and that's another good reason for all of us to look our best. So please allow me some headstart before I start documenting my weight and pictures again, hehe. God I hope it works out this time. Please pray for me! :P Read more on "Fitness Blog #5"!