THE ECONOMIST

Hehe. Enough said. :D

Ingenious II - Another way of writing

Recap: 招 財 進 寶 - Let riches and treasures come in

These 4 words are just so popular for Chinese businesses. If you pay attention, you probably can find it hanging somewhere in a Chinese shop near you today!

Here is another way of writing which I took from a small shop in Danshui, Taipei. (This way of writing is kinda neater but I prefer the first one though.)

First post can be found here

Old typewriter

Guess what I found in the corner of a little obscure restaurant in Taipei. (And it wasn't like the theme of the restaurant was retro or anything).

This ancient typewriter was just placed on the floor near the cashier. Perhaps they were using it for typing up the menus before it died on them and had to be replaced? Anyway, haven't seen one in a while. I've used one before though. If only for a little while... :)

Still amazed about the things that we somehow find when we aren't looking.

My teacher's cat

She was very very tired. Hehe. Ignored the flashes from my camera.

Tom Yum Noodles at the Conrad

Its always easy to take pictures of food. I'm sitting still, the presentation is normally nice straight out of the kitchen (or at least before I forget and take a big bite out of my meal)

Conrad Level 2 cafe serves tom yum noodles in large and small portions. The small portion is perfect if you aren't too hungry and just feeling a little bit greedy for a taste. (I know I was..on the day I arrived in Bangkok)

Its quite expensive though. You can get a bowl of noodles on the street at a quarter of the price (or less). Not sure how hygienic that would be but I guess you choose your own ¨poison¨.  :D

Guardian at Bangkok airport

Had crowds of tourist lining up to take pictures of the statue.

I just joined in the fun. :)

Sizzler in Thailand

Miss me? I was in Thailand and the internet connection charge there is atrocious!!

Anyway, its been a while since I've been to Sizzler. I used to love the place in Raffles Place. Always a treat to go there (before the standard dropped). I wonder if it is still there? Probably not.

Sizzler in Thailand rocks. Was at the one next to Conrad and the salad bar selection was really good.

Loved it...

On the way to Bangkok..

Let me board that plane and throw me some darn blankets!! Why does the aircon have to be so cold and why do people have to talk so loudly?

*groan*

My Amazon Kindle

This is a belated post as I purchased my Kindle some time back in 2009 for Christmas. Its the 2nd eBook reader I've got (the first being a Sony PRS 505). If you are asking me which I prefer, I'm going to say that I love them both!!

Its easy to get free books from the Sony store as compared to the Kindle which charges about USD 3 dollars for the same free books that Sony offers. But on the flip side, Amazon is fully supported in Taiwan which means that you can purchase books or download samples OTA whereas Sony doesn't allow purchases unless u have a US credit card. But something I can't understand is why ebooks cost the same prices as paperbacks. Doesn't it cost more to have to print and deliver books to the end customer?

In terms of functionality though, Kindle, with its inclusive dictionary and speech to text capability, certainly gets the thumbs up for me. I guess that's why its also a little bigger and heavier than the Sony which is much easier to handle for me.

Alice in Wonderland - 3D

Watched ¨Alice in Wonderland¨ in 3D last weekend. The ticket cost me NTD 430 (equivalent of SGD $19) which is actually double the price of a regular ticket but since they gave us such cool 3D glasses, deliver popcorns and other sinful tidbits to your seat and erm ...the movie was good... so I guess its an okay way to spend Saturday afternoon.

I love Johnny Depp in these weird characters, don´t you? He plays them so well!! I simply cannot imagine anyone else playing those roles as wonderfully as he did. Minor comment though....for a minute as Mad Hatter was swaggering on the table when he first met Alice, I thought I saw Captain Jack Sparrow in colorful makeup but hell....what is to be expected of crazy swagger-ness on those skinny legs anyway...Those legs are....


Okay, I digress......


I think my brother is into the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum characters. Its true, they are quite funny....now Iḿ thinking of the letter M.....and so very entertaining.
As for me, though...(and yes, I DO have a favourite and its not the Mad Hatter) my fav character has got to be The Chesire Cat.

 As you probably know, Lewis Carroll published the Alice in Wonderland book in 1875. When I was in UK, a couple of months back, if I recall correctly , the tour guide told us that Lewis Carroll was sitting in his Oxford room and writing Alice in Wonderland one day when he noticed his neighbourś cat on the tree outside his window. The cat looked like he was grinning at him and thus, the story has it that this was what gave birth to the Cheshire cat character.

So the next question you will probably be asking is...why call it Cheshire right? I think it had to do with Cheshire cheese which was made to look like a grinning cat or something like that but I have such a faulty memory so go google it, if you are interested.

Anyway, the Cheshire cat in Tim Burton´s Alice in Wonderland is like neon blue instead of purple (which Iḿ used to). He only plays a small part in the movie as  compared to erm...Mad Hatter or Alice but then again, he has that trademark smile and the ability to poof in and out of tight situations. His signature is that his grin is normally the last to be seen before he totally vanishes!! 

The Cheshire cat is a little philosophical in the movie and definitely mischievous and he does quite like the Mad Hatter´s hat.

As they say....we are all mad here!!

Ingenious - Can you find the 4 characters?

Saw this at a restaurant. 4 words combined into one. I couldn't resist taking a picture of it, totally ingenious. Can you find the 4 words?  招 財 進 寶 (It means: Let riches and treasures come in)

Lunch at Tonkatsu

This is what I had for lunch today.

Poor people behind desk (PPBDs) committee decided to treat ourselves to "fancy" Jap restaurant for lunch today. It being Monday and all. The price of the meal was almost 4 times what we normally pay but the restaurant is famous and sells good food so heck ah... MONDAY calls for a treat. :D

Note: PPBD is a term that I coined one afternoon. Definitely on a working week day either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Haha.

Dinner at famous Taiwanese Dan Dan noodle restaurant

Okay, this is a food post! Eating our hearts out (and then hourssss on the treadmill.).

Famous Taiwanese restaurant.

As you can see, its packed! The restaurant has both inside and outside seating but if you choose to sit outside, I think you get a free dish which we enjoyed on a cooling night. 

Salted egg with mushroom dish

Claypot Style Veggies wrapped in Beef

Fish roe with Mayo sauce

Cold dish - Chicken in Chinese Shao xing wine

Our free dish - Stir fried sweet potato leaves

One of their speciality Tofu dish -Very very good.

Last but not least, their famous dan dan noodles. Yum!

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My rubik cube addiction

I'm hooked!!

If - Bread

Canon Rock - My inspiration

My favourite song at the moment. Thanks to Adeline for introducing it to me!! :)

Happy New Year 2010!!

In a blink of the eye, another year has come to pass. Goodbye 2009 and welcome 2010...I can't believe I'm saying this...but yes, today is Jan 1st 2010. Wowee!!

To welcome Jan 1st 2010, I had a rather quiet evening with my family and friends. The first part was filled with screaming kids so that was rather scary. I mean...I did end up with chocolate on my shirt and in my hair but yeah...I spent the rest of the evening chatting and nothing really crazy. Although I must say that I had a craving for MacDonalds at 3am in the morning and I was trying to convince my feather like friend that we should have breakfast and go watch the sun rise or something. Neither of which we did because we simply slept through the "crucial" moment. Ah...youth or rather the lack of it :)

December 31st (of every year) has always been my personal moment for self reflection. I'm such a simple person that it is ridiculous. Well, I get a pat on the back for the good things accomplished in the past year (aka goals that I've set for myself in the beginning of the year and attained) and then followed by a new list of challenges that I set up for the new year. I do take goal setting and follow up very seriously.

Well, firstly, I must say that its been a good year for me in 2009. Life didn't quite happen as I planned it and there were surprises aplenty through out the year. But I guess I have to thank my lucky stars, for some miraculous reason, I've survived without too many knocks and bruises. In fact, I would unabashedly say that I've reached most, if not all, my goals set for last year. So yes, I get that pat on the back and I'm pretty stoked and confident about meeting my targets for the new year.

No, I am not going to put my list up to bore you with but yes, its broken down to the same 3 categories: Career, Personal Goals and Relationships. This year the goals are just going to be bigger, meaner and more challenging to achieve.......... but YES I CAN DO IT!!

So HAPPY NEW YEAR and hope to provide further good news in Dec 31st 2010. Have a great day ahead.

Shanghai - Si chuan food

Had a short but "Food-full" trip to Shanghai last week. On the first night, we met up with some old friends to have dinner at "Pin Chuan". Its a sze chuan restaurant near "Wu Lu Mu Qi" road and as it was starting to get a little cold and we had craving for spicy food that night, it was simply the perfect choice. The food was good, service was great and with great company.....who is to complain?!?

After dinner, we headed to Hyatt on the Bund and also a pub called "Tara" and I admit that I had one cocktail too many to drink but..hehe...let's say its all well and done.

So due to the awful lighting at the pubs, I will "spare" you the gorgeous view from the top of Hyatt at VIE, or the dim glow of "Tara" (before I rather unglamerously fell asleep for 30 mins.)But anyway...here is some rather innocent looking, yummilicous pictures of our dinner at Pin Chuan. Perfect - A total of 5 out of 5 Chillis from me.

Cold Dish - Kou Shui Ji (Direct translation - Mouth Watering Chicken)

A must try! We ordered 3 servings that night!

Non spicy French Beans Dish

(One of the 2 non spicy dish we had that night)

Spicy Mushroom

I forgot the name so I won't be inventive here but it was very good. Another must try.

La Zi Ji - Spicy Fried Chicken

(A little oily and there were spices that numb the senses but it was delicious)

Shui Zu Yu - Water boiled Fish

(but it was more like oil boiled fish with vermicelli).

Don't be mistaken by my awful description. It was gorgeous)

Broccoli dish with Seafood

This dish is like the play safe dish. Nothing spectacular but broccolis are good for you so order it!

There was this other dish which is very special and since pictures paint a thousand words and I'm admittedly a little tired of blogging now I'll see if I can post a video of it later.

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Ding Tai Feng for lunch

Yup! This is what I had for lunch on Friday with my colleagues. Ding Tai Feng in Taiwan is the absolute place to be for steamed dumplings (and probably anywhere else)!! The restaurant has opened up chains in Shanghai, Singapore and probably other countries but, in my honest opinion, can't ever beat the country of origin.... Taiwan!

The business is so good here that you can't make a phone reservation. If you want to eat good food, you have to stand in line like everyone else. The place is teaming with tourists and locals alike and the waitresses are specially selected for their looks, attitude and ability to speak multiple language fluently. Needless to say, they are paid top dollars too!

Ding Tai Feng on Zhong Xiao East road

So popular that they have even got their own souvenir shop!!

Nothing to do with DTF. Just dessert in the office at 4 pm

Yes, I do think that the culture in Taiwan is to eat, eat, eat...non stop!!

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Prawns Galore.....

There is a really famous restaurant near my place. I like to call it "The Prawn Place" because that is what they are famous for...prawns prawns prawns. Oh yeah...they have crabs, fish and some other seafood but their main dishes are prawns, prawns prawns. (Hehe, yeah, I think you get the point).

The restaurant is called "Golden Shore" (in chinese) and they are so popular that another one opened just right across the street called "Yellow Gold Shore". Its quite confusing but actually there is nothing much to worry about because both places serve the same quality of food. At least, I can't tell the difference!

"Golden Shore" (which is the original) is housed in a solitary building which looks like it is made out of bamboo while the "Yellow Golden Shore" building is housed in a typical gray concrete building. So in terms of ambience, the "Golden Shore" earns top marks from me which also explains why they are still the more popular of the two.

Address at: Kee Lung Road Section 1 (right next to Sung Shan High School)

Here comes the pictures:

Prawns in Lemon Sauce (This has got to be my favourite)

Prawns in Hot Sour Sauce

Prawns in..."San Bei" sauce

Chicken & Mushroom soup

Veggies are good for you!

Guava Juice (Perfect drink for the perfect meal)

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