Horoscopes

In the past, whenever my classmates discuss excitedly over their horoscopes, I would look on in disdain and can hardly contain my disgust. How can the alignment of a bunch of stars and planets determine our fate and life? It's utter crap! One classmate in particular brought this to an extreme, loudly proclaiming that she detests all Virgos because they are all "<fill in the negative characteristics associated with Virgos>".

Today, I saw this on Facebook.

The most accurate horoscope ever.

Wow. This gotta be the most accurate horoscope ever.

Chikuwa Tei @ Mohammed Sultan

After slightly more than a year and a half, this was my second visit to Chikuwa Tei.

Chikuwa Sushi, $25

I must say that their menu is quite poorly designed.  It was purely text and very wordy, so it wasn't easy browsing through to find what you want to order. Despite having come here before, it took me a while before I could find their well-known Chikuwa Sushi set, which I ordered during my previous visit in 2013. It was still priced at $25 now.

The set still consists of four different types of sashimi - salmon, tuna, sea bream, and swordfish. But this time I felt that the standards seemed to have deteriorated slightly. The sea bream and swordfish were still as good as before, but the salmon and tuna weren't. The salmon didn't seem as fresh as before, while the tuna was a bit soggy - as if it was left outside for a while before serving. The rice also didn't appear to be those higher-quality rice used for sushi or other Japanese dishes.

In the end, I wasn't as satisfied with this as I was during my past visit. But at $25, it is still value-for-money.

Salmon Skin, $5

I am a fan of fish skin, and I always order it at restaurants. It is usually prepared very differently across restaurants - for example, Sushi Tei serves them in smaller strips but with more of the salmon meat attached. Tunglok Tea House does skin-only but with salted egg, while Ichiban Boshi's is more like Sushi Tei's but more crispy (I think it is also fried with a bit of flour as well).

Chikuwa Tei's was purely skin with no meat at all. Delightfully crispy, the teriyaki sauce drizzled on it also goes quite well with it. It also comes with some mayonnaise and fish roe on it, which serves as a equally good accompaniment to the skin compared to the teriyaki sauce.

Grilled Ika with Teriyaki Sauce, $15

Taste-wise this was all right, but the texture was a bit too tough and rubbery. A dish which you can skip unless you are a huge fan of squid and must order it to try.

Past visit:
5th September 2013

Teppei @ Orchid Hotel

Considering how difficult it was to get a dinner reservation here (waiting list is around three months), I immediately took up the offer when my colleague said she had an available slot.

For dinner, Teppei does it 'Omakase', which means "I will leave it to you". So diners typically just tell the chef what they do not want to eat, and leave the rest to the chef.

A rather traditional Japanese setting

The layout of the restaurant was quite traditional, where diners sit at the counter surrounding the chef. The chef will then serve the dishes on the counter. 

We all took the $80 set (most expensive one). If I recall correctly, we had three choices - $60, $70 or $80. To be honest, there were so many dishes that I couldn't really keep track of all of them. The employee serving us was also quite inexperienced and couldn't answer most of our queries.

A cold platter consisting of six dishes. Nothing really stood out.

Sashimi platter

Their sashimi were all reasonably fresh. But the ootoro (fatty tuna belly) definitely lost to the one I had at Hashi Restaurant.

Minced tuna hand roll

This was one giant minced tuna hand roll. Ladies were served first. Men were served later but get an extra large portion instead. 

A very simple dish, but I found this to be one of the best. Since it was freshly served, the seaweed was still wonderfully crispy, and the minced tuna was also refreshing.

Fugu (Puffer fish)

Coincidentally, I just read on the news that in Japan, several people just died from fugu (puffer fish) poisoning. This was the best puffer fish I have ever tasted. Okay to be honest, this was only my second attempt. The fish was well-grilled and lightly seasoned - this was also one of the highlights for the dinner.

By the way, 'fugu' comes from the Japanese word 'fuku', which means to swell. Very apt term given how the puffer fish puffs up when feeling threatened.

This tasted like some sort of corn, which had been grilled. It tasted a bit like popcorn.

Mackerel sushi

Soup with bamboo

The taste of bamboo was very strong in the soup, so if you are not a fan of bamboo, this is definitely not for you. My colleague gave this a miss.

While this didn't fare too well in the taste department, it scored some points in terms of uniqueness. I still do not know what fish this is, but its transparent body was certainly intriguing - just look at its skeleton!

Wagyu beef

When we asked our waiter what insect this was, he just smiled shyly and shrugged.

Crab soup

The soup was deliciously sweet and well infused with the taste of crab.

Eaten raw, this unknown vegetable tasted extremely fresh and refreshing.

Assorted sushi

The conclusion? $80 for an omakase dinner was very worth it. In the value aspect, Teppei scores quite high, as well as in the uniqueness category. But for taste, I would rather pay more to get better quality elsewhere. For Teppei, I will still stick to their famous bara-chirashi don during lunchtime instead.

Cornerstone @ Bishan Park

There was an adoption drive being held by HOPE Dog Rescue at Cornerstone today, and since Canopy was still undergoing renovations, we decided to have brunch here.

Benny, $12

Their version of Eggs Benedict. The egg yolks were runny, so that's a plus - but probably the only plus. The texture of the egg whites felt wrong, as if they were a little too raw. The hollandaise sauce pretty much faded into the background, and the ham was definitely cheap and of lower quality. Only the hash browns were good, being delightfully crispy and yet not too dry.

At least the egg yolks were still runny.

Queen Royale, $14

This was almost exactly the same as the previous Benny dish, but simply with the ham replaced with smoked salmon. The smoked salmon was quite terrible, to be frank - it was tough, dry, and ridiculously salty.

Luncheon fries, $12

Luncheon meat cut into the shape of fries and deep fried. This was done quite well; the meat still maintained some of its juiciness and yet wasn't too oily.

Summing up 2014

Summing up 2014:

I used the elliptical 49 times, spending a total of 1,925 minutes and burning 24,894 calories. 

I climbed the stairs at my place 42 times - that's 4,566 storeys in total. 

I started intermittent fasting this year, during March. Basically, I limit my food intake to 600 calories on the days that I fast (usually twice a week). For the whole of 2014, I fasted 56 times. Out of this, I exceeded 600 calories on nine occasions. 

Countries/places visited include Hong Kong, Hanoi, Taipei, U.K, and Hua Hin. 

I spent around S$6,000 on toys... and 35% of that was spent in December alone. 

My working week consists of around 75 hours on average. 

I don't think 2015 will differ by much.

My Travel History

Once again, it's time to update my travel history.

2014 - Hong Kong, Vietnam (Hanoi), Taiwan (Taipei), U.K (London, Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon, Moreton-in-Marsh, Warwick, Blackpool, Windermere, Carlisle, York), Thailand (Hua Hin)
2013 - Hong Kong, Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang), Thailand (Koh Samui), Indonesia (Bali),  Finland (Helsinki), Czech Republic (Prague, Cesky Krumlov), Austria (Vienna, Salzburg), Italy (Florence, Rome)
2012 - Taiwan (Taipei), Thailand (Bangkok), Indonesia (Batam), 

2011 - Taiwan (Taipei), Indonesia (Bali), Malaysia (Kota Kinabalu), Indonesia (Batam)

2010 - Taiwan (Taipei, Taidong), Australia (Melbourne), U.K (London)

2009 - Malaysia (Johor Bahru), Hong Kong

2008 - Russia (Moscow), Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh), Hong Kong, Macau, China (Zhuhai)

2007 - Australia (Gold Coast), Thailand (Phuket), Thailand (Krabi)

2006 - Taiwan (Taipei)

2005 - Australia (Perth), Cruise

2004 - Cruise, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia (Redang Island)

2002 - Malaysia (Tioman), U.S (Chicago)

Considering the following places to visit next year:
Hong Kong (trip booked)
Bali (trip booked)
Japan

Luke's Oyster Bar and Chop House @ The Heeren

This was an indulgence among indulgences, and I was here due to the generosity of my uncle. The first outlet of Luke's Oyster Bar and Chop House was actually at Gemmill Lane, which supposedly required at least two weeks advance reservation. This was their newly opened second outlet at Heeren, and on a Sunday night, it was already almost full. 

Located inconspicuously in a corner of Robinsons, my advice is just to ask someone for directions once you reach the third floor of Heeren.

Colorado Lamb Chops, $78

This came with yogurt, mint, and spring radish. The lamb was unbelievably tender, and there was almost no trace of the "strong lamb smell" that some people detest. Its flavour was extremely delicate, and it had some overtones of a nice smoky flavour. Gosh. This was fantastic.

Full dozen oysters, $90

We chose two types of oysters here - Katama Bay (the bigger ones on the right) and Marion Point (smaller ones on the left). Both were good, but I personally prefer Marion Point. Its taste was more delicate and sweet.

Whole chilled Maine Lobster, $95

When seafood is this fresh, you don't even need the seasoning. I ate this without any of the dips, and it was wonderfully sweet. The flesh was also firm and came out in whole chunks.

Kale salad

I couldn't find this on their website, and I forgot how much it costs. But this was very unique - it was kale, for one thing - something not very commonly available in Singapore. And it was mixed with some sort of peanut sauce and a bit of lemon, which complemented each other perfectly. 

My uncle is someone who doesn't eat salad, but proclaimed that if he was served this daily, he will be willing to eat it everyday.

Lobster & Corn Chowder, $22

This came served with Ritz crackers. The soup was wonderfully rich and delicious! The picture above is just half a portion, by the way - they thoughtfully separated it into two bowls when they knew I was sharing it with my cousin. And we were glad we did, as half a bowl was just right. If someone were to drink one whole bowl they will probably end up feeling quite full.

Luke's Bone-in Tenderloin Au Poivre (300g) with grilled foie gras, $74 + $25

The tenderloin was marinated with peppercorn, and came with a generous serving of mustard cognac jus. While the tenderloin was really good and tender, I thought the sauce was a bit too overpowering. I would suggest going for the ribeye instead.

Lobster Mac & Cheese, $26

Out of all the dishes we had here, this was the most disappointing. It was very plain and uninteresting, and the lobster taste didn't stand out either. Give this a miss.

USDA Prime Ribeye (400g) "Naked" Style, $88

Despite how the picture looks, this is a huge portion. And it was so damn good. The outside of the beef was wonderfully seasoned, the beef was juicy and tender, and the sides of the ribeye - the best part - was so heavenly. I think it can even win Morton's, that's how good it was.

Luke's Oyster Bar and Chop House is certainly one of the best restaurants I have ever gone to. But as the prices above show, it wasn't cheap - the four of us spent $892 in total here, inclusive of three glasses of wine and a glass of whiskey. For special events, for two pax, I would suggest ordering the ribeye and lamb as the main courses and a bowl of lobster soup to share.

Beef burger

Just a different way of preparing a beef burger. Instead of frying the egg and adding it on top of the beef patty, dig out a hole from the centre of the patty. When frying the patty, add the egg in, such that the egg is nicely in the patty.

It will be better to use smaller eggs. Either that, or dig a bigger hole from the patty. Or simply don't use up all the egg whites. When I added the egg, quite a bit of the egg whites overflowed and covered the patty.

Kernel panic

On a fateful day last month, I woke up in the morning to see this on my iMac.

Kernel panic

The exact text was:

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff800bcc0b01): "Unable to find driver for this platform: \"ACPI\".\n"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-2422.92.1/iokit/Kernel/IOPlatformExpert.cpp:1 533

Debugger called: <panic>

Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address

0xffffff80856cbdc0 : 0xffffff800b822fa9

0xffffff80856cbe40 : 0xffffff800bcc0b01

0xffffff80856cbe50 : 0xffffff800bc92fcf

0xffffff80856cbea0 : 0xffffff800bc92b8f

0xffffff80856cbf30 : 0xffffff800bc8e769

0xffffff80856cbf70 : 0xffffff800bc936e3

0xffffff80856cbfb0 : 0xffffff800b8d7047

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: Unknown

Mac OS version:

Not yet set

Kernel version:

Darwin Kernel Version 13.1.0: Wed Apr   2 23:52:02 PDT 2014; root:xnu-2422.92.1~2/RELEASE_X86_64

Kernel UUID: E9CF78E2-1E9F-3B6F-81A4-FEE6C6D0E4D5

Kernel slide:     0x000000000b600000

Kernel text base : 0xffffff800b800000

System uptime in nanoseconds: 312086064

I tried checking it out on the Apple Support Community, but none of the recommended solutions worked. My iMac warranty had already expired too (almost four years), so I tried calling Apple to ask. I was told to contact A.Lab, one of their authorised service centres.

It turned out that the hard disk had crashed. (Thank goodness that I use Time Machine for regular backups.) But the bill was really shocking.

Replacement for hard drive, 1TB, 3.5", 7200, SATA = $457 (!!!)

Labour cost = $130

Pick-up fee = $20

Delivery fee = $20

Total = $627

This really hurt. I think I can get a similar hard drive for less than a quarter of the price elsewhere! The total cost of $627 was almost enough to buy a brand new iPad Air too. 

I am definitely not going back to their authorised service centres in the future.

The Beacon @ Marina Square

A new addition to the Palate program, I came here with my gf for dinner on a weekend. Our experience was such that we vowed never to come here again, and I have summarised them into several points.

1. The normal table seats were extremely uncomfortable. The stand of the table was a huge square block, and there was no space to put my legs. I ended up sitting quite a distance away from the table and actually had to thrust my neck and body forward in order to eat properly. This is one of the most impractical table designs I have ever encountered.
2. The waiters were inexperienced, and service standards were poor. Our waiter gave us just one menu to share, and stood there looking at us straining our necks (we were sitting opposite each other) until my gf told him quite pointedly to give us one more menu.
3. The food was disappointing. We ordered two starters and two main courses. The fried calamari rings were actually quite decent, while the chef's salad looked cheap and tasted like something a child could prepare. My pasta was dry and dull, while my gf's ravioli was too cheesy. We ended up not finishing our food and left as soon as we could.

The place was quite empty even on a weekend, but this should be partially due to its poor location (at the outskirts of Marina Square, facing the road). It's a pity the food was so poor, as I like to visit places that are relatively unknown and crowd-free.

U.K - Blackpool (May 2014)

Blackpool was just a stopover, as we didn't want to drive all the way from Warwick to Lake District at night. Well, there shouldn't be any reason why someone would want to spend more than a day at Blackpool, as it is practically a ghost town.

The empty streets of Blackpool

Accommodation

Beechfield Hotel

Entrance of Beechfield Hotel

Beechfield Hotel's car park

This was the best part of the hotel - the car park. The other hotels we saw appeared to be severely lacking in car park spaces, with maybe just one or two in front - but Beechfield Hotel had an abundance of them.

Our hotel room

Everything else went downhill from here. The room was a major let-down. While it was still reasonably clean, the bed was extremely creaky, so our sleep here wasn't really that comfortable. The bathroom was absolutely horrible. One of the sink taps couldn't be turned off totally and was dripping water perpetually. The shower water's temperature calibration sucked too - it was either too hot or too cold, and the flow was barely better than a trickle. Showering here was a good test of our patience.

Having said that, service was still pretty good. When the staff learned that we would be departing early the next morning before their breakfast commences, they offered to prepare something for us beforehand.

Address: 106-110 Hornby Road, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY1 4QS

Website: www.thebeechfieldhotel.co.uk

Attractions

As I mentioned earlier, Blackpool isn't really a place for tourists. The empty streets are a good testament to that.

Empty streets

More empty streets

We passed by their casino, which Blackpool was supposedly quite well-known for a long time ago. It was probably one of the most deserted casinos I have ever visited; I think there were fewer than 20 people in the whole casino. And the place and machines were obviously quite outdated. 

Blackpool Casino

Dining

Toast Cafe Bar & Grill

Entrance of Toast Cafe Bar & Grill

We shortlisted this place because of the budget prices and the decent reviews on Tripadvisor. We had made a reservation before our trip, but didn't really have to as the place was only half-filled.

The cafe ended up having a special promotion on pastas - 50% off! So this meal was really very cheap (in U.K standards), and the food was actually pretty all right too.

Piri piri penne pasta with tiger prawn, £5.98 (S$12.56)

The tiger prawns were not as sweet or fresh as we hoped, but was still arguably acceptable.

Carbonara pasta, £3.98 (S$8.35)

The quality of the bacon wasn't really very good, but the dish actually tasted rather home-cooked. And for less than four pounds, can I still complain?

Along with our mains, we also ordered onion rings and a glass of wine. Inclusive of tipping, the final bill came up to only 19 pounds. 

Address: 28 Corporation Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY1 1EJ

Website: www.toastblackpool.co.uk

U.K - Warwick (May 2014)

Other than Warwick Castle, there wasn't much to do at Warwick. So we planned for Warwick to be a day trip which would involve mainly Warwick Castle, and to depart after that.

Attractions

Warwick Castle

We bought our tickets online around three weeks beforehand, so instead of £62.40 (S$131.04) for two pax, we only paid £43.68 (S$91.73). The prices included entrance to Merlin: Dragon Tower and The Castle Dungeon. My advice - skip the Dragon Tower and just get the Castle Dungeon. The Dragon Tower was basically a waste of time for us, as it was too tailored for kids. But the Castle Dungeon was certainly much more entertaining - I think most people would certainly get a bit spooked inside.

Map of Warwick Castle

A ballista outside of the castle

Full battle armour for both the rider and the horse

The Armoury has a variety of weapons and armours. We learnt that armour is as inflexible as it looks - and isn't as sturdy as it looks. It's probably better at deflecting attacks, but a direct blow would definitely injure the wearer seriously.

One of the castle bedrooms

The person there is fake, by the way.

It sucks being a servant. Especially rule 8.

I find rule 7 quite amusing.

Along the river

The Trebuchet demonstration

Their trebuchet is supposedly the largest working siege machine in the world now. It's huge and requires several people to run it together in order for it to work. The speaker explained that in the past, they used the trebuchet to hurl huge projectiles to breach the castle walls. Although rocks were the main ammunition, they also flung corpses and carcasses in to spread diseases. This was particularly effective if they happen to land in their wells and contaminate their water supply. The corpses (of the castle's dead soldiers) could further serve as a morale dampener. 

So they did a demonstration on how it worked, and we saw how they flung a fireball some distance away.

View from one of the castle towers

View from another tower

Address: Warwick CV34 4QU, United Kingdom
Website: www.warwick-castle.com