Gunma, Japan

Stitched this panoramic photo together using Photoshop CS3 sometime back but never uploaded it to the blog. Thought I would post it up today just for fun even though I don't really have anything insightful to say. =)

Been kinda tired this week as work has been busy and I've been trying to revise my Japanese and all. Term exams are in April.... yikes... I feel kinda unprepared.

Anyway, this panoramic photo was stitched together using something like 5-7 separate photos. I really don't remember now. This shot quite nicely illustrates just how mountainous Gunma is. If I remember correctly, I was shooting near Mt. Asama. We had stopped there to take photos of the still active volcano and I also took shots of the view with Mt. Asama behind me.

That's it for now... I'm going to go sleep now. Have a good week guys. =)

Marina Barrage 2nd trip

It rained for the greater part of the afternoon yesterday. The weather was still a little grumpy when we left the house, so we went back to the Old Airport Road Hawker Centre for an early dinner. I decided not to have my usual wanton noodles and opted to try a fishball noodle my mum had last week. Very yummy. We headed towards the barrage after dinner. If you're driving there, make sure you pay attention to the signs cuz we had to come back around for a second time when we accidentally entered the ecp expressway. Also, if you're driving there, don't be an idiot and park on the little bridge that's right before the entry to the barrage entrance. You'll change a two-lane two-way road into a one-lane two-way road which would cost a jam and endanger pedestrains. Anyway, enough of that. :-) we were really blessed yesterday as the clouds cleared and lightening retreated and we were treated to a beautiful end to the day. Although, next time, a little breeze would be nice too, God. :-D

Marina Barrage

The above is a photo taken from the Marina Barrage. I took this picture last week on my Sony Ericsson camera phone. Kirei ne! It was late in the evening and overcast because of the rain. I'm not sure what river that is, maybe the kallang river or the singapore river. The background is slightly away from the main city central cuz you can see the singapore flyer which is nearer the other side of suntec. We may go back to the barrage again this week cuz my dad didn't go last week. If it doesn't rain, we'll go and i'll take more photos. And if i have time, maybe do a walk through. But so busy these days, will try though. :-)

Sun sets on Marina South

On Saturday, after our very fulfilling meal at the Old Airport Road Hawker Centre, we decided to try and find the Marina Barrage. It was still drizzling but we thought we would just scope out the area first and maybe come back another day. After driving around for a bit and following some signs, we found the place. Even though our original plan was to have dinner and then go check out the barrage, we had shelved those plans due to the rain. Our new objective was to just find the place so that we could come back on another day. It wasn't till we got to Marina South that we changed our minds. It has been forever since i've been to this area. Once touted as the entertainment centre to be, its location and lack of accessibility meant that it never fulfilled those expectations. Still, it was the place to come for really cheap steamboat buffets, for huge bowling alleys and large karaoke clubs. But once the announcements of the barrage, the gardens by the bay and the integrated resorts were made, the end was in trully in sight. I never really gave it a second thought. It wasn't a place i hanged out a lot at anyway. But on Saturday, when we drove to the barrage, on seeing the Superbowl facade standing forlornly as a small bulldozer chipped away at it doggedly, i really couldn't help but feel a surge of nostalgia. After all, i've played in her arcades, ate in her restaurants, been in superbowl several times and it was here that i and seagull had come to see Ada Choi sing at the canto pub or at least that's what i think the place is called. This is little post is for you Marina South.:-)

Old Airport Road Hawker Centre

The one thing i've come to realize after living abroad for a while is that Singaporeans have a strange love for chicken wings. Maybe it's because though there is often more bone than meat, this rather difficult to eat delight has been a staple of our school tuckshops, bbq parties, potlucks and snack counters for years. I don't know if the wing is still a staple at school canteens, since the move to make school food healthier for kids, but i do know that when I was growing up, if you could clean every morsel of meat off a piping hot wing in an oily plastic bag, you would get looks of admiration and maybe even envy. My love affair with the chicken wing began even before i started primary school. In the old days, in sembawang, in chong pang, there was this run down theatre called the sultan theatre. It was a dirty little place but i remember it fondly as we kids got to watch movies for free. Of course you had to be prepared to sit on the grimy step and ignore the roaches. :-) but the most important thing though was the food stalls surrounding the theatre. One of those stalls was a very popular stall that sold really awesome bbq chicken wings. They were bbq-ed over charcoal and people would drive from as far as toa payoh to come eat these succulent wings. I was a HUGH fan and till today i still eat chicken wings almost every week. They don't make bbq chicken like they used to. Most of the time you'll get wings bbq-ed over electric grills but that lacks the smoky flavour of the charcoal variety. The above though is the charcoal variety and it's really really yummy. Not many places do them over charcoal now but at the old airport road hawker centre, they still do. Can you tell how much i like this hawker centre? :-)

Reason to Live

A true singaporean doesn't eat to live, he lives to eat. And I am a true singaporean and the above is one of the seasons why i could never live in the West. I need my dry chilli noodles, my chill crab, my roti prata, my teochew muay, my hokkien mee, my bbq chicken wings, my cha kway tiao ... ...Yesterday, we went to the Old Airport Road hawker centre for dinner. And each time i go there, which isn't often, i must have this bowl of noodles. This isn't a simple bowl of wanton noodle, these are noodles infused with memories of my childhood. Before the government decided to develope the hougang area, near teck chye terrace, there used to be a wet market. Above this wet market there was a hawker centre filled with the most amazing food. Wanton noodles with the tastiest of sauces, braised duck which i still dream of, hokkien mee to die for, indian mee goreng which i still miss to today and a otah stall people would queue for and buy by the 50s. It was in this hawker stall where we discovered the delights of ah hock's oyster omellette, an or-lua that all or-lua's must measure against. I love Old Airport Road Hawker Centre. It is here that i can still find the food of my childhood and this bowl of wanton noodles from that long gone hawker centre.

A Perfect Cup of Joe

It's been a while but i'm back again. :-) Now, I love my teas. I probably love it more than most people of my age and background. I think premium aged pu-er preferably pass the age of 30 is one of the best, if not the best, drink in the world. BUT for a daily shot in the arm, i still need that cuppa of joe. This here is a photo of my daily poison. :-) a perfectly made cup of cafe latte by the fantastic guys at the spins at changi business park. The only place i go to right now that still takes care of the little details like making pretty patterns in my coffee. :-)