Birthday Birthday

Happy birthday to me!

Just added one more to the number of years I’ve been around. As a celebratory post, I will describe what went on during my birthday this year.

The day started just around noon. I met up with Dear and we went for lunch at Din Tai Fung, their Jurong Point outlet. Because there are just two of us around we shared a couple of dishes, notably their famed xiao long bao (steamed pork dumplings with savory sauce inside), pork rib soup, some sliced beef cold dish, and prawn and egg fried rice. In general the food matched up to our standard. The xiao long bao is my usual pick at the restaurant. To eat it, carefully place one on your spoon (not to let the sauce drip out), eat with a dash of vinegar and slices of ginger. yummy! The pork rib soup is surprisingly tasty. I say surprisingly because the soup itself seemed very simple, yet the pork rib and (what seems to be) bitter gourd makes great combination.

Our lunch spread

Xiao Long Bao

The fried rice however, was a little disappointing. Dear took a bite of one particular prawn that stinks - presumably it has turned bad, so from that point on eating the prawns felt a little like taking a stroll across a minefield. Unnecessarily stressful. Otherwise the fried rice was fine.

We attempted to bake our own version of black forest cake, one of my favourite of all time, and the result was “F”. Unfortunately that’s “F” for “fail”, not “fantastic”. Well, it was our first time baking any kind of cake, so it’s understandable that so many things did not turn out right. For example the filling was too wet, and the cream used to plaster the cake was too soft, so in the end it looked like mount Black forest was spewing hot cherry flavoured lava. In our defence, the cake actually tasted like black forest cake, although looks wise it was a disaster zone.

In the end the cake didn't look (or taste) so bad

Dinner was meant to be special, and we planned to have it at home. Knowing that we were baking cake we wanted to keep things simple. In the end, we chose to have steamboat.

Steamboat. Enough to feed an army

After dinner we relaxed for a while, slacking around while I open my birthday present. Nice! it was a Tintin book and a travel guide. Tintin and the Alph-art was the last in the series, uncompleted before Herge's death. Dear also got me the lonely planet guide to Eastern Europe, knowing that I've long dreamt of going there. Thanks dear!

Afterwards we went out to watch “Land of the lost”. Dear said that it was an entertaining “C grade” movie. I think it was probably closer to B grade, but has more than its fair share of absurdly funny moments. In one short word “Insane”. Loved the moments when they were trying to swing to a tree to escape being trapped by vines, and instead swung towards the open jaws of a hungry T-Rex.

Well, like any good party, the day (and this post) has to end.

Burgers at Relish (03/06/2009)

Following a friend’s recommendation, me and Sas headed down to Relish to try their burgers. The restaurant is located on the 2nd storey of Cluny Court, at a rather quiet part of the building. The whole upper floor seems almost deserted when we got there, and we only saw one other couple inside the restaurant. Actually neither of us knew that an upper floor existed in the first place.

The ambience of the restaurant is quite good, dimly lit for that relaxing atmosphere. Sas liked the fact that the place has high ceiling, giving a more spacious feel.

We both had burgers, the main offerings at Relish together with a selection of pasta. I had the Bleu Cheese with Pear burger while Sas had the Seafood Lemon one. Can’t remember the exact names of these burgers at the moment. The portion were adequate (we both had the 180g patties), and the burgers were served with either salad or fries. My Bleu Cheese burger was good – the beef patty cooked to my preference of ‘medium well’, and the sautéed pear was an interesting mix to the dish. Sas liked her burger too. (However I find the seafood patty taste a little like Thai fishcake due to the lemongrass used). For about $18 per plate it was quite value for money. They also serve burgers with interesting local twist, such as the char siew burger and Ram-lee burger.

The crowd started to flow in after 7.30pm, and by the time we left the place was more than half filled. We noticed that the crowd there tend to be older, with the average age of patron of about 35 years old.

Overall it was a good meal, and Sas enjoyed it even more because Wednesday is ‘Ladies Night’, which means that ladies get free dessert with every meal. We might drop by again to try their weekend brunch menu, but that would be another post.

Boom and Gloom

In times of economic crises (such as the current one), good news are hard to come by. While some analysts claim that 'green shoots' are already growing and that economies worldwide are on their way to recovery, many others are worried that we're being over-optimistic. I can agree why we should worry. Just last month, China’s export figures plunged over 22 percent in April 2009 compared to a year ago, an increase from the 17 percent drop in March 2009. Here in South East Asia, Singapore's GDP shrank more than 11 percent in the first quarter of 2009. From these facts it is hard to see the 'green shoots'. And of course, we should be aware that the H1N1 Influenza outbreak is not over yet. The virus might still make a comeback, and if it does it will further plunge the world's economy deeper into crisis.

A silver lining closer to home is news on the Indonesian economy. Having little dependence on exports and a strong domestic market, the Indonesian economy is poised to grow between 3 to 4 percent this year, an achievement where most countries' GDP growth are projected to be in the red. A recent successful election have also increased investor confidence that the political climate is stable. This good news does not benefit Indonesians alone. As the largest economy in ASEAN, a politically stable and economically progressive Indonesia is a boon to the whole region, and perhaps beyond. It is no surprise that in recent months, there are plenty news of economic cooperation between Indonesia and other nations.

Attached is a short clip on the Indonesian economy from World Business

My Valentine's Day Present

This is what I got from my dear for this year's Valentine's day. There are 8 volumes in total, and this is the first one in the series. The two stories, 'Tintin in the land of the Soviets' and 'Tintin in the Congo', are the first two Tintin comics (one can tell from the way characters are drawn in the Soviet story), and are also the hardest to find in the market. I've always loved Tintin, so I finished the book before the night is up. =)

We decided to spend this year's V Day a little differently. Instead of paying exorbitant prices for dinner for two, we had beef stew and soup, which we cooked together. It was overall a nice experience, except that the beef stew (cooked by me) tasted a little off. I need more practice.

The Australian Bushfires

If there's one distressing situation that keeps popping up in the news this week, it is the bushfires that continues to rage in the south eastern part of Australia. When I first heard of it, I thought it is just the 'usual stuff', as bushfires seem to be pretty common in that part of Australia. What makes it different this time round is that the fire don't seem to stop burning, even after it has claimed more than 180 fatalities. Some estimates put the final the number of fatalities at more than 200. It is reported that at least some of the fires, worst since 1983, has been set by arsonists.

It saddens me to hear stories about charred bodies found in homes, or in cars as the occupants tried to flee from the raging fire. It is no less distressing to hear that the fires came so quickly that sirens and other conventional warning signs were not effective in alerting residents of the impending danger.

I just read that the Indonesian Police force is sending their DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) forensic team to Australia to help out with the identification of bushfire victims, in addition to US$1 million aid to help reconstruct public schools. The sum may not be much, but in such times of emergency this is a sign for solidarity between neighboring nations. Action is always better than simple sympathies. The state owned news agency, Antara, also noted that Australia as a friendly nation who has provided assistance when Indonesia was hit with natural disasters, notably after the tsunami in Aceh-Nias in 2004 and 2005.

Best TV Commercial 2008 : Visit Indonesia

The above TV commercial was created as part of the Visit Indonesia Year 2008 campaign. I would say that it is one of the best TV commercial ever put up by an Indonesian ministry (in this case the Ministry of Culture and Tourism).

Why does this clip deserve the title of 'Best TV Commercial', you ask? Firstly because it effectively communicates the tourism message of inviting people from all over the world to visit the country. Secondly, the video manage to combine a unique blend of colour, sights, and sound. The video itself show good editing work and the presentation flow very seamlessly from one scene to the next. Last but not least, the usage of local cultural belief (butterflies signalling the coming of visitors) and the little girl as narrator form the finishing touch which made this video feel special, unlike the multitude of cheesy tourism commercials out there.

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PS: For the benefit of those who's considering Indonesia for their next holiday destination, below is another tourism commercial. Not as impressive as the one above, but still quite nicely done.

Bakkwa Madness

The Chinese (or Lunar) New Year is here. As part of the celebration, families and friends visit each other to exchange well wishes for the New Year, meet seldom seen relatives, or simply to chill out and gossip. Of course, one cannot expect to visit others empty handed. The typical practice in Singapore (not the case in Indonesia, and I heard also not practiced by Chinese communities in other countries) is to bring a pair of oranges and give it to the host. This signifies good luck. The host, in return, will also give a pair of oranges to the visitors. Therefore you can probably survive many house visits just carrying a pair of oranges – I sometime bring spares in case someone give me a pair of badly squished oranges.

Back to the topic of this post, the host will offer visitors a spread of snacks and drinks. Bakkwa (pork jerky) is one important ingredient of this buffet. It is so important, that some people will actually queue for many hours to get their hands on them. Despite the long queue and quota restrictions put in place to prevent hoarding (reminiscent of scenes from the times when the Soviet-bloc just crumbled) there is actually no shortage of the item, it’s just that as prestige goods some brands are more desirable than others.

The store with super-long queue

I will not be writing this had I not been a part of this whole affair, but I shall explain the madness later. This year my girlfriend wanted me to try and get bakkwa from a store called ‘Lim Chee Guan’ at Chinatown. In case you’re wondering, their main shop is close to Smith Street. They have been increasingly popular in the last few years, and as one newspaper article put it: be prepared to wait for at least an hour before you can make your purchase. Well, an hour is not short, but I can live with it. Besides I can queue in early afternoon, when others are stuck in their offices and can’t compete with me. Let them queue in the evening, I thought.

That Tuesday morning my friend Brendon asked if I’m going to queue early, and if yes his friend might also need some bakkwa from the same store. I told him I can only go around lunch time, so his friend decided to go down to Chinatown and get it himself. At about 11.30 I received sms from Brendon saying that the store has run out of the pork bakkwa (there were other meat types: beef, chicken, even fish, but these won’t do for my purpose). Not discouraged, that friend decided to pay another visit to the store in the evening, after hearing that there might be a second batch coming in at 6pm (in hindsight we are not sure if there was another batch). This time Brendon came along because he also wanted some for his family. At 6pm I received another disappointing sms saying that again there is no more stock. In the end I decided to make it to the store very early the next morning, before the shop opens at 9am. My friend was even more ambitious, planning to reach by 7am. I thought that if he started queuing at 7, he should probably be the first few to reach the store; I just need to be there before the store opens and join him in the queue. That should save a lot of time. Well, I was wrong.

The man sitting on the stool is sitting next to an alley,

where the queue line continues. Store is not visible in this picture.

This is the view from our starting point, man on stool (prev. pic)

is sitting right at the corner in front

When I reach the store at about 8.30am, I see a long queue, but don’t see my friend anywhere near the store front. I eventually found him, number 60 or so in the queue. Yes he came early, but 60 other shoppers came before 7am (no he wasn’t late, in case you’re wondering). In any case, looking at the many – possibly hundreds – of people behind him, I still think that I’m better off to stick with him. Thanks again, Brendon. =)

A short while after the shop opened one of the employees started counting towards the back of the queue, carrying a placard on one hand. You don’t want to guess what’s written on the placard, it said ‘No More Sliced Pork Bakkwa’ or something to that effect. You see, he counts the number of persons in the queue, and assuming each person will maximise his/her quota of 6kg, he calculate how many persons (let’s assume N numbers of persons) are guaranteed they can buy bakkwa when it comes to their turn. He would stand next to this N-th person and hold out his placard. Anyone else who queued behind him would be forewarned that they may or may not get what they’re queuing for.

This brings us to the next part of this madness. Now that I was already in the queue, how long does it actually take for the 60th person to get his bakkwa? Don’t read on first, make a guess.

I was personally hoping that I can settle this in an hour or so. One hour later the queue had barely moved, so I stretched my expectation. Maybe one more hour (from then). Two hours in the queue we moved only half the distance. So I keep on stretching my expectations, even as the store seems closer.

The advantage of being stuck in a situation where there isn’t much to do for a long period of time is that one start to notice the surrounding. My observation is that buying bakkwa is a highly social affair. Many shopper come in groups, which is a useful thing because talking to your friends helps to prevent boredom (and preserve sanity). It is also highly useful when you need to visit the toilet, since your friend can help to stay in queue. Some shopper will talk to those around him/her, asking if they are underutilizing their quota. My other observation is that you don’t have to queue if you don’t want to. A replacement will do. This comes in form of your employee or friends, someone you can ask a favour from or order around. In fact, I realized this because about one out of five people in the queue are Indian, who naturally shouldn’t be interested to queue for hours for bakkwa during Chinese New Year period.

In the end, we finished ‘shopping’ at about 12.40. That is 4 hours of queuing for me, and 6 hours for Brendon and his buddy. And we were already at the front when the queue started. What about those at the back, I wondered.

I actually wanted to blur the name of the shop in the picture and/or disguise its identity in this post (in fear that someone reading this would decide to get the same brand and next year the queue will get even longer), but decided that since it is a festive period anyone who want to ‘join the fun’ should not be deprived of the opportunity to be part of a snaking queue to buy snack.

For now I am glad New Year comes only once a year.

PS: Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Gong Xi Fa Cai.