Jang Shou Charcoal BBQ for me birthday

I really have a thing for Korean BBQ, I think.

Last year, the team treated me to the Hyang To Gol, which was a terrible and expensive experience. This year, when asked where to for my birthday dinner, I suggested my favourite Korean BBQ restaurant in Singapore, Jang Shou at the Esplanade.

As usual, Jang shou did not disappoint us with their excellent service and experience. I was also pleased to note that it was crowded yesterday. When I got home and realised I had hits on the blog for the article I wrote on the Korean BBQ restaurants in Singapore, I was starting to wonder if I have to place reservations earlier for my favourite restaurant next time. Haha.



Note to point: The lady who served us was fantastic. She asked if we wanted to dump rice into out Kimchi casserole, at the end of our meal, to make kimchi rice from the dregs in the pot. The guys were game, and the lady was even thoughtful enough to get more kimchi for free and cut it into the rice to have an added bite.

Insider Joke

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!

Thick-skinned Terrier sings to itself:

Heute kann es regnen,
stürmen oder schnei'n,
denn du strahlst ja selber
wie der Sonnenschein.
Heut ist dein Geburtstag,
darum feiern wir,
alle deine Freunde,
freuen sich mit dir.

Refrain:
Wie schön, dass du geboren bist,
wir hätten dich sonst sehr vermisst.
wie schön, dass wir beisammen sind,
wir gratulieren dir, Geburtstagskind!

Uns're guten Wünsche
haben ihren Grund:
Bitte bleib noch lange
glücklich und gesund.
Dich so froh zu sehen,
ist was uns gefällt,
Tränen gibt es schon
genug auf dieser Welt.

Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch,
das ist ganz egal,
dein Geburtstag kommt im Jahr
doch nur einmal.
Darum lass uns feiern,
dass die Schwarte kracht,
Heute wird getanzt,
gesungen und gelacht.

Wieder ein Jahr älter,
nimm es nicht so schwer,
denn am Älterwerden
änderst du nichts mehr.
Zähle deine Jahre
und denk' stets daran:
Sie sind wie ein Schatz,
den dir keiner nehmen kann.

ie6 go away

Webbers who are STILL using ie6, will encounter this "warning" image from Momentile.

A Good Reason why you should use WPA, not WEP

It's well known that WPA is a safer approach to encrypt a network than WEP, because the latter is hackable.

Lifehacker teaches us how easy it is to do so with Backtrack.

A Book after Our Hearts - Dirty Signs

You can buy this book at Borders. Here's a sample.

Sakuraya Fish Mart Sashimi

Guess what?

I am blogging in the library. Somehow I always end up in the library on my birthday. What the hell?

Just in case, you were wondering, I had no intentions to do so this year. But after finishing the most excellent Ice Age 3, we discovered it is raining.

So I am sulking here. I will now include the shots of the Sakuraya Fish Market I visited with the guys last Sunday during our bizarre attempt in cycling on a rainy day. We didn't and so we were at Parkway where saw some interesting shops.

The guys didn't want to eat sashimi and I was so intrigued by it that I went to its The Village Center branch to eat. Btw, I don't eat any old dead fish. I will only eat those that I think have stds, like the Izakaya at Cuppage Plaza.

Anyway Sakuraya's service was a hit and miss. 3 waitresses and at least 6 kitchen staff. 2 waitresses were atrocious, had to remind them 4 times to get me my gohan. The other waitress was ok, quite responsive and took the initiative.. to also turn me into ochazuke when she dashed away from the next table, tripped, tipped her tea pot on me.

Sashimi wise, think the prices are higher at Village Centre than Parkway Parade. The meat color is not bad, looks reasonably fresh. But they cut the meat thicker than the usual way, as thick as Wasabi Tei, thinner than Shokudo. You should request that they cut the meat slightly thinner.

Suspect the spicy salmon belly was tampered with MSG, my tongue swelled after dinner.

TGIF Specials 8: Everything is right today, cos it's my birthday!!!

Hyang To Gol - a Korean Experience Disaster

The team celebrated my birthday lunch at a Korean BBQ restaurant, Hyang To Gol, at Amara Hotel yesterday.

Don't go there, it sucks. On my list of fave Korean restaurants, it ranks the second lowest, just above the west branch of Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal (opp Haw Par Villa) ith the very crappy service. I don't care what other online reviews say about the latter. The service was atrocious, the waiters were vicious in a very polite way.

Anyway Hyang To Gol was terrible in its own unique way. The staff took shortcuts while cooking the meat. Who cooks short ribs (which needs more time to cook) with thin slices of spicy pork belly? One is going to end up, at best just cooked with no nice BBQ flavor, while the other, burnt to a crisp (see last photo). And if you want additional kimchi or veggies to accompany the meat? No free kimchi, and the veggies come in S$6 a basket.

Pathetic. Service was abysmal. They were much more on-the-ball to the table of pehpehs next to us, even though we spent equivalent amounts of $$ (perhaps lesser, now to think of it, because we didn't drink ourselves to death).

Kimchi, hit and miss. The jellyfish had too much vinegar,the Memil Muk-muchim (Buckwheat jelly) much too soft. Fishcake tasted like it came from a factory.

All in all. 2 out of 5, considering the price. They already lost me when I had to pay for additional kimchi. Considering that they set out 2 servings for 5 persons.

Home Brewing Mushroom Land style

I started borrowing books on brewing home beers. Perhaps in the vain hope someone would hire me as his beer brewer. IT pays badly.

So B1 is reading my books now as I am doing my mass 24 blogs, and he tells me that we need a licence from Mushroom Land Customs???? First of all, why Customs?

A visit to the website says that we don't need a licence to do home brews if:

n individual shall comply with the following conditions: - The individual shall be 18 years old and above; - The manufacture of liquor shall be by fermentation and not by distillation; - The amount of liquor manufactured shall not exceed - (i) in relation to beer, 30 litres per household of the person per month; and (ii) in relation to any other fermented liquor, 30 litres in total of all such liquors per household of the person per month. The liquor manufactured shall be for personal use and is not for sale; and The manufacturing activities shall not create a nuisance to the public or degrade the environment. The above conditions are specified in the Customs (Home-Brewing of Fermented Liquors)(Exemption) Order 2008 which was enacted to enable an individual to home brew beer and other fermented liquors without the need to apply for a license.

But if you want to start a microbrewery? Yes, you need a manufacturing licence.

I found this FAQ from the site very lame and very funny:
Q: Do I have to inform Singapore Customs each time I home-brew beer or other fermented liquors?
A: No.

My first Birthday cake of the year

Our Dear Teletuby went out and bought the July Babies a cake. So nice of him, esp since I heard he went alone to get this chocolate mousse cake from Bakerzin.

Thank you everyone for your kind donation to July Babies Trust fund!!!

I woke up to...

Isn't B1 sweet?

Fat People Bring Rain

I would be much appreciated by African tribes.

I just finished my birthday bento... and now it looks like it is going to rain. Crap.


B1 also made Orange Jelly yesterday.

A little help from your friends?

Now I add gothere.sg or gowhere.sg. It can tell you the fastest way, the smartest way and the cheapest way to get to your destination. Anywhere in Mushroom Land.

New Library Policy (w.e.f. 1 July 2009)

From 1 July 2009, basic library members will be able to borrow up to 6 items, inclusive of a maximum of 2 audio visual items. Library users may also sign up as Premium Plus members and borrow up to 16 items, inclusive of a maximum of 8 audio visual items - for just $42 a year.

Borrowing Privileges

• As a basic member, you are entitled to borrow SIX library items inclusive of a maximum of TWO music scores/audio-visual items from the lending section of the libraries.
• The loan period for books/music scores is 21 days, while loan period for magazines/audio-visual items is 14 days. No renewal is allowed for audio-visual items.
• Any book or magazine with an accompanying CD-ROM, when borrowed, will be considered as two loaned items. They are to be borrowed and returned together on the same membership card.

Meiner Geburtstag viel Glück

I came across the twistee balloons when buying ingredients with Retriever for my birthday cake.

I have forgotten how to make a balloon dog. But a very anatomically correct twisted balloon?

B1 bakes a Birthday Cake

We were having dinner, B1 and I, when he asked me what I wanted for my birthday.

I mulled over it for a while.

"I'd like you to bake me a birthday cake."

So after watching way too much Hogan's Heroes, we strolled to the nearest supermarket on our way to return books at the library. Since it was already nine plus and B1 being a beginner in the kitchen, I decided a box mix would be best.

But it wouldn't be Terrier, if there wasn't at least one misadventure involved. I fell for dear old Betty's (Crocker) trick. Suckered by the beautiful picture of the chocolate fudge cake on the box, I didn't realise that the lovely frosting on the cake was not included. Guess I missed the words warning me from the bottom left side of the box...




B1 asked if I still wanted the frosting. I was sure the cake wouldn't be the same without the pretty chocolate frosting. So we walked back to the same supermarket again (not before hopping over to the petrol kiosk's mart in the vain hope of finding some frosting), while the cake was happily swelling in the oven. Trust me, it sure felt a lot longer the second time around.

Couldn't find Betty Crocker readymade frosting. Oh Cold Storage, how could you have closed down your branch and abandoned me to the tender mercies of your competitors? Ended up purchasing icing sugar and cocoa powder. We stole the frosting recipe off another box mix. B1 asked me if I had milk at home. I was sure Father had some in the fridge so nodded. Being very lazy people, we did not call home to check. After all, I confidently informed B1, we could create milk from evaporated milk + H2O.

I discovered to my horror that I only had chocolate milk at home. In my haste to simulate milk with water and the branded milk powder (haha, instead of evaporated milk) that my mother drinks to prevent osteroporosis, and mentally calculating how much milk powder would I need to make 30ml milk, I forgot the one and only measuring cup I had was 1/3 cup, 80ml...





In went 80ml, and the very confused us stared down at the mixing bowl, wondering if frosting was supposed to look more like chocolate sauce. I later realised my mistake. Out the window went the exact measurements, I just kept chucking icing sugar, butter, cocoa and milk powder to thicken the mixture.

It became a thicker chocolate sauce, but went fantastic with the cake all the same. Anyway the cake came out magnificently. Either B1 is a much better baker than me (my cakes and biscuits consistently come out as biscuits), or cake mixes is the right way to go.

After a hasty Happy Birthday song, I had my second birthday cake for the year, lovingly mixed by the exhausted B1 (he beat the crap out of the cake and frosting), and nicely accompanied by a chilled Innocent Bystander Moscato 2008.