Vorlacks: January 2006

Food Glorious Food...

After the untraditional BBQ reunion dinner, it was time for some traditional CNY feasting.

Just a collection of food pics taken over the first two days of CNY.

Lunch at my uncle's house, where we had...

Lotsa stuff!!

Like Ngor Hiam!! Bestest of the best! Grandma's secret recipe...

Curry chicken.

"Ang Boong Bak". CNY first day must-have.

"Chup Hway Tng".

On the second day, lunch was at home. And we had...

Chicken wings! Leftovers from the reunion BBQ.

Pasta.

And salmon Yu Sheng!!

The photos today were taken by my sister. I was busy entertaining this fella.

My cousin and I went "hunting"...

He shot his bow and arrow, while I shot with my Canon PowerShot A75!! Too bad we didn't catch anything... :p

Untraditional Tradition

First up, GONG XI FA CAI everyone!! May the Year of the Dog be a prosperous one for all of you.

Had the traditional reunion dinner at my uncle's house this evening. What was untraditional about this age old tradition was what we had for dinner. Instead of the usual steamboat or 8 course Chinese dinner, we had a BBQ!! Was definitely a first for me!!

And the best thing was, most of the food at the BBQ wasn't even Chinese!! Well that's not a first though. Last year we had Indian food for reunion dinner!!

Without further ado, let's jump straight in and look at the photos. (Not all taken by me. Some by my sister.)

I started the fire.

Something I've been itching to do for very long. And keeping with the Scouts tradition, I did it with 3 match sticks. (Actually 1 broke and didn't light, so technically its 2)

Anyway while the fire was left to reach optimal cooking temperature, we started with prawn salad.

There was lotsa prawns.

With the fire ready, it was time to bring out the meat!!

Satay, chicken wing, sausages, and fish.

Yep that round thing is fish.

Dory fish with corriander stuffing! Shiok! My uncle's recipe.

The satay was good too.

And they never seemed to be able to reach the table. They always seemed to be "hijacked" en route. Finally managed to get 3 sticks that made it safely to the table for a shot.

Chicken wings!!

I only had 2. Lucky there are leftovers that I can eat on Monday!

Bacon too.

Guess where the bacon came from?

Lucky it wasn't from this little piggy. Might be a bit hard to chew...

To end off...

Some watermelon for dessert.

And marshmallows over the glowing embers.

Finally, a group shot of everyone.

With the "See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil" monkeys.

Happy Lunar New Year!!

Spontaneous Supper

I just got back from a spontaneous supper outing with Angel and Faith. This supper actually proved 2 things about planning.

First of all, it proved that the most well thought out plans often fall to bits upon execution.

Secondly, it proved that the best plans require no planning.

Let me explain.

It all started over an MSN conversation between Faith and myself. Over MSN, we arranged to meet up to go down to Chinatown. I wanted to go there and take some photos of the CNY festivities.

So we happily arranged the time to meet, where to meet etc... Start of well thought plan. I even researched (ie. ask my father) the best place to park the van in Chinatown. Detailed planning indeed.

Things were going according to plan up till the point I met Faith. That's when the plan started going downhill. We decided to call Angel and ask her to join us for a drink. She agreed on condition that it was at a coffeeshop near her house.

So instead of heading to Chinatown as originally intended, we found ourselves on a "Journey to the West" to pick up Angel.

Anyway, after we managed to get Angel on board, we headed towards Thomson instead of the coffeeshop that we had initially agreed upon!!

Naturally, she started complaining and whining in typical Angel fashion.

But it was too late!! The doors were locked!! And we were on the PIE towards Thomson.

At Thomson, we had supper at a prata place.

Angel still looks a little shocked about being suddenly "kidnapped" and brought all the way to Thomson from the West. Wahaha...

Supper consisted of...

One plain prata and one mutton murtarbak.

Shared between me and Faith.

With Angel taking the occasional spoonful.

And a tissue prata.

The food's not too bad. Not fantastic but at least the price was reasonable.

I think that sufficiently illustrates my first point. Original plan was to go to Chinatown to check out the CNY festivities and take photo. What we ended up doing was go to Thomson to eat prata and take photo.

Oh well, at least the take photo part was accomplished according to plan. LOL...

Now on to my second point. Best plans require no planning.

Although the entire supper outing was not planned, it still turned out to be really fun. Well at least for Faith and myself.

We were extremely amused that we had managed to "kidnap" Angel and drag her all the way to Thomson. In fact, we were so pleased with ourselves that we decided to tell the whole world what we did.

Poor Angel was made to carry her ransom note...

Ok lah, I'm sure she had fun too... Right Angel? I mean how often would you get people coming to your house to drag you out to supper in Thomson?!? Once in a lifetime experience... ;)

So there you have it.

Perfect plans almost always fail upon execution. And best plans do not need planning!

Broken Four Eyes

I've got a thing with breaking spectacles.

I hardly have a pair of spectacles that are left intact. Most of the time when I get a new pair of spectacles, it is out of necessity.

And its not because my degree has increased. Most of the time, I would break my spectacles and thus have to make a new pair.

Anyway, check out what happened to my latest pair.

It snapped...

The metal encased in the plastic had completely rusted through. So much for protecting the metal interior from rust...

Fortunately, the optical shop had the same frame in stock and I was able to replace the frame without having to get new lenses. Thus saving quite a bit.

Btw, the optical shop at Hougang Mall has pretty friendly staff.

They are all smiles and warmth. The kind of service that keeps you going back. Which I would probably be doing again soon, considering my track record with spectacles... :(

Chicken Rice

If you ever find yourself undecided about what to eat in Engin Canteen, let me recommend something.

Go to the stall that sells Indonesian BBQ Chicken Rice.

Its good!! Check it out.

This is the Chicken Chop with Rice set.

It comes with rice (obviously) which you can upsize at no extra cost. And the curry gravy that they pour over the rice is simply fantastic.

As usual, I asked for an extra ladelful, which the stall holder generously gave. Unlike some other stalls which are more stingy with their curry.

There is also a slice of omelette. Along with a pretty big piece of chicken.

Although the price is a little steep for canteen food. I think its well worth the $3 that I paid for the plate.

Was definitely a satisfying and filling lunch. :p

PS: Syrix see wat you missed out on...

Unstoppable Tarts

My auntie made pineapple tarts and gave us a jar. Check it out.

The reason these tarts are unstoppable is simple.

Once you start eating one, you cannot stop until you finish all of it. Or stuff yourself so full you cannot talk.

Anyway here's a close up shot of the tarts.

Simply divine...

And here's the jar I have at home.

Its half gone already...

Can't wait for the next batch!! :p

Ocean Curry Fish Head

Just some photos from dinner.

Went to a coffeshop with a stall called "Ocean Curry Fish Head" in Toa Payoh.

We had Kang Kong.

Pork chop.

Otah.

Chicken Wings.

And Sweet and Sour Fish.

But no curry fish head. LOL...

Did get the curry gravy which goes really well with white rice.

Here's the full spread.

Yum!!

Maxi Dog...

I generally don't like to touch animals.

Especially the stray cats that roam the coffeshops. They always seem to have a knack of brushing against you when you least expect it. And the result is usually a "gentle nudge" from me to remind them never to come near me again.

Oh and dogs too. They stink... And lick... And drool...

But I made an exception for this little girl.

That's my auntie's dog. Maxi. Or as I call her - "Maxi Dog".

She's an exception cos she doesn't stink. Her owners take very good care of her.

But she licks though. But I guess I can live with that for a day just so that I can take some photos of her.

She really is quite an intelligent and expressive dog, as the subsequent shots will show. And she's very quiet too. Unlike the dog that lives a few floors down from me...

I started off by establishing a good relationship with her so that she will pose for the camera.

Now that she's happy, time for the "model" and "cameraman" to get to work.

Give me an inquisitive look.

Good... Curious... Nice... (Can just imagine the studio huh?)

Ok, now I want forlorn. Like you just lost your favourite toy.

Perfect... Good job...

Now, I want the thinker look... You are thinking how on earth u landed up with a sucky assignment like this... gotta speak to my agent for better jobs next time.