Super expensive dinner at Pine Court (The Mandarin Singapore)

After all the seafood dinner trips to the Long Beaches and Jumbos, we had decided to spare the crabs some thoughts and have our celebration dinner at Pine Court at The Mandarin Singapore. I have expected the dinner to be expensive, but not THAT expensive...

Upon sitting down, as usual the waitress asked what we would like for drinks. But unusually, everybody were individually charged for our individual small pots of exclusive Chinese tea with exclusive names like 東方美人 and of course exclusive prices as low as S$4.

While waiting for the dishes to be served, we searched the table for the usual small dishes of peanuts, but they were nowhere to be found. No, there was no macadania nuts or almonds in replacement either. Instead we were each served a small bowl of one 2X2X1cm rice cracker with even smaller mushrooms and carrot cubes in sweet and spicy sauce. One of our German friends was surprised to find out that Chinese food can be as small portion as the French food. Oh well... I think we're giving them some wrong impressions...

After that were the usual dishes - cold dish, clear sharks' fins soup (okay, at least this was served in a bigger portion), Peking duck, sweet and sour crab, fish, vegetables, noodles and dessert.

Actually IMHO, the Peking duck was not really worth it. First of all, the duck was skinned 25m away from our table, so our German friends didn't get to see the skinning process, no matter how skillful the chef was. Secondly, only eleven slices of skin was sliced from the duck. Hmm... either the duck was underage or it went for some slimming course? Thirdly, the whole duck-skin-in-pancake dish didn't taste as nice. There was too little sauce and the pancake skin was rather tasteless. And lastly, the secondly dish cooked out of the duck - stir fried sliced duck meat - was suspiciously small portion as well. Oh and of course, the expected duck soup brewed from the bones was nowhere to be found. It is disappointing that till now, none of the Peking duck I'd tried in Singapore could beat the one I tried at Hong Kong's 北京樓.

The dessert arrived at our table dramatically, with smoke (due to dry ice) rushing out from the bottom of the dish. It was 楊枝干露, my favourite dessert! But maybe because serving just the usual 楊枝干露, which consists only of pomelo pulps in mango juice, is really too cheap for such an expensive meal, a lump of lemon/lime sorbet was placed in it. But IMHO, it just didn't go well.

Finally, the bill... We asked if there was any discount for any credit cards and we were told that we could use UOB cards for 10% discount. But... somehow, only selected items were discounted and that discounted amount totalled to less than S$5... and in the end the total bill was more than S$700... Wow...

《刑警威利》 Willy The Cop ＃36

comics from Singapore

Crappy food and service in Singapore - MOF

I went to this restaurant with my friends before I left for the Europe trip. On that night, the restaurant was having a pre-opening night. We had initially wanted to go to Genki Sushi but had decided to give this new restaurant a try since there was a queue at Genki Sushi. After all, when we were looking at the menu by the door, the waitress was pretty friendly and urged us to give their food a try. It was a bad move to walk away from Genki Sushi.

The moment we sat down, we were asked if we want iced water. That was strange. I thought most Japanese restaurants would have served green tea. Then the iced water were served in glasses. Err... Not very Japanese again. Then we opened the menus. OMG... The pictures in the menu were so horribly taken that they looked like some kind of inedible food specimens taken from a lab. The food did not look colorful enough and the lighting were bad. So we just ordered (after some time needed to really deciding what to eat without looking at the pictures) and hoped that the actual food will taste better than how they look in the pictures.

The softshell crab and avocado sushi was the first plate that was served. And it did not taste right. There was no avocado in the sushi at all. All four of us could not taste it. So we asked one of the waitresses about it, but her reply was "Oh, yes this was supposed to be with avocado, but then we realised that avocado does not go well with softshell crab, so we took it out". What?!! So the menu was not updated even before the shop was opened?!!

Then the main courses came. The bentos sucked. The rice looked like Japanese rice because they were short grained, but they were also not sticky as well. Usually the Japanese bento rice should have some fragrant taste, but not in these bentos. The rice were bland and soft. Even worse than those we get from the mixed vegetables rice stall in hawker center. The cold ramen had a funny tasting sauce. Not miso and not shuyou, and tasted more Western than Japanese.

The lady boss sitting at the opposite table then realised that we did not finish our food, so she came over to ask for the reason. So we told her the cold ramen sauce was funny, and she said "Oh is it? Maybe because you're not used to it. This is a traditional Japnese sauce" Oh is it? The funny thing is that we had been to Japan and their cold ramen definitely did not taste that way.

Then we told her the bento rice was horrible, and she said "Oh the bento are not ready to be served yet! We're still testing out!" And so we the customers are the guinea pigs?

Then we told her the softshell crab and avocado sushi had no avocado, and she said "Oh you know why, because we realised that we could not get good avocados in Singapore. They're either too hard or too soft, so in order not to lower our standard, we decided to take out the avocado." Huh? Not one avocado in Singapore is edible?

Then we told her that it was strange that green tea was not served to us, and she said "Oh because we're trying to run this restaurant like a izakaya (Japanese pub) and if we were to serve green tea, typical Singaporeans will not order any other drinks. Which is a waste because we've got so many Japanese wines imported from Japan! And also, our green tea are on the way from Japan so we can't serve green tea now." A Japanese restaurant that does not serve green tea? Well...

Seeing that we were still unsatisefied with her explanations, she ordered the kitchen to serve us their star dessert. It was something that they were supposed to be good at - vanilla sundae with fried sweet potatoes and red beans. When the dessert arrived at our table, the sundae was already half melted.

And so the lady boss said again "Oh, we've ordered a very sophisticated machine from Japan and it is on the way to Singapore now. Meanwhile we can only live with this rented machine and that's why..."

So, hoping to make us happy again, the lady boss gave us a ten dollars voucher and urged us to return to the store after it had officially opened.

"Oh, by the way, Miniter Lee is going to be at our opening ceremony. And all other big shots too. You must come and try our food again!..."

Yah right.

《刑警威利》 Willy The Cop ＃35

comics from Singapore

《刑警威利》 ＃34

Click on image to enlarge

Cloudywind Podcast... Korea!

阿風和好友ST，J和S一起到韓國白白地度過暸一個冬天咧！

Korea #01... A Long Skewer of Fishcake
Korea #02... Conquer of the Sunrise Peak
Korea #03... Abalone Sashimi at the Jeongbangpokpo
Korea #04... The Old Woman Called Oedolgae
Korea #05... The Amazing Teddy Bear
Korea #06... Abalone Porridge, Black Boar and Kimchi Fried Rice
Korea #07... Morning Stroll at the Manjanggul Cave
Korea #08... The Real Jeju Folk Village
Korea #09... The Cold and Quiet Bulguksa Temple
Korea #10... Going up the Seokguram Grotto
Korea #11... On Our Way to Herbnara
Korea #12... A Fairytale like Herbnara
Korea #13... Night Ski at Phoenix Park
Korea #14... The Magnificant World of Lotte
Korea #15... Two Men Who Took us to Gyeongbokgung
Korea #16... Gyeongbokgung and its Museum
Korea #17... A Tour at the Daejanggeum Theme Park
Korea #18... Korea's Unique Food and its Culture

Cloudywind Podcast... In Cantonese, About Singapore

雲裏風的廣東話的，關于在新加坡的生活的podcast

第一集: 什麽是 Service Quality Training？
第二集: 大長今會在我們的生活裏出現嗎？
第三集: 我夢到COE和一間HDB flat
第四集: 2007國慶慶典狂想曲
第五集: 同情心,您回來啦！
第六集: 打工仔的教育，打工仔的心情
第七集: 新加坡电影的经典电影对白
第八集: 請幫幫忙吧！
第九集: 怎麽煮出一道好的電視節目
第十集: 報章言論自由？不重要！
第十一集: 馬爺真的生氣了！
第十二集: Dawn Yang 和她的謠言

Willy The Cop - The Comics

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Smile, Singapore! (PS: to the right people)

Our smiles are ready for the world, specifically the people from IMF and World Bank. Be it real or fake, as long as we've got their monies, or to be politically correct, business opportunities.



Link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmPcsoLDBd0

Singapore

I am Singaporean - National Day meme

This is my share of the National Day meme started by Mr Brown and Mr Miyaki, inspired by the Molson beer "I am Canadian" commercial.

Find out more at Mr Miyaki's AND SO SAYS SINGAPORE article.


Listen to "I am Singaporean", Cloudywind's version！




Subscribe to Cloudywind Podcast RSS




Another podcast from Singapore, iamsingaporean

Silent Nation - Mr Brown vs The Authority

How much sarcasm is too much?
Are we supposed to provide solutions for our feedbacks?
How much media freedom are we given?
When will a columnist become a 'partisan player' in politics?



Video's link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQxU3K-w0bU

This video is vaguely based on a true story

The NLS University Advertisement

We are the country's foreign school.



Tags: Singapore, university, advertisement

返工了喂 #04... Email的各種好功能

一個普通打工仔個故事…《返工了喂》
Cloudywind Podcast新的廣東話幽默劇場

Email的時候用Reply All，或者distribution list就可以很方便地把訊息傳給大家。cc也一樣挺好用的哦！不過如果有人濫用這些功能呢？



現在就試聽！




訂閱 Cloudywind Podcast RSS




Another podcast from Singapore

《刑警威利》 ＃33

Another comics from Singapore

返工了喂 #03... 全職旦散PIG

一個普通打工仔個故事…《返工了喂》
Cloudywind Podcast新的廣東話幽默劇場

Full Time的員工是不是真的沒有那麼被炒？PIG是怎麼完成她的工作的？她又是怎麼開會的？



現在就試聽！




訂閱 Cloudywind Podcast RSS




Another podcast from Singapore

《刑警威利》 ＃32

GE Cup 2006

GE Cup 2006 Result: 告鬼死你隊 6 是但?隊 3

2006年的大選杯，告鬼死你隊再次打敗是但?隊，以6比3奪下冠軍! 講波人Cloudywind把大選杯激烈的戰況一一說給你聽!



現在就試聽！




訂閱 Cloudywind Podcast RSS




Another podcast from Singapore

返工了喂 #02... 新的辦公室

一個普通打工仔個故事…《返工了喂》
Cloudywind Podcast新的廣東話幽默劇場

Contract和Full Time的員工會有怎麼不一樣的辦公座？新的辦公室有什麼壞處？



現在就試聽！




訂閱 Cloudywind Podcast RSS




Another podcast from Singapore

返工了喂 #01... 何師奶

一個普通打工仔個故事…《返工了喂》
Cloudywind Podcast新的廣東話幽默劇場

誰是何師奶？她為什麼可以那麼囂張？她對公司又有怎麼樣的貢獻？



現在就試聽！




訂閱 Cloudywind Podcast RSS




Another podcast from Singapore

鮮聞慢畫 ＃06

Tagging to: singapore, comics

《刑警威利》 ＃31

Remember, Prison Got No Broadband

Note: The streaming of explicit political content by individuals during the Singapore election period is prohibited under the Election Advertising Regulations. This post does not contain explicit political content, but just Singapore geography lesson.

Tagging to: singaporeelections

鮮聞慢畫 ＃05

Tagging to: singapore, comics

《刑警威利》 ＃30

Hong Kong Comix Magneto

在三月十日至四月十五日時，香港27位漫畫家趁著第34屆香港藝術節，舉辦了《漫有引力》漫畫展。這個漫畫主題是由個人感思、社區面貌、以至政治時事等題材組成的。那裡雲集了香港具份量的自主漫畫家，由近三十年來最強大的陣容，攜手公告天下香港漫畫家的雄厚實力與無限創意。

香港播客林子揚就在現場做了一個videoblog，去看看吧!

原文：CMMVP_014：一遊「漫有引力」

鮮聞慢畫 ＃04

Tagging to: singapore, comics

我說台灣的名流是井底之蛙

我說台灣的朋友笨，我的話其實是這樣講的，我是說，街上的台灣人不是最笨的，街上的台灣人他只是有點胡涂的，我說自以為是名流的台灣人比較象是井底之蛙，台灣的政治家整天在打架，所以好坏我搞不清楚。我的話是這樣說的，首先我跟大家說，用一种籠統的話，來描寫一個集体的現象的時候，這种陳述的方法都是很隋便的，我從來不說我講的話不隋便。記者們在訪問台灣那些所謂的名人，比如李敖時，他們當然會用一些不負責任的話，來掩飾他們的笨，而對這种話如果我們吹毛求疵，當然會覺得是不是說得太重了，會有這种現象。可是我必須說，如果對這种話，我們那么樣認真的，或者過份的嚴肅的去看待，我覺得有點跟自己過不去。因為聰明的人不必去在意笨的人所說的話。

大家只看到我說，台灣人比較笨，有沒有想到，當我說台灣的政治家整天在打架的時候，另外一個意思就是說，為什麼台灣人要投票給這些沒教養，不知所謂的政治家來統治台灣？

台灣朋友們的的祖先，在清朝時候，因為不滿滿洲人當皇帝，要起義造反。但是因為實在敵不過滿洲人，所以只好躲在台灣島。這种人他們的文化水平是不好的，因為他們整天只想推翻滿洲人，自己當皇帝。他們也不會去想想滿洲人當皇帝時天下太平，經濟繁榮，不象明朝時那麼亂。這批人就是今天台灣人的祖先，我們就歷史觀點來看，我們對他們充滿了同情。可是我們必須就事論事說，這個他們的文化水平基礎不好。也可能因為這樣，他們只會以拳頭統治台灣。

這就我所說台灣人比較笨，笨的意思呢，就表示有一點點，這個反應啊，一些糊塗的人去選一群亂來的人來治理一個國家，然後這些糊塗的人又讓那些井底之蛙上電視來批評那群亂來的人，就有這种現象。告訴你們，一點惡意都沒有，我跟你們有什么惡意呢？可是告訴你們，只是作為一個平常人，不是什麼名人，我來看這個問題，我看得一清二楚，就是這樣子，當然我會信口說出來。

《刑警威利》 ＃29

可不可以先問她有沒有看過死者？

Singaporean-style Mac Advertisement

新加坡的播客 Mr Brown 錄製了一系列的 videoblogs，而其中的一個是顛覆 Mac 最新的廣告的說。

去看看吧！還挺搞笑的！

呃… 這個DIY的所謂廣告哦，甚至還拍得好過多數的本土廣告的說…

如果你還不知道Mac 最新的廣告到底有多屌的話，就上這裡看看貝！

P.S. 本人最喜歡的是 ellen feiss 和 momoko kikuchi 的 :D

Cloudywind Podcast... Views on Singapore Election

My views on Singapore Election...


Listen to the Podcast now！



訂閱 Cloudywind Podcast RSS -


http://nineaugust.podomatic.com/rss2.xml





Note: This podcast is heavily censored due to explicit political content.

From Channel NewsAsia, 03 April 2006 1806hrs (GMT +8hrs):
Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts Balaji Sadasivan said: “...the streaming of explicit political content by individuals during the election period is prohibited under the Election Advertising Regulations. A similar prohibition would apply to the videocasting or video streaming of explicitly political content.”

This was to ensure responsible use of the internet during campaigning as the free-for all environment of the internet is open to abuse.

Dr Balaji added that individual bloggers can discuss politics, but have to register with the Media Development Agency if they persistently promote political views.

鮮聞慢畫 ＃03

Tagging to: singapore, comics

香港播客大合唱 － Hong Kong Podcasters United!

因為前些時候忙於工作，自己的podcast也放置了好几個月。最近又開始在網路上活躍起來，又開始聽蒐集了几個月的本地、香港和台灣等的podcasts。突然發現，在一月份時，香港的podcasters們竟然集合在一起搞了一首關于podcaster心聲的歌曲！贊喔！

哎… 不知道新加坡的podcasters們几時也可以聚在一起唱首歌？


香港播客大合唱（劇場版）
On a Podcast （中文版）
原曲為 Cruisebox 作品，以 Creative Commons NonCommercial Sampling Plus 1.0 License發佈。 填詞：夢大人及其他香港 Podcaster

有說話要講，iPod 中廣播，
將心中的怨忿透過 Podcast 空中呻，
一切冷知識，一天的經過，
不需擔心你我，要到這?找真我。
播客歡喜若狂，個個網上也在講。

＊快快去整個 Podcast，說說自己的愛好，
不貴的，開放的，不需要思想封閉，
整個Podcast，再無限制，加上不再管制，
亂?不再失禮，請快速 Post 上網。

個個亦要裝，i-Tunes 的吸引，
即刻飛奔去搵個你最愛?聽一?。
安裝了 wi-fi，Download 得很快，
不管有多遠近，你我也靠 Podcast。
有開始，無終止，向這理想衝刺。
每次說起這嗜好，也會不敢相信，
記得講，是原創，世界永沒遏止，
每處發生的趣怪，資訊永不會遲，
要記得這首歌，那怕會無自我。

＊我要去攪個 Podcast，說說自己的愛好，
珍貴的，得意的，不需要思想封閉，
整個 Podcast，再無限制，加上不再管制，
亂?不再失禮，請快速登上?
（亂?不再失禮，請快速 Post 上網。）

請快速 Post 上網，請快速 Post 上網，請快速 Post上網。
請快速 登上 Podcast 請快速登上 Podcast 請快速 Post 上網。


>> 上CMM的網站收聽這首歌！

《刑警威利》 ＃28

這瓶香水是要做指紋化驗的咧…

ProjectDIY... 一個新加坡的網路音樂創作團體

2005年3月，有三個新加坡人，Dayvid(符傳義), Kewei(鄭可為) 和 Anne(何洁雯),突然決定聚在一起搞音樂。他們沒有華麗的舞台，浩大的宣傳，但是他們有的是三顆熱騰騰的創作之心。

快來支持他們吧！新加坡的第一個網路音樂創作團體！他們的創作不錯聽哦！

>> 現在就聽一聽他們的聲音吧！

鮮聞慢畫 ＃02

Tagging to: singapore, comics

《刑警威利》 ＃27

蟑螂果然還是女人的最怕

鮮聞慢畫 ＃01

Tagging to: singapore, comics

《刑警威利》 ＃26

就在你已經選好服裝後…

《刑警威利》 ＃25

不應該和鑑證組的同事玩漆槍…

Cloudywind is Back!

I'm so sorry for the sudden absence and I'm so glad to be finally back... I'll try to make it up by providing even better podcasts in the future.

This time round, Cloudywind Podcast will be recorded in Mandarin instead, and I'll be talking about my travel experience. Hope you guys will like it...

Thanks for staying tune!

Cloudywind is Back......!