*dimsumdolly* - the different morsels of the life of a foodie

Belated Update

Ah, it's been a long while since I wrote a half-decent entry. I've missed writing. And yes, I've had friends bugging me about my lack of updates. Things have been crazy at work and I haven't had the time or mood to write. To keep my friends up-to-date on what I've been up to for the past 1.5 months, let's do this in point form.

1) Jan 15 - I watched John Legend in concert at the Esplanade! Went with my buddy Van Tan and we were completely bowled over by the oh-so-sexy and smooth vocals of John Legend. He's mean on the piano too! That guy's HOT.

2) Jan 16 - Went to KL for the company's annual Asia Sales Meeting. Stayed at the Marriott right smack in the city centre. But I hardly had the time to go out and wander about. Went drinking every night during the five nights I was there. I had never drunk so much in such a short time. Went to the Beach Club with some of my colleagues. It's like some Mecca for tourists, or more specifically the sleazy male tourists. There are so many prostitutes there and it was an eye-opener observing them pouncing on the men the moment these men step into the club.

By the way, Feast Village at the basement of the Marriott is really nice. Love all the restaurants there which are done up so nicely. There's Luk Yu Chinese restaurant - the offshoot from its famous HK branch. While having dimsum for lunch there with three other colleagues, we spotted HK actor Kenny Bee. Of course, all food at the Feast Village is halal. Other cuisines available are Thai, Korean, Lebanese, American, Indian (Vaansh), and Malaysian (Enak). But of course the really yummy street fare is found outside of the swanky hotel. Unfortunately I didn't have time to go sniffing out all these good food. I was basically stuck in the hotel for the most part. I only managed a 1.5 hour visit to Sungei Wang on the morning of the day I left KL. Managed to buy a pair of shoes for 25 ringgit. Cheap! But my golly, I really didn't like the weekend crowds at Sungei Wang. It gave me a headache.

3) Jan 21 - returned to Singapore after a long bus ride from KL. What could have been about a 5-hour bus ride straight to KL turned out to be an 8-hour one. No thanks to the bad planning by HR who had arranged for a detour to Malacca to have dinner. Come on, I'd rather just stop by Yong Peng to have dinner. A request by me to change the plan to stop at Yong Peng was rejected, claiming that reservations have already been made at the restaurant. I don't understand why can't they could have just called to cancel. It's not as if the food has been cooked! And I don't understand why others didn't make the same request when they clearly didn't want to stop at Malacca at all when I asked them! Argh. Singaporeans just accept everything they're told to do. It's annoying.

4) Jan 22 - Bought my red iPod Nano! I love my new toy!

5) Jan 23 - Flew to Beijing for work. Had a slight cough as I made my way to Beijing. The cough got worse when I arrived in Beijing, what with the cold, dry and polluted air. I was coughing my lungs out in the next couple of days I was there. I had to go and see a doctor. Apparently there aren't any private clinics and everyone just goes to the hospital for illnesses whether major or minor.

My colleague brought me to Renmin Hospital and goodness, I felt like I had stepped back in time to Singapore in the 70s. I didn't see any computers at the reception desk, there were beds lining the corridors, the building was so old, and the place was just horrible. Singaporeans really have it good. Anyway, the bottom line is this: Don't ever get sick in China!!!

6) Jan 31 - Flew back to Singapore after having cut short my work trip in Beijing. Was supposed to stay till 6 Feb, but because I was so sick, I had to come home earlier than scheduled. The medicine I got from the hospital didn't help and by Jan 31 I was really feeling so weak and sick from coughing non-stop. The moment I stepped back on Singapore soil, I felt better. The cleaner and warmer air in Singapore certainly made a difference in my condition.

7) Feb 1 - Spent the whole day in bed and coughing away.

8) Rest of Feb - Recovering from cough...went to try TCM instead after Western medicine didn't seem to work. TCM really helped! I really believe in Chinese medicine...I think it's much better for colds and coughs etc. The use of herbs as medicine is much better than the drugs used in Western medicine.

In the past two weeks, I've also been getting back into paddling...I have an outrigger canoe race coming up next Saturday March 10 in Gold Coast!!! Ooh, boy am I excited!

9) Feb 19 - Ate at the House of Hunan at Novena Square. It's part of the Tung Lok group of restaurants. The food there isn't fantastic and basically I don't think Hunan cuisine (known as Xiang Cai) can quite match up to the sophistication of Cantonese cuisine. The service was good, but frankly I wouldn't go back there again.

10) Feb 24 - Met up with some food bloggers at Tampopo for lunch. The food there isn't fantastic. It's famous for the pork from the Black Pig...some special breed of pig famed for its meat. Read ivn's review here.

11) Feb 25 - Got myself a new mobile phone, the Nokia 6288. Another new toy. This is only my 3rd mobile phone. Last time I changed phones was Nov 2003.

12) Sick and tired of work - can't wait to go to Australia next week for a much-needed break from work! Going to KL and Beijing doesn't quite count as a break!

OK, that's it for now!

Posted by DSD at February 28, 2007 12:01 AM