August 29, 2008
KŌ
Anyone looking for a good Japanese restaurant to go to can consider KŌ at the InterContinental Hotel. With its good food, impeccable service and pleasant interiors, it's the perfect setting for an evening night out to enjoy some delicious food.
This is the private room which can seat a party of 8. It's nice, cosy and gives lots of privacy. The rest of the restaurant is also done up in the same creamy, muted earthy tones.
The starter was a mash potato salad. This tasted OK - it didn't blow me off my seat.
Now, this I love. Uni, toro, swordfish, salmon, scallop, prawns all nicely displayed on a bed of ice. All tasted really fresh and definitely of top quality.
Another sashimi platter served in an ice bowl with some Japanese maple leaves for decoration. Slightly less variety than the first sashimi platter, but tasted great nonetheless.
The sushi platter came in a variety that had uni, salmon, toro, fish roe, squid, etc on top.
My cousin's cha soba was so neatly stacked up that he almost couldn't bear to eat it just 'cos he didn't want to mess it up. The tempura batter was light and crisp - exactly the way a good tempura batter should be.
The Saba fish was grilled to perfection. Lightly salted and cooked just right, the flesh was still moist and oozing with flavour from the seasoning. Squeezing fresh lemon on it gave the dish that extra zest and kick.
The stewed salmon which another cousin ordered and slurped up every single bit of.
The soft shell crab sushi roll was delicious - the crab wasn't too soggy nor oily and had just the right amount of crunch.
Rainbow roll - love the name and the look. Loved the taste even more!
KŌ
InterContinental Hotel
Tel: +65 6825 1064
August 25, 2008
Mango Meringue
I was delighted when my mum's friends brought over pastries from The Patissier the other day. I've been wanting to try their pastries but never got the chance to because every time I went past the shop it would be close.
Sitting pretty inside the box were four mango meringues with fresh fruits. The meringue wasn't like the usual ones that you come across that are stiff, white and fluffy inside. This one almost tasted like sponge cake. It was different but nice, and the fresh mangoes, strawberries and custard complemented it well.
A pretty cross section of the pastry of which I had two helpings of! :)
August 22, 2008
Restless
Thank you to all who left comments on the blog, sent me emails and sms-es to ask about my family. Things are better and my dad's recuperating at home.
Anyway, so I was watching the National Day Rally speech and as always, there's the singles and baby issue. I'm one of those problematic singles whom the Government is trying to pair up and procreate to sustain the economy. It's true, though, what PM Lee said, most singles actually do want to get married, but somehow finding that special someone seems to be an elusive search. Like seriously, WHERE can one go to meet men?
Don't tell me from paddling, 'cos I've been paddling for so many years and I've never met anyone. Dragonboat competitions though, especially international ones, are great venues for ogling at fine specimens of the male species. Us girls had so much eye candy in Penang that we were going delirious from seeing rippling muscles everywhere we looked. *faint* OK, I'm starting to sound like Carrie Bradshaw sans the glamour, high fashion and even higher Manolos. I shall stop.
Well, as I'm still searching, good friend olduvai sealed her marriage vows with her R, who also happens to be monoceros' bro, in a lovely and simple ceremony that took place at Brown Sugar restaurant. So happy for them!!! Am glad that monoceros and I had a part in bringing the happy couple together!
In other random musings, I had decided, very bravely, two weeks ago that I wanted to take part in a full marathon at the end of the year. I thought, why not, new challenge, and it would force me to run even though I'm not exactly very fond of running such long distances. But having done the half-marathon before, there was no good reason for me to do the 10km - I mean, we should be progressing and not regressing! And another good reason to run the full marathon is that I get to participate for free as a member of staff (OK, so now you can probably guess which company I work for), saving me $80+. So anyway, I was really gungho the other day and proceeded to register myself on the company intranet site. But alas, my employee ID was not recognised by the system! Maybe it's the heaven's way of telling me that I should just stick to paddling and not attempt such running feats!
On the food side, I ate at Ku recently, the Japanese restaurant at Intercontinental Hotel. Great food, great service, lovely ambience. I'll have to get the pictures from my cousin. And by the way, I love the revamped Bugis Junction basement - so much food and snacks! I feel like I want to eat everything.
I've also been sussing out lunch places around Raffles Place. I think I'm going to start chronicling my lunch adventures for lack of anything else interesting to write. I feel like I'm starting to become a very boring person. How ah???? Need to do something!!!
Suggestions welcome.
Mood: Restless
August 14, 2008
The Near Loss of a Parent
I've been very quiet of late, but for good reasons. But first, a bit on Penang. The races were extremely good fun and my team did very well. The women's team came in 8th out of 25th women's teams, beating the Singapore national team and NTU who are our main rivals in Singapore.
On 5 August, a day after I returned from Penang, my dad was supposed to have undergone an ear operation to treat his otosclerosis condition. However, about 30min after being administered General Anaesthetic, he had a cardiac arrest. There's more to this than I'm allowed to say at this point in time, but the thankful thing is that my dad has survived the ordeal.
It was a very scary five days for my family while my dad spent five days in the ICU. He's been transferred out of the ICU but is still in hospital and my mum, sis and I have had to go the hospital every day.
The scheduled ear operation never took place; instead something life-threatening came to hit us right in the face out of nowhere. It was a shocking and scary situation to say the least. So shocking that for awhile, we couldn't quite comprehend or believe the reality of the situation.
Even though my family has never been religious, we prayed to the heavens above during those critical hours while doctors were resuscitating him. We called upon our friends to pray to their gods. We went to make offerings to our ancestors who have passed on to the other world, calling on them to protect those of us who still exist in the earthly realm.
Growing up, you think that your parents are immortal. To imagine a life without them was/is unthinkable. It seems like they're always there. You never really stop to think about the mortality or age of your parents until something like that happens, and then you suddenly realise that your parents are actually old, their movements slower, their hair grey.
The fragility, uncertainty and unpredictability of life slaps you in the face; material things that seemed important just hours before suddenly becomes immaterial.
Anyway, there are now decisions to be made and actions to be taken. Good luck to us.