Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Aaron Kwok Show de Reel 2009

I didn't quite believed that i would enjoy Aaron Kwok's concert, but i did. This is his opening act, coming out onto the stage with his body sprinkled in gold dust. His every move was accentuated by the gold dust falling lightly off his body. If you look closely, you can see it from this picture.

He changed his costume an awful lot of time! Here , a set of monkey bars descended from the celing. Aaron and his dancers pranced and worked their way through all the bars with ease, without safety nets and harnesses.



Awww, Aaron and his fast bike. This was the 4th segment. The third part involved Chinese dance with red ribbons.


The subsequent part shocked everybody. His stage in the middle of the stadium came to life like a big monster, spinning around like an amusement park ride. Aaron Kwok and his dancers were all in within the stage and they twisted and moved their positions according to the stage's movement.



Aaron called this his 450 degree revolving stage. Basically it moves 360 degree round one plane and 90 degree against another axis, so it adds up to 450 degree.



Just before the stage went back to its original position, Aaron timed his exit from the interior well, sliding off onto the middle of the stage just as it became horizontal. How cool was that?



Aaron's quite the showman. Look at his hot bod, and he wasn't shy about flaunting it either. Initially he spoke Cantonese to the audience, but due to the lukewarm response he received, he switched to Mandarin....and the audience started to roar with laughter at his jokes... not because they were funny, but because his Mandarin's pronounciation made some of the words totally wrong.


The multi purpose stage was awesome. In another segment, it stood vertically and the sides of the stage was opened up to look like 2 draw bridges from a castle. Aaron and his dancers who were dressed in Storm Trooper outfits stormed and conquered the castle.
.

Here's his most memorable hit 对你爱不完 ,



Fireworks kept popping out from everywhere to add to the visual effects.



But the best effect ( besides the damn cool revolving stage ) has to be the water canals along the sides of the stage. Everybody who was seated right next to the stage got soaking wet along with their idol.

Watch Aaron frolicking in his water canal :





Great concert with great effects. It was quite jaw-dropping to the point that i could forgive his mediocre singing, carbon-copy songs and lousy Mandarin......ohhh, and his 'hiao'ness


Saturday, June 27, 2009

Udders Ice Cream & 2am Dessert Bar

Udders Ice Cream recently opened a new branch in West Mall near my house. Its mascot is a cow with udders and its tables are decorated with comical pictures and funny stories of the cow.


The alcoholic in me prompted me to order the Baileys and Bourbon, which is made up of Bailey's Irish Cream with bourbon. Kenny's loyalty to local flavours led him to his Champion Chempedak (made of a smaller version of the jackfruit, chempedak) which has a weird chewy texture and burning taste. His 2nd scoop was the Gila Melaka, which was a combination of Gula Melaka and Atap Chee. Ice cream from Udders are pretty refreshing, although it gets a little sickening if you eat the whole cup, like we did.



A week later, we visited the 2am Dessert Bar in Holland Village. The dessert place occupies the second storey of a corner shop in Lorong Liput. If you go early, you get a nice sofa seat which is so comfy you feel reluctant to leave once you've settled in.



A Mumm Champagne and a Domaine Beucher Gewurtztraminer 2005.



Some fried calamari to let the stomach settle in before chomping on the beautiful desserts this place has to offer.



My order was DSS, short for Deconstructed Strawberry Shortcake. According to the menu, this dessert is made up of smoked white chocolate, wild strawberry panna cotta, pate de fruit, white chocolate rice krispies and rose petal sorbet. This is suitable for ladies who favour a little floral and tangy tastes in their desserts. Besides, I must say that it is visually appetizing as well although the lighting wasn't working in my favour.



This is Purple. It is made up of purple potato puree, cassis parfait, leather, lavender marshmallows and fruits of the forest sorbet. This dessert is not as sweet as conventional ones and is more suited to those who prefer their desserts that way.


Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Kermit the Frog and Cookie Monster : The Mystery Box

My favourite line : One measly cookie? Speech like that deserves five cookies!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Our Birthdays

In May, we gathered to celebrate Sheauching, Wen Lee and my birthday. We had our gathering at Shin Yen and Sheau Ching's place in Woodlands.


Shin Yen kindly prepared us Tom Yam steamboat with so much goodies. Just look at the scrumptious spread. Chui Ying also bought some very fresh beef sukiyaki and pork slices for the extra zest!


I was startled by a spooky fishball ( or should i call it fish-star?) staring back at me from one of the bowls. This annoying creature was specially requested by birthday boy, Sheau Ching. Hmmmm.....



Smile for the camera!





Cutting the cake....

And a group photo.


Friday, June 19, 2009

Kampung Glam

Due to encouragement by the 'gahmen' to visit tourist attraction in your own country than to travel overseas, i've obeyed them by going to places in Singapore that i've never been to. First up on my list is Kampung Glam, named after the Gelam trees that used to grow in the area.


Here i am, at the junction to Arab Street. This area has a very strong Malay/Islamic influence to it. It is no surprise that busloads of tourists flock here all the time while i was there.


Walking around looking for the Malay Heritage Centre, i finally stumbled upon it in one of the back alleys. I was pretty lucky cos it was Museum Week or something like that, so i got a free pass to enter the museum.


Here i am , posing with the museum after my tour. The building is known as Istana Kampung Gelam and requires about 90 minutes to complete the galleries within. In the vicinity are also displays of Malay musical instruments and a hall where schools put up Malay cultural performance at scheduled times to visiting tourists.


The shops at Kampung Glam and Arab Street are colourful and vibrant. Each row has unique designs and are attractive to the eye.


This is the main street leading to Sultan Mosque, undoubtedly the most prominent architectural design in Kampung Glam. The two rows of shophouses here mostly sell silk, souvenirs and pashmina scarves.


Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Ah Yat Abalone

After last year's buffet at Kuishin Bo, our boss decided for a Chinese lunch at a seafood restaurant just outside Jurong Birdpark, about 7 minutes drive away from our office. Peanuts for starters?


Their specialty abalone. This dish, abalone sashimi, can be either eaten raw...



or douched in the hot herbal soup to make it a little chewy and warm for those who don't fancy raw food. I tried both ways, but actually preferred it to be cooked.



Snow peas with squid. It was good, not too salty yet this dish was left pretty much untouched due to general dislike for snow peas. I missed out a photo of another of our main dishes, the Geoduck... it was my first time eating Geoduck. It was pretty much tasteless, and it takes on the flavours of the sauce in which it is cooked with. Compared to Bamboo Clams, Geoducks aren't that great.



Steamed fish is a must for any decent seafood meals. This fish was excellent, with lots of meat and it was oozing freshness too!


Cereal prawns... time to get your fingers dirty, guys!


Salted egg crabs... to get your fingers even dirtier!! My colleagues stopped calculating their cholesterol intake for the sake of this dish.



A playful chemist decided to try fried rice on salted egg crab combo....



The desserts looked so adorable i was regretting having it eaten. It was warm and has a nice sweet filling, coupled with the chewy skin slided down our throats comfortably. I loved it....!



Sunday, June 14, 2009

Penang Excursion Part 2

On the morning which we were due to fly back to Singapore, Chih Yin and Yew Leong brought us out for breakfast. After hearing that Ting Yi didn't bring us to the vital areas of Penang's UNESCO World Heritage Site, they decided to bring us for a whirlwind visit to these sites.


They brought us to this magnificent temple, Cheah Si Hock Haw Kong temple, in which Sun Yat Sen was guest for a while during his lifetime. This temple was marvelously maintained and looked every bit as stunning as it did during its heyday.



It was strikingly painted in bright red, with very Chinese motifs and carvings on its main building.



There was a praying hall on the 2nd floor of the temple. Chih Yin and I posed for a photo right at the entrance. We've both come a long way since our first photo-taking around Kuantan beach and Taman Teruntum about 11 years ago... haha....I was contemplating posting one of those photos here but decided against it =P


Certain rooms in the temple has been preserved to remain in their old-fashioned ways, with antique but slightly dusty furnitures. An old man, caretaker of the place, was very friendly and brought us from room to room and explaining every detail with us.



Far away at the other end of this room is a portrait of Sun Yat Sen. I wonder what this table was used for? Perhaps a feast? If i were sitting at this end and the other diner at the other end, i wonder how the conversation would turn out.... hmmm....



I noticed many buildings along Penang streets with intricate details in their pillars like this. I heard from Yew Leong that some of the buildings have been painfully restored just last year, in line with achieving the World Heritage Site status.


Some nice touches such as these red lanterns to add to the colour.



Just one last photo before we rush off to catch our plane~ Bye Penang!



Thursday, June 11, 2009

Girl's Night Out

On our 2nd night in Penang, we stayed out to see the brightly-lit city at night. Here we are, at the Church Street Pier and in front of the Hai Nan Town restaurant. The ambience there was soothing with its comfortable lighting and grand architecture.



This is a great photo with such a fantastic view. On the right, you are able to see the Church Street Pier gate, you could also see a little water right behind us as well as some colonial buildings.



Look at us, playing peek-a-boo with the bar's entrance.

We decided upon this bar, the quayside Queen Elizabeth II bar. It has a strategic location as it is built on water with a nice view of the quay.



We actually got seasick in this place, watching the yachts outside bobbling up and down....haha...the waiters at this place were extremely friendly and kept assisting us in taking our photographs. When my friend accidentally dropped her glasses out onto a ledge on the 2nd floor, one of the Filipino water immediately stepped out onto the awning to retrieve it for her. That's what i call a first-class service!



Let's see, a HOT CHOCOLATE for Ting Yi who was driving. A JAMES BOND for Ing Fei who is a veteran drinker. A PINA COLADA for the inexperienced drinker, Angie. Finally a MOJITO for me!