Le Shrimp Ramen @ T3

A friend introduced me to this shrimp noodle place at the Basement of Changi Airport's Terminal 3. 

It was my first visit there. 

As it turns out, it would also be my last time. 

The outlet is closed now. 

Not just temporary- as many other F&B business are during this season of lockdown- but permanently. They've given up this space at the basement completely. 

Good thing it is, then, that there are other outlets all around the island- there's one in Paragon- and when the time comes I'll head there for a bowl of their shrimp noodles again. 

I don't know if I'll take the regular bowl, the large bowl, or the superior one though. Depends on the appetite for the day, I suppose, but whether I be hungry or not, the superior bowl makes for a very good choice. 

Especially if you're someone (like me) who fancies having the best of both worlds. 

In each bowl there are two (or is it three) freshly prepared tiger prawns of gigantic size, there are solid-sized boiled dumplings with smaller prawns and vegetables wrapped snugly inside, and a portion of ramen so huge that any diner who came with a strong craving for ramen would be satisfied. 

The broth, of course, is wonderful, very different from the local version of "hei mee" prawn noodles that we are used to. Bright orange, almost vermilion in color, and thick in texture, all it took for me to change my perspective of it as (just another) glorified prawn mee was a single spoonful. 

Yes, it was prawn. 

Pure prawn. 

Very umami, very rich, very much the taste you'd get if you sucked at the prawn heads, very much filling you with impressions of the seas.

Mother's Day 2020

There were no cakes to be had for the Mother's Day celebration I did with The Parent at home this year. 

Where on previous years I had the freedom of choice between Bengawan Solo, Four Leaves, BreadTalk, Polar, Chateraise and Cedele, this year- no thanks to the rules of the Circuit Breaker at that time- there were none of the cakes to be had. Starbucks had none. Coffee Bean had none. I even went to Jacks Place. There were no cakes too. 

I searched all the retail I could think of, I tell you, but there were none to be found. Not even the mom and pop bakery shops commonly found in the residential neighborhoods.  One shop told me they were only allowed to sell whatever remained in their cake chiller. The other told me that they'd stopped baking cakes and would I like to purchase a cake-bread (a sort of huge loaf generously slathered in rich chocolate and decorated) instead?

There was one place, and one place alone that did offer cakes. 

Paris Baguette. 

And they had cakes for sale because they made those cakes on site in the store. 

So I went. 

But (because) they'd limited the offerings of their cakes to (only) certain stores- l didn't know- the outlet I went to had run out of them by the time I got there.

So I got the next best thing. 

Macarons. 

Pretty, delicate, little macarons in flavors of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla individually wrapped and placed in a neat little box. 

I added a bright pink heart-shaped sticker. 

And on Mother's Day after dinner we had them, along with a slice of vanilla pound cake (bought from the supermarket) and mugs of our favorite coffee. 

the New Blogger 29 May 2020

The blog articles of April and May 2020 shall be said to be the most colorful of all articles in the six-year (it's been six years?!) history of shileejwel.blogspot.com. 

I didn't plan for it to be so. 

It just happened. 

One day I had a wee bit of problem trying to upload photos from the computer for a brand new post, the next there was a message saying that the blogger platform would be migrating from the current Legacy layout to a brand new one. 

In essence the message said, "New layout, new features, new this, new that, better for mobile, don't worry you're not losing your content (ahem MySpace), come click this button to try it and if you don't like it, don't worry, you can still switch back to the (old) layout. Some of you will see this new layout as your default starting end this month, but hey, don't get stunned, no worries, you can still switch back, it's fine. Take your time. But, umm, your blog will automatically be on this new layout by the end of July. No, you don't have a choice. We'll take your feedback- kindly leave us so- we love to engage- but yeah, you don't have a choice. You gotta move."

And so with it making no difference between now or July, welcome to the first article that's being banged out on the new layout, which, coincidentally (or not) works best on Chrome. 

So far, so good. 

Nothing's changed. 

My articles are all there. 

My pictures are all there. 

No issue with writing new articles, deleting drafts, adding new pictures to articles, or adjusting old articles whatsoever. Why, there's even a function for me to format the line spacing now.

Cool.

Just one thing: The font color of my articles used to be brown. They have been brown for six years. Five hundred over articles in the entire blog- all in brown. But in this new layout there is no more brown. There's purple, there's blue, there's green, there's red, there's orange and there's black. 

Just no brown.

And so because the OCD in me suddenly surfaced, I decided I was going to make my articles for April and May consistent with (this) first article that I'd decided would be written in green, so off I went to adjust the font color of all the articles in April and May. 

Let's just say it didn't turn out the way I expected it to. 

I don't know why.

Either I'd changed them too quickly and so didn't capture the new choice of color, or there was a glitch, or whatever, but it worked- just partial- and so, now I'm left with a good number of articles looking like a mixed palette of green decorated with random clumps of brown. 

The Tanah Merah Blues

This little island of ours may be just four degrees above the equatorial line, but as any local will tell you, it isn't every day that we have clear blue skies and clear blue seas like the Fiji and the Maldives.

And so when we do happen to be near the sea on a day when the skies and seas are blue, we take a picture.

Not just one or two.

But quite a few- and from as many angles as possible.

Some of us are happy with our gear of a phone. Some of us decide to be that little bit extra and end up using both a camera and a phone.

Whichever it is we decide to do, it is the memory of the moment that we wish to preserve.

And re-look at it again, we do.

You may find these pictures familiar.

That's because I wrote a piece about them not too long ago, but whilst those pictures were taken with my phone, these come from the camera that I'd brought out with me the day I saw these beautiful blue skies outside my window and on impulse decided to go for a quick bicycle ride.

And even though it may have been a few weeks now since these pictures were taken, the memory of that very instance when Daffy broke through the section of forested trees to the pathway that runs alongside the canal still sticks with me.
 
I won't so easily forget that sense of awe that filled me the moment I looked beyond the line of trees to the scene that you see in the first picture. Neither will I forget the sense of peace that this very scene brought me.
 
Having had a bit of ill-positive feelings associated with the Tanah Merah Besar area some time ago, it struck me that this very moment was one of restoration, of healing, of new beginnings, and that, even though I couldn't even remember when it was the last time I came here, she was waiting- with her serene, quiet, peaceful smile.

No more disquiet.

No more chaos.

Just a temporary goodbye to the landmarks of the city and a short venture into the untouched landscape of old countryside.

to Changi Airport

Either late March or early April it was when we decided we'd do a little detour from where we were and make our way to Changi Airport.

 

For the fun of it, and for the fact that I was a little curious as to how the situation there was.

 

By that time the business travellers were gone, the tourists were gone, and even the transit passengers were no longer coming in. All- if not most- of who the airport now catered for were the returning citizens and the permanent residents.

 

I knew it would be a quiet Changi Airport.

 

I wanted to know just how quiet it was.

 

So we hopped on the bus which took us somewhere around the central area of Tampines before going onto the expressway.

 

I don't know the exact route the bus took, but it made a turn and I suddenly found myself on the section of road that ran alongside the runways of Terminal 1 (or 2) and I knew I was nearing the airport.

 

The skies above me were clear. There were no sights of aircraft taking off or landing. There was no distinct thrumming of an aircraft engine. And parked neatly on the runways were rows of Scoot planes, their bright yellow tails shining in the glare of an early afternoon sun.

 

It was a pensive sight that hinted of a faint melancholy.

 

But it wasn't a depressive one.

 

For the planes were still there.

 

And waiting they were.

 

Sure, sleeping, right now they seemed to be, but awake one day they would- for the passengers that, four hour check in or not, would climb aboard them again.

Strolling Sights: Circuit Road

 

 

Not often is it that I get to do those kind of strolls that have no restriction of time, no destination, and no goal. But once in a while I awaken the hippie spirit that tends to lie dormant within me, and off I go to a place that I decide I shall be.

 

I'd planned to visit the childhood home of a close friend of mine. He used to live near the expressway, he'd said, so from the estate of Geylang Bahru (yes, the one I'd been to not too long before) I made my way towards the direction of the Pan Island Expressway, passing by a McDonalds outlet and a 24 hour NTUC along the way.

 

Across the bridge I went, up to the very floor where he said he used to stay, snapped a couple of pictures, then made my way back down.

 

Instead of returning via the route that I'd come from, I decided I'd forge ahead, so out from this neighborhood I went, crossed the road, and promptly found myself amongst housing blocks of architectural design distinctly familiar to me. (I'd worked amongst blocks of similar design for a couple of years)

 

There were probably eight or ten blocks altogether, each standing sturdy and tall side by side intercepted with nicely planted trees, shops, sheltered walkways, playgrounds, benches and paved paths in between, but here's the funny thing: I don't know the estate's exact name.

 

Yes, the estate may be collectively known as MacPherson, generalized as MacPherson even, but in fact it is made up of smaller housing estates that somehow had their borders extended further and further over time.

 

Three generations of housing blocks in this estate alone there seem to be- 60s, 70s and 80s- and all of them are so connected to each other that one area blends seamlessly into the other.

 

I know of someone who lived in Balam Road during the late 60s. I know of someone who lived along the expressway during the 80s. I know of someone who taught at the school nearby whose students came from the surrounding neighborhoods of Circuit, Mattar, Balam and MacPherson.

 

Where exactly those roads are, I admit I dont' know- I didn't bother to check- but safe to say that they lie within close proximity of each other, they're surrounding the (well known) market and hawker center, and are within walking distance of the river, which, by the way, whilst looking nice and neat like a canal today, possesses the currents of a fast-moving river.

 

I should know- I crossed the river right after a bout of heavy rain- and I would have loved to stop and admire the sight of fallen leaves floating atop the rippling waters, but I'd already lingered too long at one of the blocks and it was nearing time for me to leave.

Daffy, Power and Me

 

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to do a night ride of the likes which I'd not done since a long time before. A bit of a risk it was, I have to admit, first of which it being the season of the Circuit Breaker (where generally everyone was advised to stay indoors), and the second of which was that the hour was really, really late.

 

For a sense of how late it was, let's just say that I was at a 24 hour supermarket in Bedok at midnight- and that was the start of my journey on Daffy.

 

From there I headed into Bedok South Road (I didn't awnt to climb that Opera Estate hill) then turned out onto East Coast Road. From there I went down past Siglap then turned into Frankel Avenue (because I was always curious about this sprawling residential estate) before turning out back on Changi Road.

 

Down Changi Road I went, past Eunos, then past the Haig Road Food Centre and into Guillemard Road. Down this road I went- there was a fire station and a police station along it now- then came onto a junction.

 

Here I should have made a right.

 

Had I done so I'd have been somewhere along Sims Avenue and Geylang Road.

 

Instead I went straight- and promptly found myself on Nicoll Highway, which, of course, meant no U-turn, and no turning back. For a moment I did consider turning into the Stadium, but then thought better of it and decided to go ahead instead.

 

Nearing Suntec City I turned left into a park- of which  I don't know it's official name but everyone calls it the Formula One Pit park- and went along the route towards the Formula One Pit Building and the Singapore Flyer.

 

Turning out I found myself at the junction of Marina Bay Sands and one of the boulevards in the Marina Bay area, so ahead I went, passing by the Floating Platform, Mandarin Oriental and the Esplanade, then made a left onto the Jubilee Bridge.

 

Over it I biked. Midway I made a stop (totally not doable on normal days!) to take the picture of MBS. This is a sight that I don't think I'd see again anytime soon, and so, one for the memories. Finding myself outside the Fullerton Bay Hotel after that, I went ahead into the district of Shenton Way and the Downtown Financial District. The place was really quiet, I must add, and I don't mean the kind of quiet that comes with offices being shut for the night, but the kind of quiet that comes with offices being shut for a long time.

 

Having come this far I had to make a decision whether I ought to continue straight towards Keppel, Vivocity and Kampong Bahru, or to make a turn into Upper Cross Street and Chinatown.

 

I turned towards Chinatown.

 

Because it was nearing 2am and I wanted to get back eastside.

 

The route on Upper Cross Street took me past Lau Pa Sat, the temporary Telok Ayer hawker center and Club Street before I reached South Bridge Road. Along the way I made a detour into Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street- it isn't often that I get to cycle into these streets at night, much less when they are this silent.

 

I reached Eu Tong Sen Street not too long after, and then it was a straight route back down from there. On the spur of the moment I decided to make a stop at the State Courts building. For some reason I wanted to get a sense of it in the quiet of the night. This place had, after all, been pretty much a part of me for the last couple of years, and I thought it necessary to just stop and see the building(s) for what they were. Also, I felt it necessary to say a quiet prayer of thanks for grace, mercies and redemption.

 

I didn't hang around there too long, of course, very silly to loiter outside the State Courts, and went back out onto Eu Tong Sen Street. From there it was a straight road down, passing by the Central Fire Station, the hotel at Victoria Street, Bugis, Lavender, the factories near Kallang MRT, then Sims Avenue.

 

Into Geylang I then cycled- the fruits stalls remained open (the durian sellers were clad with masks over their faces)- stopping only somewhere near the Aljunied MRT Station to finish the packet of Kurma fresh milk that I'd bought, then it was into the eastside zone right after. (The route gets really straightforward once you hit Geylang)

 

Strangely though I'd actually cycled faster than I thought, and because the time had not come for me to return yet, I slow-biked my way through the little park.

 

And chanced upon this furry little friend.  

Strolling Sights: the 'hood of Geylang East

The choice was between the library of Geylang East, and the library of Marine Parade. Either way would have been the same, except that I knew the location of one, and I didn't know the location of the other. So- in the spirit of urban exploration- I decided to go to the one I didn't know.

The map indicated that the library wasn't very far away from where I was (within walking distance) so I grabbed the books I had to return, tossed them into my backpack and off I went.

From where I was I made my way to Paya Lebar Quarter, stopping first to get an egg mayonnaise bun from the bakery downstairs, then walked ahead to the Learning Institute before crossing the main road to where the map said the library was.

 

A quiet, interesting estate I found- with its own swimming pool- tucked right behind a couple of JTC flatted factories. Along the way there was a Hindu temple, and close by it, a monastery which- I've been told- is the Foo Hai Chien Monastery. 

The estate itself didn't seem like a large one- I dont' think it had its own bus interchange and it looked like there was no large shopping mall but there were rows of little shops, there were coffee shops, there was a school, a polyclinic, a major supermarket and of course, the library.

I did what I wanted to do (No, actually, I did more than what I intended to do- three new books on loan were in my backpack when I marched out) and because it was getting late, decided it were time to make my way back to Paya Lebar Square.

Which I did, following the beautifully curved path that lay beneath the MRT tracks above my head, relishing in the song of the chirping birds, the clear evening sky of dusk, and the surprising sense of peaceful serenity that seemed to entirely envelope me.

Bus Ride Sights: Paya Lebar 2020

The last time I did a Bus Ride Series of this very same bus route on Paya Lebar Road was in the December of 2017. That was three years ago. And even though I've gone up and down this particular road on this very same bus route many times in the last three years, somehow I've never done a second series.

 

The idea of it just never occured to me.

 

Until now.

 

Until today.

 

Where the skise were blue, my mind was clear, and I had the camera.

 

A good thing it was, then, I suppose, that on this particular day I had chosen a seat on the right side of the bus instead of on the left like I had done the previous time.

 

My route began from the bus stop somewhere close to NEX, where the bus then took a left and passed under the flyover that stands on Upper Serangoon Road near the Boundary Road junction. From there the bus makes a right into the entrance of Paya Lebar Road, passing by a Singtel building on the left and condominium under construction on the right.

 

From there the bus takes what is technically a straight road, going past little houses on the left and right, a couple of church buildings, then past Bartley Road East which then leads to the section that I call the shophouse zone of Paya Lebar Road.

 

Along the entire route there are only so few areas that still have shophouses. This is one of them. Two rows of shophouses that might have been from the 70s and one row from earlier days before. Who the tenants are, I don't exactly recall- I haven't actually got down the bus to take a look- but there's a provision shop somewhere (near the bus stop), there's a famous roast duck place, there's a place offering bak kut teh and youtiao, a pet store (I think) and a couple more coffee shops here and there.

 

Right after this zone comes the proper industrial zone. Polar opposites they seem to be in terms of architecture and design, but pretty charming at the same time. On the left you have the (newer) industrial buildings holding the companies of Charles & Keith, Breadtalk, LuxAsia and Tata, on the right you have companies large and small tucked into units of industrial buildings that are reminiscent of the late 70s and 80s: more concrete, more painted walls, less glass.

 

A little further ahead past A-Z Building and MacPherson Road and you come to the housing blocks that mark the estate bordering Mattar Road and Circuit Road behind. The estate of MacPherson is not very visible on this route- they're somewhere in the distance- and because the bus doesn't go there, all you catch is a glimpse.

 

Still that's good enough, because those housing blocks are an indicator of where you are, and you know that right after them is the PIE that slices right across and above your route, which, after crossing the exits, leads you straight into the second industrial zone of Paya Lebar Road.

 

This is the zone where there are light industries on the left and JTC storied factories on the right. This is the zone where a long coffee shop same as the likes you see in Changi Village marks the border to the estate of Geylang East, and where opposite sit the newly opened malls of Paya Lebar Quarter and Paya Lebar Square.

the CB diet Part 1

 

 

 

 

Here be pictures of some foods shared by a bro, whom, like me, has been caught in the two-month long lockdown that our authorities call the circuit-breaker.

 

Situations like these tend to bring out the best (or worst) of many people, and whilst some of us decide to re-look at chapters of our life, others decide that they shall grab the opportunity to demonstrate hidden capabilities and showcase them to the world.

 

Me, I'm helping with the showcase. ;)

 

By the looks of it (and this is only *part* of the menu) the diet seems to consist of fried bread, fried bread, fried bread, fried eggs, steak, bulgogi, chicken breasts, chicken nuggets.... and that's it.

 

Not too bad- fried bread and fried eggs are some of the bestest breakfast foods on Earth, chicken nuggets are fun foods, and well, it is hard to not love a platter of bulgogi marinated by the people from Don Don Donki.

 

By the way, I've been reminded to tell the world that this whole lot has been fried (!) with EVOO and, on occasion, sesame oil and on further occasion, worcestershire sauce.