Duck Rice @ East Coast Road.

There's only one place that springs to mind whenever somebody mentions roast duck on East Coast Road.

Mei Yuen.

I don't know if there're other places (there should be- it's a long road) but it's only Mei Yuen Restaurant that I think of, and only Mei Yuen Restaurant that I go to. 

It's not a fanciful place- you dont' get warm lighting on the ceiling, there's no tapestry on the walls, your plates aren't fancy, and the furniture's all unclothed. 

But it's a place where the food's good, and the technique's done with sincerity. 

I often wonder about the story behind this coffee shop aka restaurant. 

When did it begin?

Who began it?

What were their (old) patrons like?

And how was the world like when they opened their shop here on East Coast Road at that time?

Not just that, I'd love to know if this roast duck stall had always been run by the old uncle who now stands at the stall.

Or had it been handed down from someone else before?

There're actually a lot of questions I'd love to ask the elderly couple who run the stall.

Like, do they roast the ducks by themselves in the big working kitchen at the back of the dining space, or they order the duck from the suppliers at Ubi just down the road?

The roast duck here is chopped in the traditional way.

What that means is that one will needs a cautious tongue and a skillful hand when working through the meat with fork and spoon, and if you're the unskilled type (like me), you're better off eating it with your hands instead.

One thing I like about the rice here at Mei Yuen is just how unpretentious it is.

For $5 a plate (thereabouts) you get a huge plate of rice, skillfully chopped pieces of duck, and a generous slather of sauce. 

They're very generous with the sauce. 

A little too generous sometimes. 

Maybe it's the Cantonese way?

I'm not sure. 

Mei Yuen Restaurant is distinctively Cantonese, however. 

You can tell from the name.

You can also tell from the plethora of Cantonese (and Mandarin) songs that the chicken rice stall owner plays through wall mounted speakers inside. 

The Cantonese language blends so familiar here that one nearly imagines they're in a Kowloon eating house when listening to BEYOND, or Andy Lau.

It adds to the atmosphere. 

The other thing that Mei Yuen is popular for is their pork wantons. 

I kid you not when I say their wanton noodles is one of the most popular dishes here. 

It's the dish that people drive all the way down here for. 

And it's also the dish that makes me want to come back here time after time. 

I don't take their pork wanton noodles (maybe I should) but it's their soup that I love, and this big bowl of clear, tasty broth, with fresh, perky, smooth-skinned wantons is what I love coming here for. 

Yes, you see more of the big vegetables that they add to the soup, uut trust me, there're about sixteen of these little babies bobbing about inside there and it's so good that I can forgo the duck rice, and have the soup just on its own. 

I only wonder how early it is they have to wake every day just to roll these cute little wantons by hand all by themselves.

Because it's obviously handmade.

And the skin's exceptionally good. 

Geylang on a Sunny Day

These pictures were taken out the bus window during a bus ride a couple of months ago.

But because it's been a while and I don't quite remember to where I was going or when it was I went, I'll just put these here and perhaps one day the memory will pop up and I'll be able to tell.

hid

Geylang is a place filled with a mix of charm and mystery. 

It's a place that bombards you with her colorful signboards during the day,  glaringly bright synthwave neon lights at night, yet make you wonder what lies within her hidden spaces and little back alleys.

Yes, she's known for her distinctive night life. 

But anyone who's ever explored the area will know that she possesses her own charms in broad daylight too. 

The bus I was on today had a route that trundled down past Geylang Methodist Church and Aljunied MRT. 

I know- because I recognize the junction at which the shophouses there house a medical hall and other shops- which the bus will then pass by before making a right into the (official) district itself.

One of the landmarks that marks the junction between Geylang Road and Aljunied Road is this one. 

I think it's a motor vehicle agency, although, judging by the looks of it, I'm not sure if the motor vehicle agency is still there.

Wouldn't be surprised if the cars have moved and a seafood place has taken over. 

Along Geylang Road the bus then goes down.

I generally pay very little attention to the lengthy stretch of shophouses here, because for some reason they tend to be either a minimart, a spa, a hair salon, a handphone shop, a coffee shop, or a restaurant.

Once in a while, however, there're some interesting ones.

Like this one here which looks like (just) another coffee shop, but in fact looks out onto the carefully divided property that hosts a seafood restaurant along the main road, a charity organization in the center, and the Singapore Badminton Hall at the back. 

You might not be able to see the structures of the charity organization- there're a couple of trees and shrubs around- but you won't miss out seeing the seafood restaurant.

They've got a gigantic model of a (cooked) crab plonked on the walls of the entrance right in front. 

The shop houses become slightly more varied after here. 

Besides the chuan chuan xiang grilled skewer restaurants, the hotpot restaurants, the Sichuan and northeast cuisine restaurants, there're the dessert shops, an adult shop or two, and then there's also the dim sum.

There're probably a couple of dim sum places here and there along the stretch, but Mongkok Dim Sum on Geylang Road and 126 Dim Sum on Sims Way the other side are probably the most well known. 

It's not just dim sum that people come here for.

There's the porridge, the salted soy bean curd and huge pieces of youtiao at a coffee shop further up.

And I think people come here for zichar, char kuay teow, Klang bak kut teh and claypot frog leg porridge too. 

It would be wonderful if I knew which of all the zichars served up the best, just exactly where the char kuay teow stall on this entire stretch was, or if one frog leg porridge shop was different from the other. 

But I've yet to know. 

One day maybe I'll extend the pictures beyond this road that's connected to the Kallang- Paya Lebar Expressway, and carry on looking about until I get to Geylang Lorong 1 where there's the Indian-Muslim eatery, and where marks the start of Geylang Road. 

Daffy to Suntec

We first attempted this 'digital nomad' ride a couple of weeks ago. 

And since we hadn't quite figured where or what the best place was, we decided to begin with Suntec City, which, if we go by bus is a straightforward route. 

By bike, however, there're a couple of routes one can take if you're cycling from the East Coast Road side (as we were)

My friend suggested we consider the PCN route.

But as much as it was safer and more scenic, I didn't feel like going the entire round of the Marina Barrage just to get to Suntec City, so I declined. 

The first time we biked to Suntec City we got a little lost after turning into Kallang Airport Way as we forgot to turn out and so ended up in Kallang Riverside Park with no inkling how to get out..

Somehow we got back onto the main road then went along Kallang Road towards Victoria Street before turning into Jalan  Sultan and Beach Road, then turning back out towards Suntec itself. 

The next time we biked to Suntec City, we decided to go via National Stadium- which, in any case, was an excellent decision.

The route- which you take going straight from Old Airport Road- is cleaner, devoid of heavy traffic and you get a slightly scenic view of the water. There're a couple of circuses you have to turn, of course, but it's generally smooth and (to my surprise)  I didn't find it hard to turn out onto Nicoll Highway.

I'd originally imagind it to be a very difficult one. 

But traffic on that late weekday morning was light, and I didn't have much of an issue keeping to the last lane all the way past Nicoll Highway MRT station until the first turn into the Suntec City car park.

It's one thing to cycle for leisure.

It's another thing, however, to cycle as a digital nomad.

There're many things to consider- like where do you park the bike, how much of a cleaning/makeup kit do you need to bring- and then there's all your work barang barang with you. 

Shoutout to the MUJI backpack which I used a while back (and which I almost, but didn't throw away). 

There's ample space, the support's great and whilst it does keep the perspiration on your back the same way any backpack will, it does not linger on the fabric, thus making it very easy to clean. 

The only beef I have with cycling to Suntec (so far) is the trouble of the return journey. 

Because whilst it's possible to go on Nicoll Highway in broad daylight with little traffic, it's not possible to do the same thing on the return route where all the bottlenecked evening traffic begins from the Concourse and where every other vehicle is speeding back eastwards on the highway.

The first time we went back via the Beach Road route. 

The second time we decided to go via the park that's behind the Flyer. 

But chances are, we'll take the Beach Road route in future. 

It's a little dumb to take the latter route where- if you're going via Kallang Road towards Geylang, you have to exit onto Crawford Street right next to Beach Road anyway.

SMU Connexion: An Alibaba Cloud Event

I don't mind unusual venues.

But it does amuse the working me a little when I'm trying to find a particular venue in a city campus, only to find out that it not be only me who is lost, but also second/third year undergraduates of said campus as well.

The students actually looked puzzled when I asked if they could direct me to the Greenhouse. 

Took them a bit of thought, and a couple of minutes- plus a keycard tap on the door (how were members of the public going to get in?) before I finally found the venue, which, apparently, was part of a co-working space on one of the upper floors.

Honestly (because I hadn't looked at the agenda) I had no idea what to expect. 

And so it turned out that most of this afternoon was spent listening to panel speakers and award recipients making their introductions in person, or in video.

The panel speakers were an interesting segment.

The organizers had arranged the program such that it were an award presentation followed by a panel sharing, then an award presentation, then a panel sharing again. 

I didn't get to hear everything, save for three which I was present for, and managed to hear. 

One was about Web 3, one was about medical and the other was about... something else. 

So I might not have an inkling of what it was they said, but if they were the last group, I know for sure that it was for them I wished to have a more attentive audience. 

Because even though they were doing good work, and sharing good points, they were unfortunately speaking to an audience much devoid of people- a majority whom had slipped to the back for early afternoon cocktails.

I'll be honest.

I don't know who it was that plonked the bartending counter at the back of the room but the sounds of shaking and all that were very distracting, and a tad annoying. 

The guys sitting up front- moderator and emcee included- tried so hard.

I do wish I could remember clearer what it was they had discussed. 

If I'm not wrong they might have been the group sharing something along the lines of AI in the medical industry- making diagnoses using AI, perhaps?

Whatever it was they were sharing, it were good points being raised, and now I wish there been a couple of slides to take pictures of, or maybe a deck or two for the office documentation file. 

Strangely enough it was the first panel that made the strongest impression on me. 

Not because I was bowled over by what they said, but because out of three that were on the panel, two were in tandem and the last- the most senior one, interestingly- was not. 

In fact after a while it felt like the last guy was a contradiction to the work of the other two. 

Maybe it was the position that said speaker was in.

I don't know. 

VCs and investors tend to scrutinize, play devil's advocate and raise an eyebrow at everything and anything, but OMG it is rare that I see a VC who is hardball at not only the work of the startup but (nearly) the entire industry of Web 3.0 itself.

I mean it's fine to be critical and everything but oy, usually advice is granted to get things going in the right direction, not contradict it all the way to the other side. 

I kid you not when I say that this had a most pessimistic vibe. 

There's a difference between saying that Web 3.0 is not new and that the term was coined 20 plus years ago versus saying that Web 3.0 will (may) collapse the same way that the dotcom bubble burst several years ago. 

(Dont' transfer your sense of betrayal at the deflated bubble to everyone else, ey?)

At another event this might have turned into some sort of debate. 

But everyone was remarkably polite.

I have to give applause to the other two panelists. 

Had I been on the same panel I might have worked myself up into some sort of reactive reaction and countered his rather pessimistic, tsk-tsk type of (wisdom).

Perhaps they were convinced enough of what they were doing to know that they'd continue having sufficient to do what it is they were intending to do. 

I thought VCs existed to fund people who were attempting to solve problems. 

I guess not necessarily so. 

Still it wasn't too depressive an afternoon at this co-working space in SMU.

To the very least I got a glimpse of which territories Alibaba was involved in, and I got an introduction to the industries that they were interested in.

The Philippines is one major market. 

So is Thailand, Vietnam, South Asia, and Indonesia. 

Wherever they might be, it is a very diverse range of industries we're seeing- bioscience, agriculture, medical, logistics, data acquisition, and so on.

It's a bit of a pity that I can't recall much of what I heard from the panelists and the introductions that day, but that's just how some events are.

Perhaps in future I'll make sure to attend these events in a better frame of mind, and I'll make sure I'll come back from them with a more solid impression than the sweetish cocktail and the half glass of Pilsner I attempted to drink. 

Xin Wang's Food

Chicken curry is generally not the first dish that comes to mind when one thinks of when dining Xin Wang.  

But (surprisingly) they do theirs rather good. 

I'm not sure what the comparisons are, but the curry we had tonight at the Bugis Plus outlet was actually quite good. 

Perhaps someone might say that the curry isn't thick enough, or that they've stinged on the coconut cream, but I didn't think so.

The chicken curry here comes served to you with two (three?) pieces of chicken all cooked till tender. Chonky pieces they are too, whether it be the chicken drumstick or chicken breast, so no worry that it won't be a full meal. 

Along with the curry comes a piece of warm bread. (I think you can choose rice if you want, but we always choose bread) 

And in case you want more carbs, there're plenty of cute little potato wedges swimming about inside. 

I like the flavor of the curry they serve here. 

It's not rich to such an extent that your stomach will feel overwhelmed if you finish the whole bowl.

Neither is it so thick that you feel it cloying in your mouth or your tongue after each spoonful. 

It's light enough that you can drink it like it's some sort of soup. 

And it's creamy enough to make you feel like you're drinking broth. 

This chicken curry makes for a very fulfilling meal. 

Same thing too with the beef hor fun. 

Beef hor fun is a dish that's sometimes hit and miss.

Done well, you'll get a plate of great wok hei and smoky, tender slices of beef. 

Done not well, however, and you'll be served a plate of over-fried, very oily hor fun with pieces of tough, chewy beef. 

You never know what it is you'll get.

Neither will you know of its consistency. 

Xin Wang makes it like the former. 

Yes, there's oil- I could see it shine all over the thick flat noodles- but it didn't taste too oily, nor too greasy, and the texture of the noodle went very well with the many pieces of thick, tender slices of stir-fried beef too. 

Peking Duck @ Peach Garden

My friend had some sort of voucher at this Chinese restaurant in Chinatown Point. 

Asked me whether I wanted to go.

We talked a bit about what we would order there.

As it turned out, the place was known for its weekend dim sum selection, and its Peking Duck.

My friend thought the duck a good thing to have for lunch- the Cantonese in me was in full agreement- so we went.

There're two, or three Chinese restaurants that Chinatown Point is known for. 

The first one is on the ground floor right next to the side entrance and near Chateraise. 

This one- Peach Garden- on the second floor, tucked between a Korean food place and a Japanese-style collagen hotpot place, boasts a bit of second-floor view where on one side you can look out towards People's Park Center on Eu Tong Sen Street, and Parkroyal Pickering Hotel on the other. 

Anyone who has had a taste of Peking Duck will tell you that it's very hard to not fall in love with it. 

Because, unlike roast duck or roast goose, it's prepared in such a way where the taste, texture and feel are overall different. 

I don't know if it's the crepe making the difference. 

Or the sweet sauce, which varies from place to place, by the way. 

Some places- like my regular old haunt- which closed down at Odeon Tower and reopened at Raffles City- serves it with plum sauce. 

Here the sauce is as sweet, but a little tangier. 

The thing is, I don't know how to tell the difference between one good Peking Duck and another.

It's generally all delish to me.

Maybe the only things I can tell are whether the skin is shinier, brighter, oilier, or crispier.

So whilst I can tell you that the duck skin here at Peach Garden seemed to be darker and slightly fatter compared to what I normally have, I cannot tell you whether one is better than the other.

Then again, I can tell you that their crepe skin was different too. 

Peking Duck is one dish which you must eat when it's hot. 

Not that it's inedible when it's cold, but I've found it to be way nicer when the skin's warm and crisp and the fat bursts in your mouth even as the oils go down your throat. 

Unfortunately I usually end up with cold duck skin near the end of the dish, and that's because I have this habit of spending too much time savoring the first few ones. 

It's happened at other places before.

It happened at Peach Garden today as well.

First few pieces were warm and crisp and oily- I ate them using chopsticks before switching to my hands- but twenty minutes of conversation with my friend after and the last few pieces were a little hard, and cold. 

My fault entirely, it didn't ruin the pleasure of chewing through the skin, the crepe plus all the cucumbers which my friend had taken out from his portion and left behind. 

Some places serve leek.

They here serve cucumbers.

I like both.

Especially if the vegetable, cold, firm and green, is refreshing. 

I pretty much liked this rendition.

Even though I did wonder if we should have ordered half portion (then we'd eat faster) instead of a full one, but then we could pack up the meat- in any case- and anyway there was space enough for another dish. 

I thought of ordering some dim sum. 

My friend however opted for the sweet sour pork.

Which, I tell you, was a great idea.

Not every place does it in such a way where there're no pieces so hard you can't chew through, or a sauce so cloyingly sweet you feel awkward after.

Their chunks were chewy, their sauce was fruity, and there were cute little bits that I happily crunched through after all the bigger chunks were finished.

By the way, the presentation of the tea surprised me. 

I'd thought it would come in a regular white tea pot like most Chinese restaurants do. 

Instead it came served in this pretty, contemporary-looking shiny thing with a tea cup that can be doubled up for coffee.

Somehow it made the meal feel more fun.

Perhaps Chinese-style dining has become more casual post-Covid days, perhaps customers are now more accepting of light, casual dining, and perhaps that's what more and more places are now attempting to do- switch up the image of tradition whilst keeping the quality, service and enjoyment of the food in tradition.

Bus Ride Sights: Hougang to Khatib

It's been so long since I last took this bus from Hougang to Yishun that I don't remember how long it has been anymore. 

There's never been a need for me, I suppose, in all these years. 

But today I was running an errand, and because the errand needed me to be at the Home Team NS Clubhouse opposite the Khatib MRT Station up north in Yishun, I went.

The bus takes a somewhat straightforward route that begins from Bedok Bus Interchange, trundles down Eunos Link, Hougang Avenue 3 and Hougang Avenue 2 before it makes a turn right into Yio Chu Kang Road. 

I got up the bus on Yio Chu Kang Road somewhere near the turn of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5.

The view becomes somewhat increasingly rustic as the bus moves along.

It's not that kind of 'village rustic' I mean- even though Kampong Lorong Buangkok still stands there- but the kind of rustic that reminds you just how the countryside of this island used to be.

You know, there was once a time when being upcountry and being downtown meant two very different things.

Times pass, people move, places change, but in a strange way, atmosphere somehow still remains the same. 

All along this road there're condominiums and construction and road works - it is the Seletar area after all- but look hard enough and the trees- the pockets of forest- are still there.

Doesn't matter that you'll pass by under the SLE as the bus trundles along, you'll still see the trees, plus a couple of junctions to which I don't know lead where.

I found it interesting how the view on one side differs from the other.

It's like if one side had more trees and views of buildings popping up from between the canopy, the other side had landscaped trees, terrace houses, and factories. 

I wish I knew what factories these buildings belonged to- but I don't- but I think they belong to the technology hub on the upper Ang Mo Kio North side.

Nearing the end of Yio Chu Kang Road, the bus made a right onto Lentor Avenue, passing by a series of condos on the left, under another stretch of the SLE, before going past part of the Lower Seletar Reservoir and finally into the estate of Yishun and Khatib MRT Station where I got down.

Home Team @ Khatib

I've never come here before. 

Not once, ever.

Heck, until I rang their hotline, I didn't even know this building existed this part of town.

But we have an effective department commandeered for queries like mine, and I'm glad to have been told that there were three of such clubhouses around the island- one in Bukit Batok, one in Balestier, and one in Khatib near Yishun.

To collect the little booklet I could go to any of the three. 

So I decided on Khatib. 

It seemed the most convenient. 

The Home Team Clubhouse @ Khatib is near the MRT line, near the MRT station, and a two-minute walk from the nearest bus stop. 

But because I hadn't taken the bus up to this part of Yishun in years, the Type A that is me decided to rely on Google Maps- just to be sure. 

We got the little booklet quite easily (the staff (who came out from behind some random door, by the way) and he seemed to know just what I had come here for. 

If that was the easy part, then the hard part- I have to say- was finding out just exactly where said staff were. 

See, the Home Team Club doesn't have a reception counter. 

Maybe once upon a time they might have had, but most of their facilities now work on a pre-registration online style so there's no need for anyone to greet you or take down your name or anything of that sort anymore. 

There was no counter.

The lift directory didn't show anything.

So we asked the staff at this store for help. 

Which they did- directing us to some check-in thing at the corner where, we, after fumbling a bit with the tabs, found the "Help" button and clicked on it. 

The staff came out not long after that.

There're really quite a number of facilities here in the club. 

On the ground floor there's a children's climbing playground that looks really fun. 

On the opposite side of the little road, outside the main building, there's some sort of pond where you can do a bit of sea sports, and then, at the back there's a full sized swimming pool complete with water play and splash pools for the younger ones. 

There's a Burger King, a cafe and a Saizeriya somewhere in the building. 

Then on the upper floors there're a couple of enrichment centers for children, like reading enrichment, something like that. 

We didnt' hang around on those floors much- there were groups of parents milling around and I didn't want to impose on the children and the crowds. 

So up to the (quieter) fifth floor we went, where from one side I got an excellent view of the greenery with the housing board flats opposite, and on the other side I got to peek into the members-only club, and a colorful-looking izakaya. 

Its' not a super fanciful place, this club house, but it's airy, there's a lot of space, there's a lot of rooms, and it's very open to the public- just about anyone can walk in. 

Perhaps the real charm of this place however is the fact that it's welcoming, non-imposing, spacious and so heartlander that just about anyone will feel comfortable to come.