Green Screen and Lilac Cargoes

I've just been attempting to download the professional version of these stills that you see here, but apparently I need to have a codec, or a driver, or something before I can open the file, so now I'm trying to re-download it again, and lets' see how.

It's been quite a journey getting to this point. 

Because there're so many parts of the pipeline to look at and to take care of, and each part is as important as the other at different points in time. 

It's one of those situations whereby if you don't have one thing settled, you can't get to the other, and if you don't have that other thing settled, you can't head to the next thing, or the next, or the next either. 

It gets a little hard to explain sometimes, but what with us being the producers of both product/merchandise and entertainment content, it takes a little while for others to understand that- even as complicated as the production already is- our work doesn't start with the content, but with the product, and the distribution plans for it. 

If you don't have a product, you don't produce the content.

If you don't have a distribution, you wait till you get the ball rolling before you begin to produce the content. 

Such a perspective will not so hard to explain if you're coming from a Sales and Marketing POV but then now comes the other part, we're not focused (primarily) on B2C sales aka retail, and neither are we focused on churning out brand campaign after brand campaign after brand campaign.

Instead we're focused on B2B, where the product gets purchased in bulk by other entities who then include our product as a sort of bundle in their own sales- and then this changes the game. 

Because now whatever distribution method we have is a companion and/or a point of collection for customers who have purchased products and services from the other entities to whom we have previously made B2B sales to. 

And whatever marketing content we produce for our product has to be specifically tied in to the entities that have purchased our products (in bulk) previously too. 

If, as in this case, the entity that has purchased the product is a company that organizes festivals and live events, then the marketing content produced for the product has to be performable at said festival and/or live event. 

I'm not sure if creating a generic brand story or a generic brand campaign will be sufficient for a two hour live show under a tent in an outdoor venue. 

I'm also not sure if any random song bought and chosen without franchisable, expandable qualities will qualify as theme material for any live event or festival beyond what is usually plonked (as ads, mind) on media outlets and social media platforms. 

So the campaigns, and the material for the campaigns all have to be carefully calibrated, and the journey begins from the product, and the entities' audiences to whom the product is intended for and marketed to. 

There're quite a number of challenges when it comes to such a business and marketing technique, no least because it's not oft used beyond the entertainment sector and so people out of the industry will be skeptical, or take a longer time to understand. 

However the benefits outweigh the challenges.

Like how you can be very hands on from start to finish, you can establish whatever boundaries you might need to establish, and if you begin your content from an IP perspective, you'll have control and a much greater flexibility should you need to add in, or adjust your characters, scenes, plots, or poses. 

There wasn't much we needed to adjust for this particular shoot, which I shall refer to as Part 2. 

What we did need was space, green screen, a place to put the Bluetooth speaker, a rest area, and a make up corner. 

I wish I could show you the (corporate color) lilac cargo pants that we specially ordered for the purpose of this shoot, but then the only pictures of the pants I have are of the dancers wearing them on site, and they're still under NDA.

But we have these. 

And although they don't look much right now, I'm glad for them.

It was an excellent, professional crew that we had on site that day- people who knew what it was they were doing, people who were good at what they did, and people who were enthusiastic in everything they did. 

There weren't many outtakes.

And we got all the footage we needed, as a group, and as solo. 

We're now in a phase where we're slotting out where all this footage will go, and I'm pretty sure they'll go places. 

After all, they're part of a much wider franchise, a meandering journey, and in and of themselves, actually hold a deeper meaning too. 

Daffy @ Marina Square

It was one of those afternoons where we decided it better to go for a short ride rather than a long one. 

From where we are, a short, comfortable ride can only mean two destinations: Either we head westwards towards the Marina Barrage, or we head eastwards towards Changi Airport. 

It's either one or the other. 

I had wanted to go to Changi Airport (don't ask me why) but my companion decided that the other direction was easier, more scenic, and maybe more food that we could have for dinner before making our way back.

So towards the Marina Barrage we went. 

Not before making a pit stop at the shop near the Marine Parade Polyclinic behind Parkway Parade to pump air into our tires first, though. 

(Don't laugh at this non-descript shop- it might not have much of a branding but it's very popular with the family-type cyclists in the neighborhood and the uncles on their market bikes as well)

I have no pictures of the scenery along the ride. 

Today my attention had been very much focused on keeping the handlebars of Daffy straight, trying to gauge the space between Daffy and the other cyclists, and making sure the ground was clear that I wouldn't fall or anything of the sort. 

Of course, I've also grown pretty familiar with the scenery- even that of the Marina Bay Reservoir and Barrage- and so I don't really stop to take touristy style pictures anymore. 

That doesn't mean that the route isn't scenic, nor beautiful.

It is.

Whether you're on the PCN going towards Fort Road with all the trees lining the shore, whether you're on the bridge crossing over towards the Barrage side, whether you're at the park with the gorgeous view of the bay, the Supertrees of Gardens by the Bay, or MBS in front of you, the view is beautiful.  

At another time I might have stopped to admire the scenery in front of me.

But not today. 

Today I headed straight along one side of the reservoir's shore, crossed the bridge that overlooks the open sea on the other side, and into the barrage area itself. 

Again at another time I might have turned left towards the breakwater where the view's one of the loveliest this side of town (it reminds me of Labrador Park).

But today we went down Gardens by the Bay, up the Helix Bridge and towards Marina Square where we parked our bikes at one of the banisters and headed inside for a meal. 

I Had Indonesian @ Five Foot Lane

Okay, so this doesn't happen very often, but in order to write this article I actually had to google the name of the restaurant/cafe that I knew was located in the basement of Funan Shopping Mall.

It's not that the name's hard to remember. 

Just that we've always been referring to this place as the 'Indonesian food place in Funan' and so haven't quite had to call it by its name. 

It would do well for me to keep the name of Five Foot Lane (Indonesian food) in mind from now on, however. 

Because their food's good, and I'm pretty sure the story behind their name is gonna be good too. 

I was first introduced to this place by a friend who frequents the area. 

When told of its location ("Basement 1, Basement 2, somewhere there la") I had assumed it were one of those little spots in the food court setting where you bought your food dabao style then went to find a place in the general seating area to sit down. 

So imagine my surprise when I found out it was in fact a sit-down place, a proper restaurant/cafe with its own brand, its own seating layout, its own wait staff, its own system.

I don't have a picture but one thing that stands out about Five Foot Lane is her decor.

You know how a good number of Indonesian restaurants tend to go heavy on the dark shades, the carvings and the (teak-colored) woods? 

Not this place.

She's remarkably bright, lively and cheery. 

I'm always taken in by the oranges, the greens, the blues and the reds. 

But I'm even more taken in by the food.

They do it really good here.

There've been a couple of dishes that I want to try, but so far we've mostly gone for these two. 

The beef rendang.

And the smashed fried chicken. 

Both of which come served with a very pretty plate of rice that's got little pieces of keropok crackers, achar and little strips of egg omelet. 

I'm always impressed by the way they serve their rice- a far cry from the basic plate of rice that, like how in other (reputed) Indonesian restaurants I've come to expect. 

In fact, so good is it that I'm rather comfortable in having the rice on its own. 

There's no question that the rice grains are warm and fluffy, and that the fresh achar of cucumber makes for a crunchy sweet/sour accompaniment to everything else you order. 

I had worried that the beef rendang would have pieces of dry, coarse beef, or that it be too spicy or too oily. 

But no, it wasn't like that at all.

The beef chunks were of the right size- not so huge that you had to tediously chew through it, but not so small that made you feel like you were eating leftovers. 

It wasn't too spicy nor too oily either.

I mean, there was the spice, of course, and the chili, and the oil, but they don't make for a greasy, oily meal and the sweetness of the gravy makes it fantastic to be dunked over your rice. 

So good is it that I've found it a little hard to drop the gravy after we've finished all the beef. 

But it feels weird to dabao only the gravy away with no other ingredients especially since by that time we would have finished eating the smashed chicken- with cheese- too.

I don't know the difference between the chicken with cheese, or the chicken without. 

So far we've always gone for the one with cheese.

Apparently that bit of dairy makes the chicken more appetizing. 

And I have to agree.

The cheese doesn't take away the flavors of chicken that's been fried. 

Neither does it overpower the delicious taste of fried chicken skin. 

I like to think of this dish as a variation of a chicken cutlet, because at first glance that's what it kinda looked like, but unlike many places where the chicken's simply chucked into the oil without any care nor heart, here it's very well done. 

The skin of the chicken is lightly breaded, not heavy, and whilst there's a satisfying crunch in every bite, the chicken itself is remarkably tender, easy on the teeth and the palate, and surprisingly juicy as well. 

It's often very difficult to decide whether I like the chicken or the beef more. 

Both are similarly good.

But these aren't the only dishes they have at Five Foot Lane. 

They've got noodle dishes (there's a goreng somewhere I think), rice dishes, meat dishes, and vegetables. 

Perhaps one day I might go for some of the other offerings on the menu. 

Or perhaps I might go for their dessert. 

They've got something like corn fritters (if I'm not wrong), and even if I can't figure out what it is I want, there's always Indonesian chendol. 

Wagyu By The River

So it took me a bit of search on Google Maps before I found the name of this place where I'd gone for dinner a couple of months ago. 

I don't usually have to google the name.

It sticks in my mind most of the time.

But maybe I was a little rushed this evening.

And maybe I had been too occupied trying to figure out what else was interesting on their menu. 

To be honest, I'm not sure whether the place I went to was Wagyu Aburiya: Steak and Sukiyaki, or Yamakita Tempura & Tapas. (Google Maps says one thing, Google Reviews from the same maps shows another)

As F&B is, it might be both, but I know I had both wagyu, and tempura during that evening there. 

The location of this particular place is not the easiest to find.

Neither is it the most difficult. 

It's easy to spot if you're coming in from the Studio M side- the building in which it sits in is just opposite. 

It's slightly more difficult if you're coming in from the banks of the Singapore River, because whether you're walking on the Alkaff Quay side of the River, or the opposite side, you'll have to keep going until you get to Alkaff Bridge, and then the restaurant is in the building right in front there.

This evening we were coming in from Orchard, Killiney and Kim Yam Road, so along Mohammad Sultan we went until we turned into Nanson Road. 

It was early when we arrived, so when given the choice of indoor or outdoor, we chose indoor, right at the counter looking over the open kitchen. 

The layout here at Wagyu Aburiya/Yamakita can be described as casual elegant.

Meaning that whilst you may not get the very proper and very elegant table setting that you'd find at restaurants elsewhere, neither will you get the super affordable, bright, cheery, (sometimes gaudy) colors of plastic plates and bowls.

There's an order to their table setting here- paper napkin, chopsticks, tea cups, spoon- the more I looked at it, the more charming I thought it felt.  

I didn't waste too much time admiring their cutlery and crockery, of course. 

There was the menu. 

Which unfortunately I didn't get to seriously browse, because by the time I looked through the menu, our orders were on the way. 

This evening we decided on a dish of wagyu beef cubes stewed dry.

What the sauce consisted of, I don't know, but the beef was tender, easy to pick up with my chopsticks, and incredibly tasty. I loved how the yolk of the beautifully poached egg broke apart at a single tap, and how it flowed so gracefully over the tender cubes of meat. 

Sometimes we forget just how nice runny egg yolk goes with beef until we have it once again. 

There was a bowl of soup- a sort of beef broth, I think- that was thick, rich with flavor, and had cute little slices of beef swirling about inside. I was more taken in by the broth than the meat- I don't know why. 

Maybe it was very heartening. 

And even though it were a warm day outside, it was surprisingly comforting. 

Perhaps that's one unique way to describe the food here at Wagyu Aburiya/Yamakita. 

I know that there've been comments that their food's ordinary, pretty common, like not much of a big deal, but one has to savor their offerings with an open heart and an open mind. 

This is not a place where the food's similar to that of an izakaya that's often full-bodied and full flavored.

Neither is this a place where the food's exquisite, delicate and a work of art aka omakase style. 

But it is a place where a tired soul can come in, order a sake, order a beer, and have familiar food to go along with it. 

You don't have to think.

You don't have to look for the X-factor within the dish.

You can just mindlessly guzzle down your beer/sake and keep your stomach filled. 

In other words, it's a place where you can easily just stone- no need to think. 

I didn't think too much about the food when our tempura arrived at our table. 

I just picked up my chopsticks and carried on eating.

I mean, there's not much you want to squeeze out of a weekend brain when faced with a serving of pumpkin and a serving of ebi in front of you.

But mind, the pumpkin was fresh, the batter was thick and crispy with a slight crunch, and every bite of the vegetable gave me a flavor of pumpkin sweet, batter salty and mushy smooth. 

It was very satisfying. 

Very comforting, sort of a clean-tasting dish with natural vegetable sugars. 

The ebi had a different sort of sugar, of course, this one with its natural flavors of umami. 

Did I manage to taste it out from the prawn?

Yes, a little.

But I was more interested in the texture- you know, that distinctive bouncy chew and 'burst of the sea' that fresh seafood give you- and the way the chew balanced out the crunch of the thick tempura batter. 

So fresh, and so tasty were them both that I didn't even use the sauce. 

Actually, by that time, I didn't even bother with the chopsticks, simply picked up the tail of the tempura coated ebi with my hands. 

A little out of etiquette (and maybe even a little inappropriate) but I wanted to be as comfortable and casual as I could- what with environment, ambience, company, and all. 

So you can imagine just how glad I was when a little surprise came up just when I finished my portion of ebi. 

Tempura ice cream. 

A dessert which I can never resist. 

And even though I completely missed out on what must have been its skillful preparation- the control of batter thickness and flame and fire- that's all right. 

The ice cream was wonderful. 

And I'll just have to wait for the next time. 

Hotel Jen Orchard Gateway

When it was the last time that we stayed here at this hotel, I don't remember now. 

It must have been at least a couple of years ago when the stage structure next to the Skate Park was still in planning phase. 

The Stage is nearly completed now. 

And it only begets to be seen how transformed this place will be. 

One of the best things about this place is the spacious, sunny, IG/Tiktok-worthy room. 

Hotel Jen Orchard Gateway has one of the sunniest, cheeriest-looking rooms this side of Orchard Road.

It's so sunny, bright and cheerful that even the drawer of hot beverages looks pretty when seen in the bright sunshine.

It's the kind of room that defies what old-school decor used to be, and whilst it isn't minimalist (like some other properties in the area are), it isn't the place to find heavy wooden furniture, carved decorations and structures that belong to the 60s, 70s, and 80s. 

Everything here in the room gives you a sense of box-like, square-shaped structures. 

And it's very obvious.

Whether it be the bedside tables, the work desk, the window seat, the shower stall, and even the toiletries in the shower stall, everything's square square. 

We got a view looking across towards Selegie and the Istana, as well as downwards at the rooftop of Orchard Central this time. 

I'm not sure if one can consider the view prime but I'm glad that we got a high floor, and the view out our window this time was good enough for me.

From the sunny window seat I could look past the trees of the Istana towards the tall buildings that- from here- appeared to line along the coast. I could also see the skyscrapers of Bugis and South Beach right there in the distance, and, up close, the rooms on the adjacent building belonging to Hotel Jen Orchard Gateway. 

For some reason we didn't do a lot this particular weekend. 

We didn't feel like it. 

But we did take a wander around, going first to the new Taiwanese-inspired eatery at Orchard Cineleisure, then to the brand new Malaysian-style eating place downstairs back at Orchard Central. 

The offerings at the Taiwanese-inspired eatery were actually quite good- the snacks in particular- and at another time I'll want to grab a few and munch them along the way.

Today, however, we decided to lunch at the new Malaysian-style eating place, and although I had been keen to try the fried Hokkien noodles (done black sauce style) from one of the stalls, because both of us didn't feel like anything fried this afternoon, we settled for roast duck rice, and a bowl of dumpling soup. 

The skin of the dumplings was smooth. 

But it is the rice that deserves special mention.

Unlike some stalls that serve the basic white rice (with a lot of soy sauce), this one had been steamed with chicken stock, making an ordinary plate of rice taste vastly different from other stalls. 

I'd like to say that we wandered around Orchard Road a wee bit more but somehow I got tired, and so back to the room I went, but, not before heading upstairs to the pool area for a look at the view. 

Hotel Jen Orchard Gateway boasts some of the best views from their rooftop swimming pool, no joke. 

All at once you get a 180-degree view stretching from Centrepoint, the Istana (all those trees), across all the way towards the east where the presence of tall skyscrapers seemed to line the horizon towards Selegie, Upper Serangoon, and even Victoria Street and Beach Road. 

It's not easy to tell from up here by the presence of the skyscrapers from where the roads begin and where they end. 

They're like a fluid, clean, smooth line. 

Then again one gets a clear view of South Beach, Marina Bay Sands, the Marina Bay Financial Center, and the Raffles Place Downtown Core. 

It was interesting, seeing the shiny reflection of the late afternoon sun over the 70-storeyed Swissotel, the shorter Peninsula Plaza next to it, and MBS further up front to the right.

And it wasn't just the Downtown Core that I could see.

There was still the River Valley side, the Clemenceau side, the towering State Courts, and in the distance, Pearl's Hill, and Wallich of Tanjong Pagar. 

I'm not sure if the view here in the daytime is as good, or better, than that of the night.

It depends, I suppose, whether you're more interested in twinkling lights, the laser light show from the 'ark' of Marina Bay Sands, or distinctive landmark structures like these that you see. 

Me, I preferred the day view. 

I guess it has something to do with me being born and bred here. 

Because all at once you get to see how this little island had been laid out, how it had been planned, and how rapid our country's development had been. 

It's not everywhere that you get to see public housing right next to government offices. 

Neither is it everywhere that public housing consists of a few blocks clustered together in so intimate a space that makes you wonder what it was previously, and, if it weren't public housing, what it might have been.

It wasn't that I didn't like the night view from the hotel's poolside.

There were lovely parts to it. 

Especially seeing the fireworks of National Day with the rest of the guests whom mostly occupied themselves trying to capture the colorful bursts amidst all the smoke.

I had wondered if the same crowd would be at breakfast the next morning, but fortunately when we got to the restaurant there weren't that many people yet there, and so it was easy getting for both of us a thermos of tea and a thermos of coffee. 

There's much to be had at Hotel Jen's breakfast- it's always a full spread to complement different palates and appetites- but for some reason I decided to do local this time by having two fried eggs, a deep fried Chinese snack that I call butterfly bun (and which diet does not always permit me to have), and two siew mais. 

I can't remember whether I ate anything else. 

There might have been the watermelon and the rock melon. 

There might have been the bananas and a bit of toast. 

There might have been a small bowl of cereal, or a small bowl of yogurt too. 

Bus Ride Sights: Serangoon-Stevens

Not too long ago I went on a bus route which, despite my frequent bus rides, I had never gone on before. 

It wasn't that I hadn't seen these views before but that I hadn't seen them in such a way, such a mood, and such a time. 

It isn't every day that I get to make a trip from Serangoon to Orchard via Stevens, see, but there was somewhere we needed to be at over at Serangoon this particular afternoon, so, yep, I got the opportunity. 

Bus 105 from Serangoon begins at the bus interchange. 

From its berth the bus makes a right onto what I think is Serangoon Avenue 3 and then, after going past Zhonghua Secondary School and Nanyang JC, it turns up at this stretch I like to refer to as Lorong Chuan. 

Some people refer to the area as Braddell Heights. 

For some reason I've always thought of it as Lorong Chuan. 

This area is one of those places that people (generally) may not know very well. It's one of those areas that you either know, or you don't. 

And you will, if you study at any of the schools here- St. Gabriel's and Australian International School included- or if you live in some of the  houses/condominiums here. 

The bus took me along the stretch, then turned out to the junction that leads to Braddell Road, the Comfort Delgro Depot, and the Central CTE Expressway. 

After this junction the bus entered the estate of Toa Payoh, going down all the way before making a left, a right, then another left, after which you came upon this side of Toa Payoh.

It's a housing estate, yes- there are flats and shops and coffee shops, but there used to be some sort of a police department housed around here, and even now, whilst they've recently gone, a couple of office buildings and a self-storage space still remains. 

The bus heads towards Toa Payoh Central after this, but not before going past what I think has to be one of the last few remaining one/two-room flats from Toa Payoh's earliest days here. 

Bus 105 doesn't stop here, however.

Instead it heads towards a flyover- don't ask me its name- going past a couple of public housing blocks that overlook Balestier on the other side of the canal, then turns into Whitley. 

It's a sort of a whirl here- I'm really not familiar with this entire section other than it being the area of Catholic Junior College- but right after that the bus enters the area most of us call Mount Pleasant. 

Here I was in for a little surprise. 

One that I have felt for quite some time, but have never really figured out why. 

For us who don't know, Mount Pleasant is a zone that sits somewhat comfortably between the areas of Thomson, Toa Payoh, and Whitley. It is an area I've always felt to be a sort of connecting point between the Central part of Singapore (Toa Payoh) to the north (via the PIE) and to the South (through Stevens, and Thomson). 

Offhand I don't remember the route very well, but there's a turn that leads you to the PIE (and to the countryside areas of the north), there's a turn that brings you to Stevens Road and Orchard Road, and if I'm not wrong, there's a turn that heads you off towards Upper Bukit Timah Road and the western part of Singapore. 

There's something rather serene about this place. 

Something that warrants interested persons a quiet look.

The funny thing is that I can't quite define it.

And I'm not sure if many of us can, either. 

From here the bus made a turn- I don't know where- I stoned off- and all of a sudden I found myself traveling on Stevens Road going towards Orchard. 

It would've been lovely if I were able to write stuff about Stevens Road, but I'm rather lost here. 

Other than Singapore Chinese Girls' School, the former Raffles Girls' School, the new Mercure Hotel that sits near the junction of Balmoral, the Metropolitan YMCA (which has been around for the longest time), and all the condominiums, I know literally nothing about Stevens Road, and I won't go on further. 

Maybe one day I'll know more about this road and its vibe- how it comes out (suddenly) onto Scotts Road near Claymore and the Goodwood Park Hotel, but I'll hold it back for now, and just say that I got down at Far East Plaza, and went towards Orchard where I intended to be. 

FBG's Steak @ Serene Centre

It was a genuine surprise- I tell you- when someone told me that there was a good steak place at Serene Centre near the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden side of Botanic Gardens around the junction of Adam Road, Farrer Road and  Bukit Timah Road. 

It's not that a steak place doesn't belong to Serene Centre.

It's just that I always thought of the place as a 'hood hangout for the kids staying in the prime districts nearby. 

After all for many years the most popular sign at the building was that of McDonalds, and if I'm not wrong, a well known ice cream outlet on either the first or second floor.

Whether it be the first or the second, I don't know, because- until now- I'd never been there.

There'd never been a reason to.

But today my friend wanted to try the steak at this place called FBG there, and so we went. 

FBG, formerly known as Fat Belly, is one of those places that feels somewhat like a casual cafe with a dinner date vibe. 

Maybe it's the layout. 

Maybe it's the decor. 

Maybe it's the place that it's in. 

It can be either or- a place that you meet friends at, dressed in your regular supermarket outfit of Tshirt and shorts, or a place that you choose to dine in after a (date) hike through Botanic Gardens a short distance away down the road. 

I think of it more as a cafe with a casual dinner vibe.

Because, really, that's what it felt like to me when we got there around 5plus on a warm Saturday evening. 

The ambience didn't make me feel like I was underdressed.

Neither did it make me feel like I had to wear a face full of make up to dine there. 

The formality- as so often required in good steak restaurants- was pleasantly absent, and I found myself settling quite comfortably amongst the vibes there. 

It didn't even matter so much that we were perched on high chairs at the counter.

Because from there we got a chance to see the chefs work.

My companion had a marvelous time watching the way their stove (and the stove flame) worked whilst the non-chef me simply concentrated on the interactions between the chefs and the young (quiet-looking) wait staff. 

That's not to say we weren't paying attention to our food.

Of course we were.

There's no way that you won't pay close attention to what you're eating when you've got a plate of Blue Swimmer Crab Cakes right in front of you. 

Especially since their size, the way they're breaded, the way they're arranged, and even the hand chopped tartare sauce reminds you of the crab cakes you once had in New York and San Diego.

So it doesn't look like much here, but I loved how the crunch of the deep fried batter, and the soft, mushy texture of the crab meat that blended onto your tongue with each mouthful. 

There was that bit of stringy texture which you always get when eating crab. 

But there was also the soft, near-potato texture that sort of made the whole cake collapse in your mouth whilst complementing the batter and the slightly salty, slightly tangy tartare which you dipped your crab cake into. 

I only wish there were three pieces, or four or five. 

For the mains we placed an order of charcoal-grilled Wagyu.

I know it's wagyu- that I'm pretty sure, but offhand I can't remember which of the wagyu it was we ordered.

It might have been the 2GR Full Blood Wagyu MS 8/9, it might have been the Jack's Creek F1 Wagyu MS 4/5, or the Black Opal F1 Wagyu MS 6/7. I don't know what all these names mean- perhaps I should have asked- but if I'm not wrong, they kind of indicate which breed they are or where they come from. 

Ours might have been either the Jack's Creek or the Black Opal, because, if I remember what the wait staff said, ours came from an Australian farm. 

But whether it be from Australia, or elsewhere, I'm just gonna say that the meat was done very, very well. 

Tender, easy to pick up, easy to cut, there was no need for me to saw my way through a chonk of beef. All I needed to do was to turn the blade very lightly on the slice, and a cute little bite sized piece came apart. 

It does make a difference, I realized, when the fire is of the right consistency and the right heat. 

You have the juices of the meat, you have the rich, robust, rounded flavors of the beef, and there's only just that slight char which gives it a neat, smoky taste. 

The only problem, however, was that, having shared, we didn't count just how many pieces each one of us had and so we just kept eating and eating until there were just two left and we didn't know how much of the steak we'd each already had. 

Neither did it matter how much we'd already eaten- it was all finished anyway.

Fortunately we had made an extra order of Truffle Shoestring Fries which were crispy, delicious, and hot when brought to our table, and we had a fine time nibbling through them as we wondered where in our tummies the wagyu had gone to when we were still kind of hungry. 

Would've been lovely if we'd managed to order more of the other dishes on the menu, I would say. 

Because, honestly, I wouldn't have minded a Grilled Broccolini or a Grilled Cauliflower Steak- they sounded so interesting- and neither would I have minded a mushroom fricassee (whatever it is) with Thyme, Shitake, Shimeiji and Button mushrooms. 

If there come a chance, perhaps I will, that is, after I take a gander through the Botanic Gardens from the Cluny Road side.

After all, over here, the price, ambience, service, food, all seems to make better for a carefully planned post-workout, post-hike date rather than an impromptu "kitchen closed tonight, we eat out la" sort of dinner space.