Some Very Good Sushi

I have a confession to make.

Rare is it that I can go to a place, have very good food, and afterwards, completely forget the name of the place, where it is located, what exactly we ordered, or even when it was that we went there. 

Today is such an occasion. 

Now, it's not because the food wasn't good but perhaps the brain hadn't been braining enough to remember just where, or what the name of the place was. 

What I do know is that I had gone there as part of a birthday celebration. 

What I also do know is that the restaurant was located in a strata mall, and given that I don't usually go to a lot of strata malls downtown, would likely have been either Cuppage Plaza or Far East Plaza, both in the Orchard area downtown. 

I don't think I'd gone to Parklane on Selegie Road that day.

Neither do I think I'd gone to Fortune Centre along Middle Road. 

If there be anything about this restaurant, it was that the place was intimately cozy, and small. 

I don't mean small as in small with dining tables and such.

I mean small as in small with an L-shaped bar counter that doubles up as a table and serving station and which can fit only 8 seats aka 8 single diners or 4 couples. 

During the time we were there, two other couples arrived, and that was it, the place was more or less full-house.

Maybe that's why they recommend reservations. 

My friend had gotten reservations for us this afternoon, so seats there were for us right away when we arrived. 

It would be lovely if I could remember what of the menu we ordered. 

But I don't.

So let me just plonk these pictures down and see what of all these lovely sushi I can remember. 

First up, there was, of course, tuna. 

No way would we come to a place as this and not have their tuna sushi. Prepared this way- handmade- fresh- is one of the best forms of tuna sushi one can have, and we were definitely not going to miss. 

It might be that the softness of rice makes all the difference.

Or the distinctive hint of vinegar in the rice itself. 

But it was enough to bring out the clean, yet distinctive taste of the tuna. 

If you ask me, the chew of the fresh, slightly chilled fish made one appreciate the softness of the rice grains more. I loved how moist the tuna was. I also loved how fresh it was that there was no fishy taste and I didn't even need wasabi at all. 

This afternoon we took the tuna two ways in what I call the sashimi style and the aburi style where the top of the fish is lightly seared with a flame and served warm. 

One too does not leave out the salmon. 

Not when salmon makes for one of our favorites of all time. 

We had it done the sashimi style, we had it in the aburi style, and we had it in the aburi style with mentaiko sauce. 

All three were so good. 

Mushed inside your mouth over your tongue, you at once got the burst of flavors not just from the fish but also the rice that somehow blended everything together.

There's something unique and special about having salmon sushi handmade right in front of you. It isn't just that you can appreciate the skill and service of the chef. It is that the rice is unquestionably moist and soft, and the fish, whichever it is you order, comes to you as high a quality as it is supposed to be. 

If the salmon or the tuna is meant to be chilled and cold with a texture chewy yet firm, then that is just how the fish on your plate will turn out to be. 

If it is meant to be slightly seared and served warm, it will be warm when the sushi is placed on your plate. There will be no hardening of the slightly cooked fish turned cold when it comes to you. There will also be no waiting time of service between one order and the other when you make yours. 

Your sushi is made right there on the spot, in front of you, served right there on the spot, and it is up to you whether you want to eat it straight away or wait. 

One of the sushi that we ordered this afternoon was Tamago. 

For some reason my friend, having seen me order it at Sushi Express, decided this sweet egg omelet sushi here worth a try, so he got one for me, together with two other sushi, one of which- if I'm not wrong- might have been the flounder fish, or another fish that is less commonplace found compared to salmon, or tuna. 

A Cartier Event

Going through some of the pictures in the "Meeting" album of my phone, I came across these that I'd taken a couple of years ago.

To be honest it feels like a lifetime.

Nine years. 

i don't exactly remember what my mind was like at that time. 

What I do remember is that the consultancy was just picking up, I was still working to make the complicated nature of our work sound coherent to others outside the industry, and I was learning to sound confident all at the same time.

It wasn't just for a professional reason that I agreed to go there.

There was a personal one too.

Victoria Concert Hall (due to SSO) has always been associated with classical music, opera performances, oratorios, and the like. Born and bred here, local citizen me- with years of classical piano training behind her- had never stepped foot inside, not for a concert, not for a performance, not for anything, never before. 

There had never been any opportunity. 

But this evening came one. 

And I wasn't going to miss out.

Can't say I was very comfortable though. 

Guess I'm not very good with formal events, especially those that need networking.

I mean, I'm better now, but those days weren't good. 

In any case, the event this evening was an awards ceremony cum networking opportunity. 

I can't recall if the networking part came first or after or if there were two before and after.

But there was a bar, a sort of lounge-like space, with a beautiful, classy-lit, candlelight-reminiscent glow where there was wine and canapes and finger foods, and you could have a glass whilst chatting with someone. 

My colleague took a glass of wine.

Me, I hung out by the side watching everyone and anyone around me.

A part of me was curious what they were talking about.

Another part of me quietly wondered how it was that they seemed to know each other, as if they had all met somewhere before. 

After a while came the awards ceremony and we all trooped into the hall. 

No assigned seats, we simply sat wherever. 

The ceremony began. 

Here's where it gets a little funny. 

The name of this event, I don't recall, but I know it involved luxury goods conglomerate brand Cartier, likely main sponsor- it was their awards show. 

What I can be sure is that it was a ceremony to celebrate the achievement of women, particularly those who were entrepreneurs, start-up founders, or those whom were making a difference in the industry they were in. 

Honestly... I didn't pay very much attention during the course of the ceremony. 

So if you ask me today, I have no idea who the presenter was.

I have also no idea who the women were, or what they did. 

But there's something that still resonates with me after all this time. 

"Wow."

That's the word I kept hearing from winner after winner after winner as they went upstage to receive their awards. 

And silently I wondered why. 

I mean, ought there not be more that these lovely, good-looking, capable, intelligent women could say? 

Surely there could be more expressions of thanks that they could say as they shook the hand of the presenter and collected the award?

But perhaps that be the answer. 

Sometimes in life there ain't no need for lots of words.

Sometimes in life everything that needs be said can be wrapped up in a single word, one, or two. 

There may even be a reason for that choice of a word.

I won't know.

I won't ever know. 

Much time has passed since then.

I've changed a lot.

I've also grown a lot. 

In that sense I'm glad I took the picture of the canapes I had that evening. 

Blur as they are, they remind me of that one evening I was there.

And they remind me of the new friend I made. 

Nozomi's Japanese Buffet Dinner

There is something very pleasant about having loved ones who know just what you like, what you miss, and try to find alternatives for you when the place you once liked is gone. 

For a long time I had had a special liking for the ala-carte Japanese buffet at this high-floor restaurant at CapitaGreen Tower, but then one day the restaurant offered that buffet no more. 

At that time I didn't think much about it. 

I mean, I generally don't. 

But this was a birthday meal, my friend had recommended coming to Japanese restaurant Nozomi here at Millennia Walk for a buffet, and the sight of everything- menu and all- gave me pleasant reminders again. 

It didn't matter that you didn't have a view, or that in the course of your meal you looked at the neighbors of the restaurant left, right and across. 

Did that mean the ambience is missing? 

No. 

It just means that you get to embrace whatever is there.

The buffet is a popular one. 

Noob that I was, I had thought there would not be many diners here for this meal, but to my surprise, not only was the table behind occupied studying diligently the menu- the kids were trying to decide what sort of sushi they wanted- the table to my left and right were also trying to decide what of the menu they should have. 

We decided to go bold and order a couple of our favorite dishes- dishes that we'd always wanted to try whenever dining at Japanese restaurants but didn't usually get. 

Before that, though, I gotta say that there is a lot to be had here at Nozomi.

It is an extensive menu they have. 

Divided into two (or three) sections- if I'm not wrong- what you're required to do is to pick one dish from Part A, then unlimited portions of Part B and/or C. 

Offhand now I can't recollect just what it was there for us to choose in Part A, but my friend and I chose to have the Hokkaido Uni Ikura Chirashi each. 

This, I tell you, had to be one of the best choices we made this evening. 

Never had it occurred to me that a Chirashi Don would be included in a buffet dinner of this price. 

What's more, it came highly recommended too. 

It didn't matter that we were only allowed to order one. 

That, to me, already was more than enough, and I deeply relished in the sea urchin, plus all the perfectly cubed sashimi sitting scattered inside the bowl. 

Trust me when I say i had a most lovely time picking out all the pieces of Hotate (scallops), Negitoro (chopped fatty tuna) and salmon resting pleasantly all over the bed of vinegared rice. 

Then there was an abundance of ikura too. 

So clean was the taste that I didn't need the wasabi and simply chucked it onto the other platters that by now had arrived. 

Besides the Chawanmushi, we ordered ourselves what I think was a Kagoshima beef plate. I'm not sure whether it was wagyu. It just might well have been. 

What I do remember is how easy it was to pick up with chopsticks, and how soft the meat was with its skillful marination. The beef was neither too sweet nor too savory. Very moreish it was too, I wondered if we ought to order more. 

This evening I didn't get to try much of the Chawanmushi- we had decided to only order one bowl instead of two- but my friend said the egg custard steamed with dashi topped with crab was perfect, incredibly flavorful. 

There was, of course, the sashimi platter, upon which there was tuna, salmon, and another fish of which I now cannot remember what it was, but it was white, there was still the skin on it, and although an acquired taste for the (unrefined) sashimi eater, it was fresh, with the right chill, and clean. 

Some of our other dishes arrived at our table just now, one of which turned out to be one of the most memorable for the evening. 

The name of this dish is the Salmon Tartare Renkon Senbei.  

Now it may not look like much- really like a flattened dollop of salmon (and something more) with yellow flower petals scattered on top but trust me, this is a comforting dish- soft, mushy smooth, full of taste with tiny little pieces of salmon wrapped inside, with petals that I soon realized were edible. 

If you ask me, it was the Renkon Senbei that made all the difference. 

Yes, seriously, because whilst typical Japanese meals of such caliber might be proper and full of etiquette, it can be made more relaxed when a plate of Deep Fried Lotus Root Rings is placed in front of you. 

All at once the Salmon Tartare doubles up as a dip.

Which, let me tell you, was the perfect balance of textures with the crisp, the fried, the soft, and the mushy smooth of the tartare itself. 

Not just that, one got the refreshing cold of the tartare with the quiet crunch in each mouthful. 

So good was it that we decided to order just the Renkon Senbei on its own.

What's so amazing about this dish is that it is so, so simple. 

Like, it is literally a plate of deep fried lotus root rings- you can find it in the 100-yen shops- but this here comes served with a d*** solid truffle mushroom dip- and I think that was what my friend liked the best.

A part of us wondered if we could just eat the dip on its own.

Another part of us wondered if there were other dishes that would pair just as well. 

In the end, my friend began eating the truffle mushroom dip on its own whilst I worked through the lotus root rings kosong style.  

Restless me liked snacking on the rings as good on their own. 

Perhaps I am in that kind of brain place where I get this urge to snack regardless how good or great the food is. 

Don't ask me why but this evening I was able to snack my way through all the good sushi, a plate of fried salmon skin, and a bowl of what I call Salmon Don. 

It didn't matter if the sushi of the Daily Sushi Platter had all the coveted fish like Salmon, Tuna, Grilled Unagi (Grilled Eel), Tamago (Sweet Egg Omelet), Salmon Mentai Aburi (Torched Salmon topped with Pollock Roe), Hamachi (Yellowtail) and Tai (Sea Bream). 

It also didn't matter if the fried salmon skin had been prepared with seaweed seasoning- a snack of its own. 

I snacked on the Renkon Senbei through it all. 

At one time I was alternating the salmon skin together with lotus root rings. 

At another time I was placing the Renkon Senbei on top of this Salmon Don (on the Salmon Platter) that had salmon, salmon belly, and chopped salmon on sushi rice and seaweed, and eating it together. 

With all these foods fried and light and our stomachs filled with handmade sushi, we were almost ready for dessert but then we ran a final look at the menu and decided we still had space for two more. 

My friend has always been somewhat fascinated by Pork fillets, or Katsu, so that's what we ordered, together with a bowl of Kakuni Don. 

The katsu had less of the thick deep fried batter that we had had had elsewhere, and maybe because we had eaten it kosong without sauce or rice, save for the salad itself, the Pork Katsu gave off a slightly different texture than what we were used to. 

Oh, there was the chew of the pork fillet- no mistake about that- but now I'm wondering if it had been cooked with the intention to make it a main with rice, not meant to be eaten alone as we had done.

It didn't matter though.

We finished the whole fillet. 

We also finished all the Braised Pork Belly on the Kakuni Don. 

I wish we could have finished the rice as well, but the tummy's limit was really getting close and there was still dessert that in no way were we going to forgo. 

So we went for three of their most popular desserts. 

There was a Matcha Ice Cream- served with azuki bean same way as the Salted Ice Cream- but my first favorite had to be the Yuzu Tofu Cheesecake.

Never mind that I already have a love for cheesecake. 

This one I loved the perfect round size. 

And I loved how light it was on the palate, yet so well balanced in terms of texture and taste, where I got a smooth, creamy texture not too rich nor too heavy, yet beautifully balanced with the flavors of salty, tart, sour, and sweet. 

A New Wallet

I got a new wallet for myself. 

It wasn't a spur of moment thing.

On the contrary I had been wanting to change my wallet for a while. 

Not because I don't like it anymore but because the time has come for a radical change of the day to day. 

This wallet holds a great deal of memories to me. 

It's been over two years, almost three, since this pastel blue wallet was gifted to me. A blessing this wallet has been. Not only has it seen me through a house move, it has also seen me through several rounds of travel in the region, from Thailand to Malaysia to Korea to Vietnam to Hong Kong. It's funny how I never thought about it much but I can't remember the number of times I stuffed this wallet inside my handbag and brought it all around Bangkok, and Busan and Seoul and Melaka. I also brought it around Saigon.

More than just the good times, this wallet too has seen me through two, almost three challenging years. For much of this long season, once a week I would put the wallet aside and transfer cards and money to another purse. I've since stopped. Too troublesome. So I just place my wallet in my bag, and leave it there. 

Interestingly enough, feeling it through the thin fabric of my black tote bag has brought some sort of comfort to me during those short few hours. 

But the wallet now has become a little faded and its insides torn. 

By right it should not be an issue using it. 

But for some reason- maybe I wanted to change the financial fengshui- so I decided to shop around for a new one.

I knew what kind of wallet I didn't want. 

I knew what kind of wallet I hoped to get.

So I went around the places I thought I might be able to find.

And I got it. 

At Turtle in Chinatown.

Say hello to Tuxedo Meowwww my new wallet.

I got her for the pictures.

Needed them for a spark of cheer, that's why. 

I've been using her for a few weeks now and thankfully she's pretty good.

A bit slimmer than the other pastel blue one, and her pockets are a bit tighter (I have had to adjust the cards a little) but she has the coins area, the notes area, the part where I can see my bunny card, she has a neat structure, pleasant to look at, and whilst quirky and whimsical, color-wise, from a distance at least, is mature to the eye. 

All Them Coffees

So there I was, rolling around with some of the pictures in my phone when I came across a whole series of coffee pictures that I hadn't previously realized.

It wasn't that I didn't know they were there. It was that I didn't put much thought into them when I took the pictures, and after all this while for some of the pictures I don't actually remember just where I took them, or with who I met. 

Still it is a bit of a waste to not treasure these pictures, so here they are, and let's see what of all these I can remember. 

Okay, truth be told, none of them I remember. 

I don't know where these cuppas I had.

I also don't know with whom I had. 

Some of them were probably from coffee houses in random hotels where at different points in time I had meetings with an American-Italian client, his party, some of his partners, and our party. Being an Italian he was very insistent on the quality of his coffees and he always made sure everyone at the same table had one. 

But which is which, which I drank at where, and which hotel, I don't know. 

What is obvious, though, is that I used to take a lot of lattes or cappuccinos. 

Nearly every cuppa here has beautiful latte art.

I don't take that many lattes now- the milk no longer gets to me- and in fact, unless I'm trying to cool down the system, or if there're aren't options, I don't even take coffee with milk or sugar anymore. 

That being said, it's not that I don't remember every cup. 

I remember the one with the 'abc'- that one I had at a coffee place somewhere on Balestier Road near the Whampoa side. 

But I no longer remember which hotel. 

It's a little strange how I don't even remember nor recognize most of the cups, save, again, for one. 

The fourth cup, with the thick red handle. 

It looks like one which Hong Kong-based Pacific Coffee used to serve their coffees in, but there aren't any more of those outlets in Singapore now, there haven't been any outlets in recent years (I think) and it wouldn't surprise me if this cup actually were from somewhere else. 

You know, I'm thankful for all these coffees. 

Not being the cafe culture type who spends money on coffees to people watch and pass the time, every cup means a prospect meeting, a business opportunity, something serious to discuss and talk on. 

Every cup means money. 

Of course, that doesn't mean I don't spend money on coffee for my own. 

I'm not stinge like that.

I just happen to be very particular where I buy them from. At best I like them local- because, oy, support local and price wise they're gorgeously affordable. 

Best part, I like them strong.

Depending, sometimes I like them sweet. 

But importantly, I like them takeaway.

So here're two cups, one from Ya Kun, one from Hans, and yes, sipping from them little cup lids is my joy. 

Around City Hall

There was a time, couple of months ago, when the brain wasn't braining, and so because the focus was completely out of whack, I decided- on a whim- that instead of sitting here at the laptop trying to figure out words, and getting very restless at it, might as well take a gander around the area and see what Chonkycam might be able to take. 

Now it so happened that I was at Odeon Towers.

At the Hans. 

So up the escalator from the basement I went.

One thing about this area is that there is quite a bit to see. 

One spot alone grants you views that, whilst seemingly in sharp contrast side by side, actually do blend so well together that you don't realize just how different they are until you look at these pictures, and then start to wonder. 

To be honest I wasn't sure how they would turn out. 

But here they are.

And interesting they are too. 

Directly opposite me was the Jubilee Hall of Raffles Hotel, and the street of Seah Street right next to it. Jubilee Hall might not be known to the most of us, but it is one of those places that holds a stage, theater seating, and is suitable for performances of most (family-friendly) kinds. 

Seah Street, of course, is known for the row of shop houses where one features restaurants and coffee places, and the MINT Museum of Toys. There are also, if I'm not wrong, a couple of clan associations here up on the second floors of various shop houses, but which they are, I don't quite know, and can't quite tell. 

It is pretty much a heritage street, actually, and would bear plenty of insights if one were to dwell over it. 

To the right, westwards, there was, of course, the whole stretch that makes up the North Bridge Road side of Raffles Hotel, and then, further down, that of Fairmont Hotel and Swissotel. 

To my left, eastwards, there was the Jun Xin Building- one of those properties that serve as office and retail, and which you don't tend to pay much attention to until you need to go there. Most of the time one pays attention to the cafe below (Rockymaster?) more than the name of the actual building itself. 

If there was the view this side of the road, there were also views of the buildings behind. 

On one side there was the Shaw Tower, now currently under construction- you can see the cranes. 

On the other side, directly behind Raffles Hotel, were the glassy facades of South Beach, once an NCO Club, now offices, retail, and JW Marriott. 

It doesn't seem much, perhaps, but there are all these trees. 

And a difference they really do make. 

On a whim I decided to go up one of the housing blocks nearby, not for any other reason other than to get an aerial view of my surroundings, which I would not have been able to get elsewhere. 

So into the lift, and up to the second highest floor I went. 

This was the view. 

Sometimes it is hard to imagine just how the view of a public housing block looks if you don't see it for yourself. 

I mean, one can guess, yes, but it is a different feeling altogether when you get up there to the corridor and see this expanse of view right in front of you.

Long-term residents of this place probably saw the Esplanade be built, the Marina Bay Sands be built, and the South Beach be renovated. Where once the view of them blue waters was closer to them, now they'd be further, blocked here and there by the structures of the country's development. 

There'd be some structures familiar- those of Raffles City, Odeon Tower, the Adelphi, the financial towers, and Raffles Hotel down below. 

But there'd also be the sense that things can, and might, perhaps one day, change. 

One never knows for sure. 

Still not all change is bad. 

It enhances the view; a little less nostalgic, a little more contemporary. 

I went back down after a while- not so good to hang outside people's corridors for too long- and went towards Funan where my friend was already there waiting for me so we could have dinner together. 

Again, one gets a rich sense of history, and nostalgia- maybe- coming here. 

You first walk down North Bridge Road, cross this little street called Carver Street, then past Carlton Hotel. Past Chijmes you then walk, which, today, because I was walking on the outside, decided that a blank wall was not much of a story to have, so only when coming towards Stamford Road did I take a picture- with lovely architectural building and beautifully landscaped tree. 

It hadn't occurred to me that you could actually see the logo of Perennial above the Capitol Kempinski Hotel. 

Neither had it occurred to me just how charming such buildings looked with their leaves and trees out front. 

It didn't matter if it were the 70-storey hotel of Swissotel, once Westin, the stretch of Capitol (on Stamford Road itself) or St. Andrew's Cathedral, its steeple peeking through the leaves of the big Angsana tree right in front.