A Saizeriya Meal

It's early 2026, and you know, I foresee myself eating much more of Saizeriya in the months to come. 

Yes, it might seem like a bit of a surprise, like, what's the big deal about it, but see, Saizeriya is one place that I have come to appreciate, not so much for the quantity or quality, but more for the value, the bang for the buck, the variety, and the understanding of financial equality. 

At Saizeriya, you're not paying (only) for the food. 

You're paying for the concept. 

If you're looking for good quality, restaurant-standard type of food, this place is not going to cut it for you. But if you're keen on experiencing what Japanese convenience-store, quick-cooked meals are like, this is the place for you. 

Don't come expecting handmade pasta with fresh cream. 

Also don't come expecting your pizza to have premium ingredients of heirloom tomatoes, truffle mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. 

There are good ingredients- no doubt about that- just not the kind that will make a $10~ pizza profitable. 

But that is what makes a meal here at Saizeriya fun. 

There's no need to think about whether or not the bill will be exorbitant, whether it will cost you too much, whether you will be overwhelmed if you should decide to order an appetizer or two. 

It is really up to one to decide. 

My meal this evening I kept simple. 

Not because there wasn't much to be had on the menu- there was more than enough in the form of appetizers, salad, mains, and desserts- but I didn't feel like eating too much, so only two dishes we ordered my friend and I, and drinks for each.

I had the pasta.

My friend had the pizza- the Prosciutto. 

It was a hard choice, he said, trying to make up his mind between the Margherita, the Black Truffle Mushroom, the Caponata Bacon, and this one- he thought the Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese looked interesting- but in the end the craving for Parma Ham hit hard, and so the Prosciutto he got.

It's nice that the ham slices are substantial, really. 

Me too had a bit of a difficult time choosing.

See, I tend to be a bit particular when it comes to my pasta. 

I like other kinds of pasta besides spaghetti, even though I like my Carbonara and any kind of pasta that's got pesto sauce. So it was a bit of a decision trying to make up my mind between the Pesto Genovese, the Spinach Chicken Gratin, the Scallop Cream Gratin, and the Bacon Mushroom Risotto. 

On one had I wanted the pesto sauce. 

On the other hand, I was very much attracted by the penne and the risotto.

Took me a while to deliberate, but in the end I chose the Bacon Mushroom Risotto. 

Maybe I felt like having a bit of rice, or cream, or bacon, or all three. 

I don't know.

It seemed like a wise choice, and indeed it was. 

But two plates of food, and a self-serve free flow of drinks don't quite make the vibe of the meal here feel that good. 

Don't misunderstand.

I love the free flow of drinks. 

There's something liberating about being able to have as much coffee as you want, hot or iced. There's also something liberating about being able to have a Coke, or a Sprite, or a glass of Milo from the self-serve machines, as much as you want, however you want. 

I've come to appreciate the balance between having a glass of Coke, as well as an iced coffee during the course of a meal.

But what I want- and perhaps one day I might just do- is to come in here and order all the foods that I've wanted to try but never really have. 

Like the Calamari, the Chicken Wings, the Escargots, the Scallop Cream Gratin with Salmon, maybe the Cheese Ravioli, and maybe the BBQ Pork Ribs. 

For dessert, I wouldn't mind trying the the Apple Strudel with Gelato, the Italian Milk Gelato, the Tiramisu, the Hazelnut Semifreddo, the Chocolate Lava Cake and the Oreo Cheesecake. 

That would make a most perfect, very full, and very satisfying meal. 

From the Steppy to the Chalet

It is not very often that I find myself unable to write about things that I wish to write about, but once in a while, I do. 

Many reasons; sometimes there's a lot to write about and I prefer to embargo it until I'm more free. Sometimes, however, it is that I don't have the spirit (or the courage) to look back at the memory, and so I shove it aside- hopefully, just for a while, temporarily, before I grasp the strength to relive the experience again. 

To be honest, moving here to Chalethouse wasn't so large an issue when one considers the nature of what moving house is. 

But we were working with limitations, and we (or at least I) was working with a spirit and energy differing greatly from how we shifted out from Ceylon almost three years before. It was just me, really, this feel-too-much heart of mine, that had me wondering just what, and how it was, that after three years, I were not only leaving with a taste of sourness, I was also leaving with the same d*** baggage that I had already by then begun carrying over three years ago. 

So, yeah, on looking back, it was with a fair bit of sianzness that saw me sorting things out, packing things up, and rearranging them all over the house, here and there. 

I honestly have no idea where I ought to begin writing this. 

Do I just place the pictures here and let them go as they are, or do I write of it bit by bit by bit? 

Maybe, let's just start with the fact that I had, in fact, begun packing, in the month of August. We had, by that time, figured, that we would not be staying after a stipulated time, and so, me being me, had begun sorting, and packing at that time. 

It is amazing just how much stuff I had brought over to Steppyhouse, and how much stuff I now actually wanted to throw. 

I had grown tired of baggage and belongings. 

Amongst the things I threw away there were stuff that I had held on to for years, thinking that perhaps one day I might be able to put them out permanently. 

All these now I decided- in August- to let them go. 

I can't remember just what it was I first put into a plastic bag and threw in the bin, but my childhood diaries- long kept- were some of them. 

What's interesting is that I didn't even take any pictures, just straight into the bag, and the dustbin downstairs they went. 

But this isn't an article about tossed diaries and journals.

This is about the move. 

Which, for some reason, despite all them efforts to whittle down, still came to all these. 

How is it that a person can have so much stuff, i don't understand. 

And, admittedly it is a little hard seeing these pictures now for the memory that I don't yet want to revisit, but that's how we were for a couple of weeks, living amongst boxes taken out from the storeroom, filled with stuff of various kinds that I don't know which is which and which is what, then shifted here and there. 

These boxes, particularly the ones in the first picture, stood for a while by the window of the living room, and these were bags that once housed random stuff that we had just simply thrown in and left them there. 

His monster bag held all his clothes. 

And the carrier bags held random pieces of stuff that I don't know belonged to who but were placed there. 

Of course there are boxes by the toilet door that are familiar for what it is they hold.

Like the Ninja food blender, the Sharp microwave oven, the Karcher floor steamer, and the Karcher vacuum cleaner, all of which we packed at the very last minute before bringing the whole load over. 

Whilst, in the meantime, Steppyhouse had her own sense of chaotic, organized mess that only people when moving house will understand. 

To this day, four months after, I still cannot comprehend just how it is that we had so much barang barang here, there, everywhere. 

Hardly, if never, is it that on the counter top I have upcycled green tea bottles holding not green tea powder but random powders of all kinds. Or glasses that we brought down from the cupboard placed next to the wet wipes and the penknife waiting to be packed into the boxes. 

Hardly too, if never, would there be three thermos flasks (of three different colors), one mug (bought and brought back from Bangkok) sitting next to more random green tea powder jars, some plastic containers, a bottle of white vinegar, and an organic cooking paste of flavor that I'm not sure what it was but am sure we bought it from Thailand. 

But that's how moving was. 

One of the last few pictures I have of moving season out from Steppyhouse are these boxes which on the second last day we brought out to the lift landing near the fire exit.

It really helps to have boxes that are stackable. 

And then there are these luggage.

To be honest I now cannot quite remember just what it was that were in these large suitcases. Some of the things I'd thrown away had been kept in the yellow suitcase and the brown suitcase. I'd probably replaced them with files that I deemed more essential and more important. 

What my purple suitcase held, what my red suitcase held, I too don't remember. Very likely they were documents and files that held papers and files of a personal nature, and which were not able to be tossed away (you never know just when you will, and might need them) 

The umbrella's gone, by the way. 

I disposed it off at the very last minute. 

Umbrellas are not things that you bring along when you're moving house unless they be of sentimental value, and a Standard Chartered umbrella was none. 

Finally, there was my big MUJI straw bag that I had specially reserved to hold as many of my stuffed toys I could pack in. Originally I had thought I be able to pack in Steppy and Buckley, but as it turned out, nope. The rest of my toys took all the space in.

Not only was there the orange net bag which held all the little stuffie animal keychains I had bought from Daiso. 

Beneath that bag there was Humpfff, Pooh Bear, Fullerton Bear, Mikan from Kaohsiung, Toots the Frog, probably Conrad Bear and, very likely, at the bottom, Cable the Otter from Hong Kong.

You know what's funny?

I have very, very little pictures of the actual moving in we did with Chalethouse.

It isn't that I didn't want to take pictures.

It was just that I was too pooped to do so. 

Moving here this time was an experience, an adventure (if one wants to call it) that I hope will not be repeated next time we shift again. 

I'd earlier said that there were limitations.

And there were, some that we didn't know, some that we hadn't been told. 

We hadn't known that we weren't supposed to do moving of any sorts into the unit after 6pm every day.

We also hadn't known that we had to actually apply- and be approved- for a permit from the MCST to move furniture and whatnot into the unit. 

Not just that, we too hadn't known that there was no moving in on a Sunday. 

So everything got a bit confusing and a tad more tiring than we thought it would be. 

Especially since we had planned for a night move, as well as a Sunday move. 

The night move, thank God, we managed to get through- no way would we have been able to shift those boxes away to another place otherwise. 

But the Sunday move had to be postponed till Monday the next day- refrigerator and all. 

The frozen food made it. 

That wasn't the end of it. 

There were lots of stuff that we had to shift in ourselves.

I won't say at which building we dropped them things- it's not nice- but let's just say we had to shift boxes onto the trolley, shift the trolley onto the bricked pavement, and push it- weak wheel and all- until we got to the lift 

It wasn't fun.

That's all I'm going to say. 

In any case, whilst I don't have a lot of pictures of the move, I do have, however, pictures of the food we ate during the move. 

There was a well-deserved McDonalds dinner- fries, burger, nuggets, everything.

And a much-needed Kopi O Kosong next morning from the Marine Parade hawker center downstairs. 

WingStop's Buffalo Wings

One of the best blessings in life is to be able to have Fried Chicken as a celebration on the last day of the 2025 year. 

So some of us might find it commonplace, like what's the big deal when there're plenty of fast food joints that specialize in fried chicken, and you can get a deep fried spring chicken in nearly every hawker center and coffee shop and every Old Chang Kee all around the island. 

But fried chicken is one of those foods that you don't think you want to have until you really crave for it, or until you actually sit down at the table with the chicken steaming right in front of you and you realize you wanted it all along.

I hadn't thought I missed eating Fried Chicken. 

I mean, it wasn't a craving stuck consistently in the head. 

Even if I might have made a comment here and there.

But, yes, a blessing, overall. 

We had made a deliberate trip down here to Funan for the sake of these buffalo wings. Why it is that we came specifically down to this outlet, I don't know, especially since there are outlets at Bedok Mall, City Square Mall, even Singpost, the Cathay and Clementi Mall, but hey, last day of the year and all. 

Now, for us who don't know Wingstop, well, it is- in short, an American fast food chain that specializes in one thing, and one thing only- Buffalo Wings. How they manage to stretch what is- really- a wing of a chicken- is amazing, but they manage to do it, and now, after having their food off their menu, I finally understand why. 

The highlight of their menu has to be their flavors. 

That doesn't mean that they don't have food to offer. 

They do- in the manner of Classic Wings, Boneless Wings, Tenders, and Sides. There is not much to be said about the wings and the tenders. As in, I don't quite know how to describe it, but they do have sides that are worth a look and a try. 

Perhaps one day I might try their in-house Coleslaw or their Louisiana Voodoo Fries with cheese sauce, ranch and cajun seasoning or even their Mushroom Fritters (which today I had wanted to try but somehow didn't get to).

But this afternoon we were very much impressed by their Seasoned Fries. 

 

At first glance they seemed ordinary, no different from any other fries you got at other fast food joints. The difference however was that here they were served hot, crisp and so balanced with their seasoning that not a single fry was left tasteless or overly salty. 

But it were the wings that made this meal memorable. 

We'd taken the boneless. 

With flavors of Hot Honey Rub and Garlic Parmesan. 

I was a little surprised.

I had expected my friend to order our wings in the flavors of Texas Buffalo, Louisiana Rub or Hickory Smoked BBQ. These are, after all, flavors that he fancies, where the Texas Buffalo has cayenne pepper and vinegar, the Louisiana Rub has Cajun, and the BBQ is, well, BBQ. 

I too had thought he would have the Lemon Pepper, which, zesty and peppery at the same time, is interesting a combination seldom seen in chicken seasonings. 

But I wasn't complaining. 

I mean, he could have chosen the spicier flavors of Inferno or Kicap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce with chili flakes). He could also have gone Teriyaki

The Hot Honey Rub was pleasantly more sweet than spicy (it reminded me of Korea's gochujang) and the Garlic Parmesan was garlicky buttery- a favorite combination of mine.

So thankful am I for this meal that gave me uber strong Korean restaurant fried chicken vibes. 

Let's just say it was a very pleasant, and fun, surprise. 

Perhaps the next time I come to WingStop I'll make it a combo with 6 pieces, 1 side, and 1 drink. 

Just for me. 

After all, as fried chicken tastes great with beer, it goes just as great with Coke (or Sprite) too. 

Last Selfies of 2025

You know, there are still a good number of posts that I have to write for the year of 2025- I am not yet done with them- but I recently just transferred the last of the 2025 selfies over from the phone to here, so, hey, might as well. 

It is with a bit of a strange feeling that I look at the following pictures. 

Not so much of being what they are, but of the stories that make them. 

I usually tend to go light with my makeup. 

Doesn't matter if I have a meeting, I don't go bare faced once I head towards downtown. 

So that's how it was for the first few selfies, that's how it was for the selfies with me in the big Platinum-Pratunam T-shirt, and that's how it was for me in the last red sweatshirt piece that I had bought from Bugis Street almost 7 years ago and had finally dug it up now. 

The first two selfies I had taken from this dining place somewhere at Capitol Theater. I can't remember what it was we had gone there for. Maybe we had been hanging around the area to file something at the High Court. Maybe we had been around the area because my friend had something to do or someone to meet and I was there killing time. 

In any case, it was a Mainland-style place that we found ourselves at for our dinner, and whilst I won't be posting the pictures of the food here, I know we had a dish of smooth, silky dumplings, a deep fried battered pork fillet, and a bowl of soup that was simple in name (mushroom) but incredibly clear in texture, rich in flavor, and refreshing on the palate. 

There is me here in the large T-shirt that I bought from Platinum Mall in Pratunam and which I wear whenever I need to be comfortable. 

Like today where I was on the bus heading down to Aperia Mall, and which, if I'm not wrong, was Bus 31, although, really, I should have taken Bus 12 on the East Coast side rather than this one here the Marine Parade side. 

Nevertheless, the light was good, and so, from the back row of the bus, these shots I got. 

What's funny, though, is that I can't remember where the last picture was taken. 

I know I took it on 31st December, I know I was clad in the red sweatshirt that I had found in the cupboard (whilst doing the move) and track pants, but I don't remember where I'd gone or where I'd snapped this shot. 

What's more, the floor, and the furniture behind don't seem to leave much of a clue! 

Oh well, doesn't matter. 

However it was- despite the months of what it had been leading up to the 31st- I still looked enough. 

And that was good for me. 

Of course, the most memorable selfies here have to be of me clad in the blue-grey linen top that I'd purposely worn for the early-morning BNI meeting at Chui Huay Lim Club on River Valley Road. 

So rare is it for me to be able to pay a visit to a place of heritage and culture like this that I just had to grab a selfie.

But adrenaline was running high that morning, my hair for some reason didn't look too smooth, and the lighting where I sat needed a bit of creative angling on my part before I could look presentably well. 

Marina Square-Bugis

I took these pictures quite some time ago. 

Late last year, I think. 

I don't know what it was that I had been doing prior. I also don't know what it was that I was intending to do after.

Very likely I had just finished a late lunch at Suntec City with my friend who had then headed off somewhere else.

Maybe I was on my way home but didn't want to make a straight route  from the Suntec City Bridge to the bus stop at the Bugis . 

Whatever it was, there I moved, from one end of Suntec City to Marina Square, and eventually, to Bugis. 

On hindsight it feels a little strange that the camera didn't come out when I was at the Suntec City side until after I'd crossed Millennia Walk, gone up the escalator and then onto the wide terrace that separates this shopping mall, and Marina Square. 

Perhaps what had charmed me was the light. 

It had been one of those moments when I happened to turn my head, and there it was, the glow of an evening sun upon the walls of the Pan Pacific Hotel. 

It were the shadows that fascinated me, for whilst there was this golden glow upon the wall, the front of it, Raffles Boulevard and Marina Square, were in a shroud of shadow.  

I didn't always get this view. 

So out came Chonkycam. 

First there was the golden glow of light shining bright not only on the name of the hotel, but also the floors of rooms above. Then there was the shroud of shadow this side of Marina Square and Mandarin Oriental, which, maybe on other days, wasn't so obvious you could see.

I must have then gone into Marina Square itself, because afterwards pictures of the other side show themselves.

If the first few pictures were from the space between Millennia Walk and Marina Square, these then, were the pictures from the bridge between Marina Square and Suntec City Convention Center.

You saw the road of Temasek Boulevard and the exterior of Suntec City Convention Center itself. 

You saw the horticulture and the trees and the planted foliage that added a rich touch of green to the place. 

And on the opposite side of the bridge facing Raffles Boulevard, you saw a little of the bluish-glass MBFC towers in the background, a corner of the Parkroyal Collection Hotel, and in the near distance, that golden glow of the sun again, now upon the dark green wall of Mandarin Oriental herself. 

From here now I went into Suntec City itself, then came out on the other side facing Nicoll Highway. 

Here I took another bunch of pictures.

The light was too good. 

It isn't every day that I get to see the reflection of light upon skyscrapers like the Gateway Building, or the same golden glow get magnified as it shines its beauty upon the still-building Shaw Towers. 

Neither is it every day that the same light illuminates the towers of Raffles Place in the distance, the glassy surface of the South Beach Tower, and even this Nicoll Highway side of the Suntec City Convention Center. 

For some reason there was such deep saturation of color, such depth of structure, whether it was the glass, the tile, the tar of the road, or even the metal roof of the temporary bus stop, even when coupled with the snaking line of cars all waiting for the light to turn green.

It felt like the epitome of a weekend cityscape, the distinctive yet present-day charm of Downtown Singapore, filled with history, new developments, and energy. 

It felt so alive. 

And then, interestingly, almost immediately it all fell silent. 

Like an escape not anticipated.

It wasn't because the place was far off or anything like that. 

No, it was just the opposite side of the bridge. 

But somehow, here, on the South Beach side in what was a former military camp, there was a different sort of space, a different sort of nostalgia, a different feeling, akin to timelessness, as if something had once been there but even in the intervening years, had never left. 

After all the architecture of here, it suddenly felt like a different world when it came to Purvis Street after.

I don't mean that the street wasn't beautiful. 

Neither do I mean that it held no meaning or no story of its own.

On the contrary, it did. 

Very much, in fact, with unit after unit of dining establishments both Chinese, Asian, European and casual. 

Indeed, if there's anything to know about Purvis Street (and Chin Chin Eating House), this too is incredibly beautiful, in its own way, its own heritage, its own time, its own tale. 

NOZOMI @ New Year's 2025

You know, it is a joy, I have to say, (despite myself) seeing all these pictures now. 

Sometimes it is very hard seeing pictures of food that I like, that I want to eat, and wish I could have. 

But that's life. 

We might not always get to have what we miss having, and wish to have, but we do have memories, and memories are- at the moment- what we hold. 

It doesn't mean that I won't go back to Nozomi at Millennia Walk for a meal. 

It just means that Christmas 2025 has passed three and a half months upon writing this post, those days are gone, and we won't be able to get that time back anymore.

I am thankful for the meal we had had here at Nozomi in December close to the Christmas season late last year.

This place has to be one of the best dining discoveries made in 2025. 

It isn't just the location, the ambience, or the convenience of the place. 

It is- predominantly- the food, and the aesthetics of it. 

So good is the food here that one becomes very careful when placing the orders. It is the kind of situation where you don't want to over order and end up with too much food that you can't finish or become too full to appreciate. 

This evening we began the meal with a Chawanmushi.

Not just any chawanmushi but an Ikura one that saw the egg custard steamed with dashi and salmon roe. 

I'm not sure whether I had the Hokkaido Uni Chawanmushi or not.

I might have. 

I might not have.

But I definitely remember the firmness of the egg, and the umami taste of the salmon roe as it burst inside my mouth. 

A good portion of our meal here today was salmon. 

Salmon is one of our favorites when it comes to cuisine prepared in the style of Nozomi, and so this evening we made sure we had double servings of the dishes we liked.

One of the dishes we always go for is the Salmon Tartare Renkon Senbei. 

The name is rather long, yes, but in short, what it really is Diced Salmon with Yuzu Dressing and a heap of Stir-fried Lotus Root Rings. 

What I like is the flower on top of the salmon.

It looks so delicate, so sweet, so elegant. 

And I think it is edible (though I've never tried).

What makes this dish so charming is that the salmon is very firm, very smooth, and is cubed so well that it is picked up very easily with chopsticks, no fear of it dropping. 

The lotus root rings are delicious too.

On surface they don't seem like a big deal- Japanese supermarkets do sell them by the packet- but made in-house, they're crispy, fresh, full of flavor, and are a very interesting snack to have over the duration of the entire meal. 

Of course this isn't the only salmons we get to have.

There is the Salmon Platter where you get Salmon, Salmon Belly and Chopped Salmon with sushi rice, and seaweed. 

And we liked the Salmon Tartare so much we ordered a second bowl together with the Lotus Root Rings.

It's impossible to come here to Nozomi and not have as much salmon as one wants, so, yes, we got another plate of salmon sashimi (which, interestingly I cant find in the menu)

Their menu here offers a fair bit of other dishes- all of which are appetizing and attractive. 

I mean, I would have loved the Hokkaido Pork Katsu Tama Don (Pork Katsu and Egg served over rice). or the Tempura Don, or the Tempura Moriawase. In the same way I wouldn't have minded the Butayaki Don- Grilled Pork Belly with Onsen Egg over rice, or the Buta Kakuni- Braised Slow-cooked Pork Belly.

But one of the best foods to be had here is fish.

Like their tuna.

So we got that. 

In a Negitoro style, where the Fatty Tuna was diced and made into a sushi roll with spring onions. 

Afterwards we also got the Daily Sushi Platter, although I can't remember whether we ordered one, or two. 

It feels like a fanciful one, this plate, when it comes served to your table. It is one thing to have six pieces of sushi. It is another thing where the six pieces include Salmon, Salmon Mentai Aburi, Tai (which is sea bream), Hamachi (Yellowtail) and Anago (Sea Eel). 

Honestly I don't know which is which, but I guess there was Anago and Tai, and in place of one of the sushis, there was Tamago (Egg). Definitely they had the Salmon Mentai Aburi, which we cut into two and ate happily. 

By this time we were getting rather full, so we looked into the dessert. 

But then we didn't want to end the mains without having some nice fried stuff, so we got one plate of Tori Kaarage, and one plate of Shrimp Gyozas.

After that came the desserts.

As they say, dessert is another meal. 

So, between the both of us, we got one Matcha Ice Cream each, one Salted Ice Cream to share, one Yuzu Tofu Cheesecake, one Matcha Tofu Cheesecake and because I was feeling like I needed more sweets, another Yuzu Tofu Cheesecake for me. 

All the desserts are great, mind, but for some reason, I liked the Salted Ice Cream more than the matcha. 

Maybe it's unusual, rare, to have the taste of creamy slightly sweet vanilla blend with the sharp tartness of salt. 

I ought to save more room for their desserts the next time I come, especially their tofu cheesecakes, which before coming here, I had heard about but had never had the chance to try. 

And I'll want two Salted Ice Creams of my own too.