Cafe Swiss, Swisshotel The Stamford (Tel: 6338 8585)

May 31, 2007: I woke up wishing Chi Michelle was here so that we could go have Chinese dim sum together.

Right after typing two pages of my tour-guide speech in Japanese, I realised the time was close for lunch. I picked Cafe Swiss instead of Kopitiam, the reason being I have never been there.

I thought it'd be one of those small cafe with sandwiches. 'A' and I were the first three groups of customers who were there. There was a gentleman from the Mainland; a group of aunties who looked like siblings; and us. The interior was very spacious and makes good use of natural sunlight-which in a sense reminds me of Switzerland. Outside, I could see the World War II Memorial and the trees. The weather was lovely. I liked the whisper of water which was flowing around the food. I didn't think much of the food because I wasn't in an indulging mood; I just needed something to eat.

When the menu arrived, I picked the "Appetizer and Main Course" combination which was priced at SGD 23. For the appetizer, we were to let the waiter do the pick on a platter which would be served to us.

For the main course, there were four dishes to choose from. I picked the "Basil potato gnocchi with pan-fried salmon and crispy onions"; 'A' did the same.

Then I walked around the counter to examine the food. A colorful cornucopia greeted my eyes. Every dish had a few pansies and spring flowers thrown in and gasp! they looked healthily "Swiss herbal".

Sure, I did remember Swiss food at Movenpick tasted better than all the food I had in Germany (minus the trockenwein).

When the platter of appetizers and Perrier arrived, I'd decided some wine would be great with it. From a short list, I picked a Roche Mazet and 'A', Terrazas de Los Andes. Each glass cost SGD 16.

The Chef's special dish deserves mention. It was a slice of "maki zushi", to be more specific, a Hokkien style one. It's glutinous rice wrapped around a teeny bit of dried shrimps, pork floss, sesame seed and wasabi, pan-fried to a crunchy brown on the external, each slice garnished with a pansy. It was like a molecule so you'd crave for more when it exploded its atoms of flavors in your mouth. See below:

While noshing, sights of little Miriam and the Swiss family flashed across my mind. Then a group of men in black suits and ties swarmed around the food counter and my thoughts switched to guessing if there was a conference somewhere, perhaps for bankers. 'A' was certain that a conference was going on somewhere.

When I turned around casually from my seat, I spotted that Indian criminal lawyer whom I occasionally see in the papers (What's his name?).

The lunch wasn't a simple one after all. I was satisfied and felt healthy after grazing on pansies; I was ready to head for home.

But 'A' was adament that we try what the Sunday Times recommended: a 70-year-old kopitiam on East Coast Road where a cup of kopi costs 90 cents; a piece of cake costs 50 cents...

We reached this Hainanese kopitiam. It was crowded and the flow of customers seemed endless. Finally we got our seat after 10 minutes. We had kopi which tasted like Ya Kun's and a piece of Swiss roll which did not have sugar on it which was the bonus. The slice of cake was served on a big red melamine plate, and tasted soft and natural- really nice for its price of less than a dollar.

After tea, we went next door to explore the Katong Antique House.
It turned out a disappointment. There was not a soul there to explain some Peranakan history of the house to us; only two people ( a woman and a younger man) who seemed keen to show us Peranakan tops which cost SGD 480 a piece! The man, Peter Wee (?) showed me a piece of black top and said "This is embroidered". Hello! You mean it's machine-embroidered? How could a machine-embroidered blouse from Malaysia be priced at SGD 480?!

'A' drives up prices :) and he doesn't have to be in Viet Nam to do that!

Cafe Swiss
Food: 4.0/5.0; Service: 3.0/5.0; Ambience: 4.0/5.0; Value for money: 3.5/5.0

Chi Michelle's Visit to Singapore; Prego

May 26, 2007: Chi Michelle flew in from Ha Noi on May 24. We met in the evening of May 26, a Saturday.

I arrived at her hotel 15 minutes earlier than promised. Gosh, I was very anxious to see her after two years. See, I was in Central Viet Nam most of the time after 2004.

When I pressed the doorbell, she came to it immediately and started jumping up and down. She's still so funny! Anyway, she looked gorgeous; and still deserves to be crowned the mouthpiece for the wondrous benefits of yoga.

We sat down and yakked; then she showed me an article in The New Yorker written by some linguist called Evans, a missionary, who discovered some tribal people who speak languages with no quantifiers such as 'some', 'few', 'many', 'much' and so forth. I think there should be more languages like that...

I was extremely delighted and wasn't shy at all to receive what Chi Michelle brought me -- a bag of Folliet's and Tonkin's coffee and banh dau xanh (the dried green bean cakes)!!! I miss Ha Noi!

Folliet's coffee is more like American than Vietnamese style coffee but it's excellent. I couldn't be happier about Tonkin's because I used to drink it at a small shop beside the Julian Cafe- the most Japanese-looking cafe in Ha Noi- but it disappeared in 2002. I traced the address they pasted on the door after their close-down but only came to a desserted residential area with dogs! Cam on chi!

From Eu Tong Sen Street where Chi Michelle stayed, we passed by the Gobi dessert shop at the Central and then passed by the Padang to Raffles. On the way, Chi Michelle kept marveling the streetside flora. We really saw some lovely flowers, one of which has petals that felt like handmade paper (see below).

I'd have taken her to Sun and Moon if she preferred Japanese but soon, we reached the courtyard at Raffles, and we chose our place in the middle of the yard. The waitor, a Malay-Chinese Malaysian, approached promptly with the drink list and I baulked! I never knew Singapore to be so expensive! Every glass of wine cost SGD 20!
I picked a Pinot Noir and she, a Sauvignon Blanc. The snack, fried peanuts coated with batter was quite good. We asked for more when we finished.

When it was getting late, we went for our dinner. She likes Italian, and Prego is near. When we reached the restaurant,it was crowded. I didn't understand; I don't remember Prego to be the place for Italian food. No one talks about it.

We'd our bread with a tomato base dip.


It was OK. Then we ordered our soups- mushroom for us and they were OK as well. By the end, we picked a ravioli alle mantovana and it was rich and sweet.


Perhaps still edible. But after going through half of it, it seemed like we had too much and was finishing it because we didn't want to waste food. That summed up our Prego experience!


Chi, thanks for the great evening though. I hope you'll come again - we will go to a better place next time.

Food: 2.0/5.0; service: 3.0/5.0; ambience: 2.5/5.0; value for money: 2.0/5.0

Surprise Birthday Dinner at Inagiku Singapore (6431-6156)

I took a day of leave on my special day.

I went for a morning swim and then had my breakfast. After that I snoozed off. The weather must be very conducive or I swam too much? When I woke up, it was already lunch time. I made a soba salad, which I have not had for a while.

In the evening, I was all ready to go to whichever restaurant I was taken to. The place turned out to be Inagiku. Gee...I haven't been here for more than a decade! was my immediate response.

When I stepped in, it seemed darker than I remember it to be. The chairs and tables seemed to be the same - small and short, but nevertheless, comfortable.

Chun Kit, the service personnel, came up and asked us what drinks we wanted. His colleague also said our reservation was not written with the full details and so forth. We asked for the Raffles Blend since it'd be free; and UOB card members also could get 15 percent-discount. Not too bad. Chun Kit recommended the teppanyaki set but we opted for the maguro (tuna) course instead.

After a long chat, we asked for the food to be served. The salad was very cold-and the slices of maguro were great. I was aware of the depleting stock of maguro in the ocean though. The salad came with what tasted like a mustard, soy sauce, sugar, sesame seed, and onion concoction.

Next was a warm eggplant topped with pieces of grilled maguro garnished with shiso. Yummy.

The following entry was a well-chilled watermelon cocktail which was very delicious and functional as it seemed to wash down the load of entrees and stimulated more orders... But actually my stomach started to signal for a halt because by then, my tummy was vigorously churning the wine, maguro, shiso, lettuce and cocktail. However, shortly after, a sushi platter with variations of maguro appeared.

The maguro maki was wrapped in high-quality seaweed and the platter was certainly living up to being named a maguro course. Yikes...More wine.

Before dessert, I went to the restroom and mine! the toilet smelled really bad for a hotel! I threw up everything I'd eaten!

When I returned, the fruit came. A very juicy sweet piece of rockmelon. That was refreshing. Then Keiko came with a surprise piece of Oreo cake topped with sweetened cream. I made a BIG wish and sent it to heaven. I saw my pictures being taken, and glanced at the digital screens - I am getting older, surely.

What an enjoyable dinner (and restroom). Now how would I rate this place:
Food: 3.0/ 5.0 ; wine: 4.0/5.0; service: 4.0/ 5.0; ambience: 3.0/5.0; value for money: 3.0/5.0.

Would I go back again? Well...I miss the Japanese garden and food at Keyaki, Pan Pacific.

Anyway here are the contact details for Inagiku:

Opening hours: Daily noon-2:30pm and 6:30-10:30pm

Address: 80 Bras Basah Rd

Location: Raffles The Plaza, Level 3, The Historic District

Phone (65) 6431-6156

Prices: Set lunch S$42-S$60; set dinner S$130-S$180

Zion Road Char Kway Teow

May 5, 2007: If there was a Singaporean dish that I would miss when I was overseas, it would be char kway teow.

I eat this dish three times a year and for convenience, quality and authencity, Zion Road's my favourite. The hot noodles in somewhat sweet soy sauce comes with fresh cockles and crunchy sprouts. It appeared in the local paper not too long ago that the chef is currently one of the top-earning hawkers in Singapore, selling about 270 on his not-so-good business days.

A. has forgotten where the store was and made a wrong turn on the road on the way there, only to encounter a nasty driver who stopped his car and flashed his middle finger at him. What a shock for someone who's always been polite. But once the noodle arrived, the food was the focus, and everything slipped into oblivion.

Tako Yaki

May 6, 2007: It's one of those languid days when I didn't want to fix any meals.
I got some of these tako yaki at a Wow! Tako store after my afternoon tea.
My teeth kinda sank too quickly into it; I remember it to be different...The last time I had it was more than ten years ago at a crowded joint in Osaka. The tako yaki was great but it was too crowded and cramp for much enjoyment.

These went well with beer and a good documentary on a village in France on NHK.

May's Dinner

May 4, 2007: It was good to see Mabel and Margaret again.
Margaret looked fitter than ever, and she's got a good tan as well.
"Ho Chi Minh City is too hot; hotter than Singapore," she explained.

We went directly to Donguri. It was easy for me to order; I knew I was going to try out May's tokusen bentoo. It was more difficult for Mabel and Margaret to make a choice- the menu seems too crowded. At last, they ordered a hamburg set and a Mini-Zen set respectively. I hoped that they were finally satisfied with what they had ordered. The Mini-Zen this month looked quite miserable, though...Anyway I had no idea how it tasted.

We tried a bit of Black Tower's Rivaner which is bottled like red wines. I didn't quite know each dish in the bentoo tasted like, as I was busy chatting and also listening to what Margaret had to say about Ho Chi Minh City. Some stories sounded like those familiar tales one can expect in Hanoi. I can't wait to go back to Vietnam as I heard more and more of those street names.

It's the month of May already. Time flies - I've almost lost track of it, but I know I am already a year older! I was quite "shy" to receive such beautiful gifts from Mabel and Margaret. Wow - such great Givenchy fragrances and flowers - I am sure that I will enjoy them.

Overall, I feel great getting older. I associate age with wisdom - an eastern/ Asian philosophical thought that's coded in my genes. I remember my youth was wasted in preparing for vigorous exams, but as I get older, I care less about exams even when I had to take them, but I enjoy learning much better.

Anyway, I am thankful for all that I received tonight: good company and warmth.

Wiener Kaffeehaus; Viennese Cafe ( 6226-3148)

April 30, 2007: I've always wanted to try this cafe out since I read about it last year in a magazine.

This time, I was in a mood to walk around the Chinatown conservation after my dim-sum meal. I had conjured up a strong-body aromatic European coffee- the kind I used to enjoy in Germany, while walking towards Neil Road.

The area is very serene. The very old giant trees are stacked with parasitic plants and layers of buttress roots embracing their trunks. The vegetation indicates the age of this place. I only hope that the new Duxton 40 something-floor apartment project will not kill the landscape of the whole place although I am sure that I'd be hoping in vain.

I walked toward the Au Boon Haw office and then straight on for another few metres before reaching the cafe at the corner.

The interior is dark with dim wall-lights - it reminds me of restaurants in Europe during winter. After studying the coffee list, I picked Einspaenner (SGD 4.10), translated as 'one horse bridle'. It's crowned with a drop of fresh cream in a glass with a large handle (like a bridle), and the other hand of the carriage driver was to be left free to hold on to his rein. The spoon looked antique; inscribed underneath it were "Elizabeth Rose" and "made in Japan". I wondered if it was a Meiji-era product.

After the first sip, I was sure I'd the real thing. The smokiness of the beans lingered in my mouth for the whole day, thank goodness, without any palpitations or headaches. I'd give it five stars!

Address: 148 Neil Road, Singapore

Bagelwich

April 30, 2007: I picked up a wholemeal (last piece again) and a raisin-and-cinnamon at Cluny Court's Cold Storage last night. This morning, I did some jaw work; it's not easy to eat a bagelwich, but it satisfied my cravings for bagels this week and the last!