adizero

Put my pair of adizeroes through the first stress test of IPPT and the result was not too shabby. Whether it is really due to the lighter shoes, or simply psychological, I completed my 2.4 in 11min 16 sec compared to a year ago where I did 11min 44 sec. Although in 07, I did 10:57 but perhaps I was running more in preparation for the marathon.

Next year I’m Cat Z, which means I can get Gold if I run under 10:45. That looks like something manageable if I put in some consistent effort. Nevertheless I’m glad the IPPT is cleared for this year.

http://jtc2718.wordpress.com/2009/04/02/i-heart-my-adizero/

Jap food again + biru

We were at Marina on Thursday, it was one plus and I was hungry, so we ended up at Azabu Sabo. They had a $7.80++ set which consists of a mini don + a mini ramen. Portions were average and tastes ordinary – think Japanese food at foodcourt. The place is quite nice though and probably quiet most of the time.

Top up another $2.80++ for a sundae. I suppose this place is more famous for its desserts than main meals.

Funny how both branches (their website don’t even say they opened a branch at central,) are located near to Billy Bombers. I’ve had so many bad experiences with Billy Bombers that even their one for one offer do not tempt me.

On Friday evening, we decided to go to Taka. The crowds are crazy, why aren’t they are Orchard Central or queuing up at LV at Ion Orchard? The fastfood cafe stretch of MosBurger, Pasta Cafe and Yoshinoya was packed with youngsters while we didn’t even want to test the queues at the expensive fourth floor restaurants. So we headed for the basement of Taka which is also crowded. The only place where you can get a seat is probably Aijen. Last time, we were here, it was the same, forced by the crowds everywhere.

The menu has changed but not much else. The place is still noisy and uncomfortable, with badly trained staff. The last time, somebody knocked over a bunch of plates. This time, they have a staff who couldn’t speak english well enough to even understand his colleague. They also couldn’t get their order right. I saw the waitress carry our order up and down the restaurant and tried to serve it to three or four different tables until I stopped her. In spite of it all, my bacon omelette rice was quite tasty. Bacon, eggs, served on a rich cream sauce, you can’t go wrong except on the cholesterol count.

So I went back and washed it down with my paulaner hefe-weissbier, which is slightly darker wheat beer.

Laksa @ Cafe Gluttony

Read about this place in the papers and I was reminded of how long it has been since I last had laksa. You see I tend to ration myself the number of bowls of laksa that I eat and usually will not waste them on mediocre or likely to be mediocre laksa. Funny though, I don’t do that for other equally virulent food like char kway teow, hokkien mee or curry.

This place is easy enough to find along north canal road, very near to boat quay and it was a good stop for me since I had to go to the bank and then change alley. I love change alley, managed to save $17 by changing at the counter with the best published rates.

Back to the cafe, I was there at 11+ , first customer and I left after my meal still the only customer. Well, the shenton lunch crowd has yet to descend. The laksa itself was not bad, slightly fiery, I would have loved it more if it came with cockles. Still, the cucumber strips was refreshing. Total damage was $5 for laksa and $2 for fairly decent lime juice.

http://www.cafegluttony.com/

The foodcourt formerly known as Meridien

The wife likes to eat here when I meet her after work, her favourite being the Korean food stall. I dislike Korean food, preferring Indian any time. The only Korean stuff that I would gladly eat is bulgogi or any sort of bbq meat. This foodcourt has undergone many makeovers and I still remember it vividly remade as a Thai place with 60-70% of the stalls selling Thai food. That didn’t catch on and now it only occupies a quarter of the former space. I tried the beef rice from the only Thai stall. Fortunately it tasted better than it looked and they give you a fairly potent tom yam soup on the side.

Beach Road Char Kway Teow

This is stall 91 on the first floor, besides one of the staircase to the army market upstairs. It’s hard to miss. Look for the two tv screens and magazine/newspaper cutouts.

It char kway teow but not oily and topped with veggie plus tiny fried ikan bilis. Tastes great, give it a try.

Rocky Knoll

Amisfield Riesling (2006) from Central Otago New Zealand. This was a wine we bought two years ago when we visited the winery. It’s really limited edition and is completely sold out. It is a sweet, delicious and refined wine. So nice that the wife can’t stop herself from knocking it back.

The last bottle we opened was the Paso de Tango 2008 Chardonnay from Argentina which wasn’t that great, especially after the second day.

Alter ego

I finally took the plunge and bought myself a tablet pc to replace the four year old T43. I still think the T43 is the best computer that I’ve had so far and it is still working well save for the 1 hour battery life. Of course, it irks me that the wireless would have a problem connecting to the router every third day or so.

With the new tablet, I can now input chinese characters with ease. Strangely, it never occurred to me to google my chinese name till today. Well, I found an alter ego in Hongkong who was apparently married in 2006 and took part in the 2007 stanchart HK marathon. The timing was 1h 45min, so it was either a fast 21km or more likely a slow 10km. Still, it’s weird.

Hokkien Mee

Liu Tai Quan Hokkein Mee at the Le Meridien foodcourt. Note the hotel has been renamed Concorde causing lots of confusion. The noodles are served wettish with a potent stock. One of the better ones to be had. Still hard to beat Nanxing at Old airport road though. Didn’t get to try the oyster omelete and carrot cake.

Tonkichi again

Had a memorable dinner at Tonkichi shaw house, so we went by again to finish up the vouchers that I had. The wife suggested I take the Father’s day bento because it came with beer, and so I did. Literally ice cold beer.

Another great bento set with the works. Loved the duck/pork slices at the bottom right.

Coffee jelly which wasn’t that nice.

kronenbourg blanc

Had drinks with old friends at eM by the river – the Gallery hotel. Had the kronenbourg blanc which was really light and fruity for a beer. $5 for half pint during happy hours which was till 9pm on Sunday. I’ll have a full pint next time.