Boys uninterrupted...a fulfilling day!

11 NOV 2006

2pm: Din Tai Fung; Wisma Atria

It was a really wet Saturday afternoon, went to town today to meet up with my bestest guy pals from varsity. I have known both Simon (Left) and Yingze (Right) since year 1.

Simon is a Vietnamese who can speak a couple of chinese words!!! his enunciation of English is good, thanks in part to having attended a really expensive English course at the British Council. And Ying Ze whom is also known as Teh (surname) is a Singaporean brought up in Malaysia; his parents run a business there! Both are great guys! Never failing to lighten up my life!

However, due to our different majors; both of them do Banking and Finance while i am in Business, we rarely get to see each other at school.

We have decided to meet up to do some catching up which is long overdue. It was great meeting up! We had a ball of a time doing what guys do best...to rib each other and stuff!! The picture you see here is taken at Din Tai Fung at Wisma Atria. It was a fulfilling and meaningful experience. And on top of that i get to live it up (all the good food)!

Food galore!
Braised Sichuan Beef
The dish on top left hand corner was ordered by me; Braised Sichuan beef. The meat is thinly sliced and has a smooth texture that literally melts in your mouth! A thumbs up from one and all. The meat is lean coupled with fine layers of fat! Heavenly!

Salted Roasted Peanuts with Seaweed Shavings
The dish on the bottom left hand corner is salted roasted peanuts with seaweed shavings; provides a nice crunchy texture which acts as an appetizer for what is to come.


Xiao Long Bao

My all time favourite dish and i can safely say the rest of the denizens who dine at Din Tai Fung!
A must have and perennial favourite dish that ranks high on the priority list! Need i say more?

A word of caution: One has to adopt a certain finesse when eating the "Baos", according to my brother, you got to "burst" the dumpling first, slurp up the soup then eat it! I had attempt to eat it in a dainty manner, which came to naught when the dumpling burst and the soup leaked out of it onto the table! Argh!

Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice

Yummy! Thats my verdict! The shrimps looked kinda fake though, because of its apparent glossy look! Had this dish many times before, but today, Simon had this as his main course, while i decided to have something else.










Prawn Dumplings

The workmanship is good, however its lacking in the taste department. The prawn dumpling does not have as rich a taste as the Xiao Long Bao.










Not really sure what the name of this dish is, but its tasty because of the very rich sauce replete with vinegar. And i dub it the "Din Tai Fung" bak chor mee! This happens to be Ying Ze's main course!

** Its "Zha Jiang Mian"..... Thanks Teh for the input.











Meat and Prawn Cracker

Cool name for a cool dish but its texture is nothing like your "Calbee" prawn crackers! Overall, we thought it was an interesting dish with an interesting texture and great tast to boot!








Shredded Pork and Egg Fried Rice

That's my main course, and admittedly i made a good choice. Its yummilicious to say the least! The pork is lean and tender! And the rice is fragrant, and being the health conscious freak that i am, its not too oily at all!








Steamed Layered Cake

To top it all up, we ended our dining experience with a couple of steamed cakes. There are about 3 layers to each cake and the layers come off nice and neat! Contrary to popular belief, the cake isn't sweet; good for those more health conscious ones out there i.e; yours truly.






We had our fill and i have both Simon and Ying Ze to thank for...hey bros, thanks for queueing for a table at the ever crowded Din Tai Fung, yar?!


3:00pm: Takashimaya
My first glimpe of the Christmas light up; ain't it uplifting?! Cant wait for Christmas; a time for remembering the birth of Jesus and also spreading good cheer!

3:30pm: Orchard Cineleisure

After this, it was off to a movie. We caught The Covenant at Cineleisure...not knowing what it was and since, it was the next earliest show, we took the plunge. It was not too bad a movie, cool special effects which came off as kinda "Matrix-y"...anyway, it is of a high school kinda setting plus a good looking cast that made it a winning formular for me at least!...not to mention, its dark kinda setting....go watch it! i give it 6.5 popcorns outta 10!

5:30pm: Heeren then off to Muji @ Paragon

Yes! A new Muji outlet in the heart of Orchard, and at my favourite hangout! P.A.R.A.G.O.N.

Don't need to go all the way to the Muji @ Bugis just so that i can add to my ever budgeoning collection of stationery from there!

Now that there is an outlet at Paragon, you will find me there more often, ever scouring for the lastest uber chic stationery from Muji! Interestingly, the eraser is made in Japan, the hightlighter; Indonesia, the pens; Thailand and the mechanical pencils; Japan and the pencil case; Japan...cool eh? i guess only a self-confessed fan of Muji such as i and oh yes...my marketing lecturer Patricia Chia take notice of such minute details! She shops for her clothes at Muji! How cool is that?!

Do not be mistaken, i was not issued an invite to the grand opening! But at this rate i am advertising for them...they odd to invite me to the grand opening of their third store...that is only hypothetically speaking...heck, i am their walking advertisement, not only do i use their stuffs and i extol the wonders of their stuff...on top of that, i managed to sell the idea of using such premium items as their stationery to Simon and Yingze. Me being influential here!

Guess what?! Simon blew like SGD20 on stationery alone! hahaz... thanks to, yours truly!

As for the ever faithful Muji fan here, i have a pencil case load of Muji stationery! I have spent close to a mind-boggling SGD 40 on stationery...and that is only but a fraction of the other items i have gotten from there over the course of time!

Yes!...the items you see here on your left is worth about SGD 35....hence, my pencil case is really precious to me...its never out of sight.











Thats the whole plethora of items i have in my pencil case!!! I am gladly self sufficient! But this is seriously transient, as i have the strong urge to let loose my inhibitions whenever i am inside Muji!










6:30 pm: Time to say goodbye.....

It was a great afternoon well spent, had a totally awesome time with my buddies!

Really thank God for such great friends whom i can count on, they may not be always around, but i am assured that they are always there in spirit!

Cheers to many more years of great friendship. Thanks bros!

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Back to reality:

Yes, it was a really fun-filled and meaningful time out with my buddies from school. However, the sobering reality is that Vernon is a very busy boy. Do i enjoy the kind off life i am leading right now? Well, its a downright yes!!....i like it when i am busy, admittedly, i appreciate the quieter times too, but i like to be constantly stimulated both mentally and physically **(pun not intended) hence, i am always looking for a worthy challenge!

Update:

I did my IPPT recently, and guess what, i became 100 bucks richer! Yes, i passed only missing out on a SILVER by 4cm!!! my standing broad jump...argh....oh well, better than nothing...well, i am going for SILVER...in a couple of weeks time, yes, you did not hear wrongly, i cleared my IPPT for the year, but i am gunning for a silver, hence, i am doing it again!

Other activities i am pursuing..........

NUS creative writing competition

MAS-ESS Economics Essay Competition

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (no, not a marathoner yet...but a route marshal) wanna feel the heartbeat(pulse) of the running community, afterall, i will be running in next year's Singapore Marathon!

Taking more Accounting subjects next year (FM, MA, AUDIT)..yes, wanna major in that...after that, i will do the ICPAS Professional Exams when i graduate. On top of that, am planning to do a Masters in International Relations at the University of New South Wales.

for now...am really busy with student life at school, currently marketing the Career Forum at school to undergraduates for the Biz club and trying hard to keep my head above the water with regards to m studies! Driving has taken a back seat, not gonna do it for now....

oh yes...i have applied to join my Varsity's Personal Development Programme; won't know the outcome till like next week...please pray for me, yar?! Will update you guys asap! Its a 2 year programme based on academic achievement and personal drive to succeed...hope the panel of administrators select me!

And the London School of Economics Summer School from 2 July - 2o July....i am counting down!
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