Day 37. Be brave and be different.

"If you going to look at what people are going to say, you'll never do anything..." - Mr Nathan

"I think fear is somthing you impose on yourself - if you were taught to fear (venturing into the unknown), you will." - Elisha Tan, CEO of Learnemy

Sometimes we are so affected by what people think of us and would say of us that we decided not to venture into something unknown or different from the norm. From young, I was under the illusion that by studying hard and getting good enough grades, I would eventually end up with a good job or at least should have no problem looking for one. When all my friends decided to take the JC route, I follow suit even though I knew that I wanted to give Media studies a try. 

Having graduated from a local university, indeed job search hasn't been difficult. What's more difficult is about finding the right fit. Once, I quit my first job without securing another just because I wanted to embark on a self-reflection trip to find out what I want out of life. With a backpack, and some help, I left for Cambodia. Reflection proved to be an easy word to say. Even after the trip, I wasn't as much enlightened as I was prior to the trip. Not thoroughly thinking about it (in the past few years) has apparently granted permission to that part of my brain to go on infinite days of holiday.

Having graduated and worked for 3 years now, I still feel somewhat unaccomplished. As my interaction with the world increases, I feel increasingly limited - in terms of my knowledge, skills and experience. Every now and then, I would pose the question to people I met, "why do you do what you are doing now?" Often, it's about making ends meet, and that job fulfillment isn't as important as earning enough money to spend on what you enjoy. Is it? Earlier, I had a conversation with a taxi driver, and his story was rather thought-provoking - he left a well-paid position in a big company to enjoy doing something he likes, but with time to spare for himself and his family. I imagine a taxi driver with a grad degree - doesn't sounds quite appealing does it? 

Indeed, to be in a career that you love, you have to take risks and ignore what others think of you. This is a lesson that will take some time for me to digest, and perhaps a while to internalise.

Heavy story aside, Aiks and I went to try Tim Ho Wan at Plaza Sing today! It was a totally random and impromptu attempt, especially upon seeing that the queue was shorter than usual. Having said that, it still took us a good 1 hour to get our foot inside the restaurant.

Having heard of the super long queue time, we actually run a stop watch to see how long it takes for us to enter the restaurant. Technically, it was a 49 mins wait. 

 What we do best when we are bored, self-entertainment. I look so different here!

 Finally! One step closer to the food.

I was rather surprised to see the rather limited variety offered on the menu, but that also explains why the food were of a certain (controlled) quality. Having only 2 of us, we ordered a total of six dishes (though we really wanted to try more!):

1. Pork Dumpling with Shrimp “Siew Mai” ($5)

2. Steam Egg Cake ($3.80) 

3. Prawn Dumpling ($5.50)

4. Vermicelli Roll with Shrimps ($5.50)

5. Beancurd Skin Roll with Pork and Shrimp ($4)

6. Baked Bun with BBQ Pork ($4.50)

The Siew Mai was really juicy, the best that I have ever tried thus far.

I had a bite, and had the next and it never stopped. The steamed egg cake was so fluffyyyyy I can die! Have it when its piping hot.

Though there's a generous number of shrimps (about 3) inside each dumplings, I would say the prawn dumplings were pretty normal. Value-for-money?

This tasted pretty normal too.

I don't really like this dish. If you were to order, I rather you wait for the temperature to cool down before eating it, I feel that it's more fragrant when eaten cooled.

True to its reputation, this legendary baked bun with BBQ pork was really yummy. It came last, and by then I was pretty full but I decided to have my deserving half portion anyways!

It was, overall, a pretty good experience. I would say it's baked bun with BBQ pork and the steam Egg cake are to die for - cause you probably can't find better ones elsewhere. But for a one-hour long queue, I probably need to have it bad enough before I would put myself through this process again.

Tim Ho Wan

68 Orchard Road, #01-29A Plaza Singapura
Singapore 238839

Mon - Thurs: 1000 - 2200 hours
Fri - Sun & PH: 0900 - 2200 hours

Day 30. My birthday was yesterday

Home-baked with love from Aikky and Mommy!

It's interesting how birthdays seem to be a big thing in the past - anticipating what presents I will get, what should I wear just so I look so stunningly gorgeous even for a day and who will be the first to post the a birthday greeting onto my Friendster, or the now more popular Facebook wall. 

Years passed, the cycle repeats. As if struck by a sudden realisation, I realised these are rather superficial self-fulfilling materials that I no longer crave. What I wish for, instead, is just a simple meet up or wishes from my few besties (who will always remember my birthdays) and time spent with my loved ones. And so, my fb account no longer has my birthday indicated, nor did my office colleagues knew about it.

Surprisingly though, yesterday was liberating. 

Having said that, a dinner with my beloved bf is definitely a must. And so he chose Momoya, a Jap restaurant near Simpang bedok. It was one of shophouses, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the city life. Quiet and cosy and at first glance, quite pack. At $32++ for a Japanese buffet, it was indeed value-for-money, and I have to say that it's got one of the better service that I had encountered. Entering the place, I had high expectations and was rather thrilled with the spread on the buffet menu.

Right photo taken by my irritating bf, when I was asking him for something, I look so unflattering here! :(

We ordered quite a couple of dishes - salmon sashimi, ebi tempura, chawanmushi, yuzu salad, grilled mushroom, wasabi mayo maki with soft shell crab, grilled mackerel, grilled salmon with butter sauce, unagi with egg, fried tofu and so on.

I'm not a salad person, and this doesn't look appetising that all. Needless to say, I didn't order this.

HAHA! What kind of look is that?

(L to R) Amaebi, Sake, Spider Wasabi Mayo Maki,  Unagi Tamago Toji, Grilled Chicken Wings, Unaku Chiizu Maki

In sum, I have to say the food wasn't that fantastic, and in fact, a little disappointing. The only few dishes that were nice was perhaps the maki and the chawanmushi. I'm glad that we gave it a try though, cause it was rather inaccessible without a car, but I don't foresee going back to the place any time soon. If you are going for value and variety, this is perhaps the place to go.

Momya Japanese Restaurant 

Picardy Gardens, 16 Jalan Pari Burong

Mon - Sun: 11:30 - 14:30; 18:00 - 22:00