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