Singapore Trip 2009: Day 2

We know you guys can't wait for the Taipei postings, so we'll finish the Singapore ones pronto. Sorry, we just have to get this out of the system before we can start new ones. It's like detoxing.

A Singapore trip is never complete with the Orchard Road experience, especially when it's near/during Christmas. We were there a week before Christmas and the festive decors and lighting were already up.

In Singapore, one can really feel the festivities of Christmas albeit it being rather commercial. But this work of creativity is worth the walk.

This was one of the newest shopping malls on Orchard, The Ion.

We didn't really explore much inside cos we thought it felt like any other typical shopping mall. Plus, Nee wasn't really on a shopping spree this time around. WHEW.

This one's for NEE. I couldn't believe it but somehow I knew, she enjoyed the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic on the plane ride to Taipei recently. 

It was a whirlwind tour of Ion, something like a snap-we-were-there kinda thing. (Whoever heard of a mall tour before?) We had to rush off to this place at Suntec City 1 cos it had a Japanese buffet lunch & it ends at 2.30pm. Why does our trip feel like The Amazing Race?

This was Kuishin Bo upon Terri's recommendation. And we trusted Terri's thumbs-up! So we just cannot miss it even though we only have something like 50 min before closing.

This place did not disappoint us. They did not scrimp. It in fact beat any local Kuching hotel buffer in terms of food and price. For S20.90/RM50 not including taxes, there were generous portions of sashimi laid out & waiting for us, even though it was near closing time.

Faced with such time limitation, we piled our table with as much as we can, out-kiasu-ing the Singaporeans. NEE: There were salad and cold cuts counters; sushi counters with assortment of sushis, makis and temakis; teppanyaki section where they cook fresh the ingredients you choose; hot food sections and chawan mushi sections and not to mentioned Greg's favourite desserts counters.

I loved the desserts. You can pick anything with your eyes closed & it's good. Loved the cream puffs. Had double-triple helpings. I love you Kiushin Bo!

We then headed back to Orchard for some lighting views and ended the day with real Singapore Chicken Rice in Singapore. Dinner was with Nee's ex-uni-mates at Boon Tong Kee. Also mentioned in Terri's blog.

I think we ordered to many kinds of side dishes that night. You might not want to do that when you're here cos the other dishes can overpower what's supposed to be the highlight, pure original unadultrated roasted/steamed chicken. NEE: It could well also be we finish the kiasu-stuff-ourselves-silly lunch at 2 30 and started dinner around before 7 pm.

Nee felt that the chicken, especially the skin, was excellently smooth. I couldn't discern much of it cos having too many dishes on the table was confusing.

The secret to having a good Chicken Rice meal is to keep it simple. Just chicken & rice. That's why kids love it. But it does go well with smaller helpings of sides like tofu, kailan & bean sprouts.

NEE: A good place for chicken rice alright but the other dishes are quite average really.

The Arrival & Departure of the Little Tigers

As quick as they arrived, they were gone.

The Year of the Tiger brought us these 3 freeloading furballs which appeared out of nowhere. We found them one morning at the back of our house about 2 week sbefore the CNY. I think they somehow knew how to pick the right house. But that's easy. If you're a food blogging hungry homeless tramp, you'd pick our house too.

The mother cat was probably shocked that we took her pictures without her permission, this being her first encounter with papparazzi. But if you saw the look on our faces, we'd probably looked just as shocked.

We didn't really wanted to encourage them but neither did we want to chase the poor little family away, especially when the kittens were so cute. So we didn't really interact with them, neither did we give them any food cos the mother cat was busy bringing little critters like dead lizards to her kitties. We thought that was a good deal cos it was like paying for their rent. Clear our house compound of those critters & you'd get to stay for free.

This is was Sylvester.

On the night before CNY eve, a grouchy looking, puffy-faced, ugly grey male cat came by & bit Sylvester by the neck, puncturing the back & front of his neck, & left him to die. It was a cowardly thing to do, & If I was there at that time, I'd have slapped the dang cat silly, & plucked out all his fur. 

Sadly, Sylvester didn't survive the CNY despite our efforts to force-feed him. I think his internal injuries were far more serious than we thought. Thinking back, he might have had a better fighting chance if the vet was opened, but this was CNY. Nothing was opened.

And as quick as it came, it was gone. And we pondered about the cruelty of nature. Truly only the fittest survive.

And that left us with 2-1=1 kitty left. And this one was a girl. So we thought at the very least she won't get killed by another male cat.

And then when I opened the back door one fine morning, she wasn't there any longer. Guess what. I found her on the main road on my way to work. Dead.

So that's zero kittens left. We felt sorry for the mom but there was more to come. That night, our neighbour suddenly popped up & asked about the cat. They complained that she had been hiding in their car engine chasis & puked on their car, & they wanted to discard her away to the housing estate on the other opposite side.

Not really knowing how to defend this guilty-as-can-be feline, I gave her away with a heavy heart, & with full regrets for the rest of the night. We pondered away the whole night on the what-ifs & finally decided that if she came back the next morning, we'd buy her a collar, start feeding her, & keep her.

Guess what. She was back like clockwork the next morning.

And so I bought her a collar with a little bell. And a bag of salmon chicken Whiskas biscuits.

Now we've got another problem. Her heat is on & that means the male cats are on to her as well. But I really can't write anymore. It's either going to sound romantic or X-rated.

So as fast as they came, they went, & only mommy cat stayed. We won't know how long she'll stay for, or the neighbour will abduct her again. We're thinking whatever happens, at least she has a collar on, & that will gain her a more humane treatment.

For now, Nee is caling her Miu Miu, like the Miu Miu from Prada. I roll my eyes.

Oh by the way, this was supposed to be a Happy Year of the Tiger post.