Only musselicious

Posted on Sunday August 23, 2009 in Gourmet.

I am not a food critic. In fact, I don’t have much opinion on food. So long it is not stale or too spicy, it will pass in my taste. This lengthy disclaimer is really to highlight the unreliability of my gastro-reviews. So I don’t know why I bother.

We were getting tired on a friday night. KPO was overwhelmed with Lexus, Bimmers and frankly slack-looking valets. So we turned around and went back to Orchard Central. As Garuda has not a single floor tile in place, we decided to dine in The Mussels Guys. Best of all, there is a 1-for-1 promotion on their mussel dishes.

Decor is decent. Servers are flexible and sensitive to needs, though the slip into Mandarin kinda threw us off.

The Mussels Guys @ Orchard Central

Their signature dish, Spicy Mussels, does impress (top picture). Served hot with just the right amount of spiciness. Gratifying with a zing that keeps you going at it. The seafood is fresh and deserves to be highly recommended.

Now onto the second mussel dish, Baked half-Mussels. It was lukewarm when served. Not ideal and hence must be eaten immediately. Let it sit for 20mins and you don’t want to taste the cold cheese anymore. And oh, you won’t be able to tell that there is a spicy sambal chilli in it, as the menu states.

Well, since it is the “Mussels Guys”, don’t expect too much on the non-mussels stuff. The spicy seafood raised the bar way high for the other mains and sides. Mushroom soup has chunky mushrooms but something tells me it is from the can. Chicken with wild mushroom sauce is referred to as chicken rice. For chicken rice, it is decent but not with wild mushrooms, for sure.

At ~S$60 for two persons, it will have me as a returning customer. Just for the mussels this time.

Shell out for SPB

Posted on Sunday August 16, 2009 in Technology.

Just when you think you cannot get more out of Xperia X1, hops along SPB Mobile Shell 3! It is in Korean but if you remove the Korean customisation (see thread page 2), the English version will be in force.

Widgets are not my thing1. SPB shell has always been decent in usability. This time, it gives a lifestyle spin to the UI using the widget concept in the main screens. The carousel view looks like HTC TouchFlo. If you are a fan of that famous UI, you should enjoy SPB’s latest too. On first launch, it is tad slow (~9s) but subsequently launches are smooth as butter.

Oh I finally loaded the growing panel. Cool application/panel but not useful. Excellent for showing what X1 can do but definitely not for daily use.

  1. I cannot even bring myself to load widgets on my new MBP [↩]
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Alloy twinkle in my eye

Posted on Sunday August 9, 2009 in Technology.

In my world, vanity and technology like to hold hands. They skip down the shopping mall and giggle as the transaction machine goes “ka-ching”!

Though it has been years in the making, the transition is not what I have imagined it to be. I am still paranoid about ruining it with coffee or flying bugs. Ah well that’s me.

Back to customising the new tech baby – Apple MacBook Pro. Yeah.

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Of trends and boxes

Posted on Saturday July 18, 2009 in Web.

Of course, simple is good. Clean is always welcomed. But the pages are getting too similar. It is like, someone planned out the designs for the next 5 years and everyone bought that manual – Large boxes, medium-sized ones, and a whole lot of photographs with sanserif graphics. One night, I made that observation and the person whom I told it to simply raised the eyebrow and probably went “So?” in his head. Hence it was rather heartening to see someone feeling the same. I don’t mean that websites must be splashy and browser-cuttingly chic. As DK has aptly pointed out, one whole site based on flash is just not as friendly1. I am sure some can do more than boxes and rows without being over zealous.

Now that I think about it, perhaps it’s because consumers like the predictable?

Alrighty, heading down to Tangs Orchard to vote. Having slept for 10 hours, I feel that it is my responsibility to.

  1. I cannot link the source to this comment because the site is flashed. [↩]
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Blogathon, Singapore style

Posted on Thursday July 16, 2009 in Web.

From sundown to sunrise, there is never a short of online activities.10 bloggers in Singapore will attempt to showcase Internet’s ability to keep one up all night. Well, up for full 24-hours in fact. The folks are brave, nominated and prizes included no doubt, to be in a potentially claustrophobic display along the main shopping belt1. Social media marketing (or whatever the latest terminology is) is catchy. Now it just needs it own theme song.

I wonder if the venue/outfit sponsor can consider giving away stuff to supporters/onlookers too.

By the way, apparently “-athon” is a right-able suffix. The aforementioned event is not to be confused with the non-profit organization that holds regular events to raise funds or awareness.

Will someone stop me from registering sic? Hmm.

  1. Follow them on twitter #bthon [↩]
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Cozying up at Cova

Posted on Wednesday July 1, 2009 in Gourmet.

The thought of spending S$80 per person for a dinner scares me. Since Wing Tai is so sweet to give me a voucher for a 1-for-1 dinner at Cova1, I had to give it a try. Well it is a birthday celebration after all.

It was 15 to 7pm. We showed up early and were led to the indoor dining area2, much to my relief. The dining experience was nothing short of elegance, flair, and delightful. Every dish was presented as described and as requested. Service staff knows their job, their products, and understand what it means to be serving Cova customers. No surprise that we sat for 3 hours and when we left, we talked about returning for another meal.

Cova @ Paragon

I didn’t take note of the menu – From top left: Whuthering Heights tea; selection of bread; table view; pasta with foie gras; selection of mini tarts; medium-rare steak; asparagus with poached egg; salmon.

For a better review than the above, read ladyironchef and life is 2 mu(n)ch.

Sidenote: Someone should approach the owner. Their website needs a revamp.

  1. Of course, airfare not included. Paragon’s outlet, just [↩]
  2. Technically, the whole cafe is indoors but part of it is straddled in the middle of the mall. [↩]
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Dwelling in a song

Posted on Wednesday June 24, 2009 in Music., Web.

I have the super-human ability to make every song into a theme song of any scene that comes into view, especially when I am on the move (on-board the train, car, plane or on foot).

For example. Along the highway, the music of Annie Lennox brings about powerful tossing emotions. I can see the male and female leads in the passing apartments, I can hear their rehearsed conversations, I can feel that long drawn-out helplessness.

Lately, I have been listening to Zee Avi. Not the album but the other songs that she is sharing on Youtube. I am watching one whole feature film in my head right now.

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