DANGERS OF ALCOHOL

James Bond sent this in, amongst many he regularly contributes. I had to post this because somehow, it reminds me of me.

A man walks into a cocktail lounge and approaches a French woman. He offers, "May I buy you a cocktail?" "No thank you," the women replies, "alcohol is bad for my legs."

"Sorry to hear that. Do they swell?"

"No, they spread."

Missus Singapore out!

Missus Singapore or Miss Us Singapore (at your own peril) - A married woman on the loose

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Tao Xiang Kitchen: Hong Kong Style Roast in the Coffeeshop

Char Siew $36/kg

So which is better?  Hong Kong Style Char Siew or Singapore Style Char Siew?

What's the difference?  I hear you ask.

Well, compare a chunk of Char Siew from Fatty Cheong with one from Crystal Jade and you will understand what the difference is.  Our local Char Siew tends to be much sweeter than the Hong Kong style ones and I personally prefer the local style Char Siew.   Honestly, I don't remember ever eating a Hong Kong Char Siew which I can remember.  I have eaten Char Siew in Hong Kong as well as in Sydney where there is a large number of Hong Kong Roasts.  But I don't have a Char Siew that has as endearing qualities as the ones at Fatty Cheong, Foong Kee, Lee Kheong and Fu Shi.   I have to admit that the best ever Char Siew experience I had was when Wahcow brought back some super fatty Charsiew from Ming Kee in KL.  But that was just that once.  I subsequently visited Ming Kee in KL twice and was disappointed both times.  But Hong Kong style Char Siew -- I don't know.  Perhaps I just haven't come across a good one or maybe it is just that I like my Char Siew with a layer of translucent and slightly charred, caramelized fat.

Anyway, in case you are a fan of Hong Kong Style Char Siew and don't want to have to fork out the extra money to pay for towels, peanuts and service charge, then this Kopi Tiam Hong Kong Roast may be just what you are looking for. 

Ok I know you are thinking, "No big deal what, so many stalls selling Hong Kong Roasts around!"

Hold on yeah?  Just because the Stall calls itself a Hong Kong Roast stall doesn't necessarily make it a Hong Kong Roast ok?  Just as every man you see on TV donning a white coat and carrying a toothbrush may not necessarily be a real dentist.

So what then qualifies a stall to call itself a genuine Hong Kong Roast?

Well, you need to have one of these guys:



Yep, a real Hong Kong born Hong Kong Chef.  AND a Hong Kong Chef who specializes in Roast Meats, I might add.

Chef Cheng is one of the reasons why we should not complain too much about our Hawker stalls being overrun by foreign hawkers.  He arrived in Singapore 18 years ago as a hotel chef and worked in several hotels before his last posting at Crystal Jade as a Chef specializing in BBQ Roasts.  Then he married a local and decided to share his expertise with the rest of his new found compatriots.

Now, since I have already said that my preference is for the local style Char Siew, it would not be a big surprise to you that I did not think much of the Char Siew at Tao Xiang Kitchen.  I found it a tad dry and lacking that nice caramelized layer of malty goodness that our local Char Siew has.  Having said that, if you do like Hong Kong Style Char Siew, than this is still a good place to get your fix in a coffeeshop setting.  3.75/5


White Chicken $22 ea

The dish that I was more impressed with was the white poached chicken which was served without any soy sauce.  This chicken is quite unique in that unlike the local version where the chicken in poached in water and then the flavouring is added later in the form of a soy based sauce, this chicken in cooked in a salty broth that has been flavoured by stuff like dried scallops.  So the chicken would have absorbed all the salty umami as it cooks and can be served neat.  Quite a refreshing difference from your normal chicken rice and well worth the trip to try it.  4.25/5


Sui Gao $3.50 for five

The Sui Gao soup here is also very good and the Sui Gao here is one of the best I have eaten in recent memory.  Hong Kong style clear soup is quite distinct from our local version.  They use the bones of dried fish to cook the stock instead of the more familiar ikan bilis which are more common in the local version.  4.5/5



Being a very proud Hong Konger, Chef Chang sources for the eggy Hong Kong style noodles which are very firm to the bite. I personally prefer our local wonton mee which tends to be a little more tender, but if you are looking for Hong Kong style wonton mee, then this is it!

Conclusion

Many places might call themselves "Hong Kong" roast, but serve local style roasted meats.  This one, however, is more authentic although some of the flavours have also been adjusted slightly to suit the local taste.  The poached chicken and sui gao soup are excellent and I would definitely order those two plus some of the other roast items to accompany them. 

Tao Xiang Kitchen
10E Sixth Avenue
#01-01/02
Singapore 276474
8.15am to 8.30pm
98303628

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The right stuff

I had a very bad experience when I visited Beijing some years ago. You see, my friend used a public toilet. We were in a place where tourists go to. I just can't recall which one that was. Anyway, she exited the toilet looking choked and on the verge of spilling her guts outs. What was the reason for this? The toilet. It was damned  damned damned (pardon the word and the emphasis) smelly. It looked ok from the outside though. I may not have used the toilet myself, but I believed her 100% when I saw the 'pain' she was in.

So toilets, dirty, messy and stinking ones, are not the preserve of Singapore. Yes, we do have them, and in a First World country that we have become, now for more than 10 years, we are damned ashamed of it. Truth be told, there are probably well kept toilets for every dirty stinky ones. In fact there are probably more than a 1:1 ratio. I would hazard that for every stinking ones, there are probably 2 well maintained ones. If you lived in Singapore, like me, you might not agree. Perhaps I don't visit public toilets all that often nowadays, at least not those in our hawker centres. I'd use the ones in the shopping malls, which if you consider the prices that shops there charge for their merchandise, you sort of expect better treatment in their loos.

Now Singapore is considering building more hawkers centres that will not be parceled out to commercial operators such as Kopitiam and Koufu to operate. Hooray! Lower prices of food, but I hope that the toilets would be 21st century quality also. Or are our designers of our new generation hawkers centres going to retain this aspect of our dirty toilets, for nostalgia's sake? Nooo, social enterprises will be running these places, surely they are more socially conscious and will have a heart not to cause a person to retch upon existing that most essential of places?

But who know? There's nothing like nostalgia.

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Lomography – Part 1 – The Merlion

A special thanks to Lomography Singapore for sponsoring me the Spinner 360°. They also loaned me the Spinner 360° Motorizer which gives turns the whole thing into an automated 360° capture device. This is the first in a series of lomographic VRs that I plan to do over the next year. It’s a fun gadget that takes some getting used to. I’ll be sharing the settings and lighting conditions for each of the lomographic VRs I create.

Check out the link: http://www.singaporevr.com/vrs/lomography/lomo1_merlion.html

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PORN OF THE FUTURE

Helen from Corpus Christie, Texas, sent this in saying that it's the desktop wallpaper of her husband's computer. She also says that this will one day be the face of porn. Well, I think guys still love the feel of flesh but who knows, they might get bored of us one day, and these robots will do anything they want. So perhaps, there is something for us to worry about.

Missus Singapore out!

Missus Singapore or Miss Us Singapore (at your own peril) - A married woman on the loose

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VIDEO OF THE WEEK

This is one of the most hilarious things I've seen in a long time. Every part of it will help get your week off with a cheeky grin on your face. I especially love the part showing the penis ejaculating (if only). And then there is the cup full of semen. I wonder how many guys they got to fill it up. Or how about that stern looking nurse showing how to give a proper blowjob if you have dentures. Just hilarious. Have a good one!

Missus Singapore out!

Missus Singapore or Miss Us Singapore (at your own peril) - A married woman on the loose

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FIT FOR THE ACT

A recent survey I read about found out that the path to a healthy sex life has to do with living a healthy lifestyle. Duh? Haven't I been saying that for the longest time.

The main thing to know is that a healthy cardio workout can reap libido-boosting benefits. The sex is better when you are healthy and fit. And there is no doubt many of you have discovered that the best time to have a good sex workout is after a gym workout when your sex drive seems to be at a peak.


The parts to work out are essentially the muscle zones you use for sex most - abs, butt, thighs, breasts, arms and back. So what are you waiting for, get into shape.

Speaking of shape, I've a little sad that some of my friends from school have totally let themselves go. I'm not putting down anyone who is overweight but I'm just saying that these are the lot I often hear about how dead their sex lives are. Besides, some bird told me that you might just be a walking time-bomb health-wise.

They always find excuses and occupy themselves with other chores and never get down to addressing their weight issues. I have one friend who is so pre-occupied with baking that she always says she is too busy for sex. But when I ask her what she misses most in her life, her answer - a hot sex session!!

To think she was once a slim, sexy and petite girl.

Another excuse, having children. Yeah sure, blame it on the kids. Your body is your responsibility and no one else's.

Missus Singapore out!

Missus Singapore or Miss Us Singapore (at your own peril) - A married woman on the loose

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