Having afternoon snacks at Compass One Kopitiam

We visited Kopitiam at Compass One in the late afternoon for snacks. We ordered fried carrot cake ($4), kopi c kosong ($1.60), big pow ($1.60) and siew mai ($2.60 for 4). Kopitiam is a foodcourt on the 4 floor of Compass One shopping mall. There is a bus interchange nearby and an MRT station (Sengkang)on the N.E. Line. The place is not as crowded as during lunch and dinner hours.
There are more than 60 restaurants and cafe on the ground floor as well as at the basement level.
When you dine at Kopitiam, use the Kopitiam card which is a dinning stored value card and you will get a 10% discount on food and drinks.
Payment is via the icash box ( pic below). You may use cash or the Kopitiam card for payment. There are also cash top up machines situated inside Kopitiam.

Home prepared light dinner

After having the sliced fish soup and rice for lunch and snacks in the afternoon, I decided to have something light and nutritious for my dinner. I boiled the broccoli and made some dressing using miso, apple cider vinegar and crushed mustard seeds. My "dessert" was the small bowl of roasted cashew and almonds nuts. It was a refreshing meal indeed.

Best beef kway teow in north eastern Singapore

Photo courtesy of Bridget
I was with my friends at Kovan and went to eat this beef kway teow at block 203, Hougang St 11. It is by far the best beef kway teow in this area. A bowl of mixed meat noodles/kway teow cost $4 to $6 which is worth every cent. They provide sliced onions in chin cha lok and of course the usual chilli sauce. The queue is usually long at lunch time and must be prepared to wait for 20 minutes. I was there at about 2pm and so there was no queue at all. But that said I still prefer the one at Shaw House foodcourt which is quite expensive ($9). The place is airconditioned unlike the one at Hougang.

CDs scare away the birds

When left unattended, the birds would swoop to the table and feed on the food of customers who had left to buy their drinks. These birds are very hungry creatures and they will come by the dozens. Whenever the diners left the tables with leftover food more birds will come and happily feed themselves. The situation could sometimes get out of control and the birds after their feed would poo on the tables and chairs.
The coffee shop supervisor was so fed up with these creatures that he resort to tying the used CDs on to the ledge to frighten away the birds. I was told that the CDs are like mirrors and the reflection of the birds plus the movement scares away the pests. Now, the birds stood on the side on the floor,away from the CDs and hope someone will throw some scraps of food to them.

Light lunch made up of toasts

Had the above for lunch. 2 Slices of bread topped up with cheese, egg and bacon. Also had a cup of vegetable soup. This meal is enough for me until evening when I may have something lighter.

Man charged for abuse and causing the death of a dog

A man is being charged for abuse and causing the death of a toy poodle. It is really sad to hear or see a poor little defenceless  animal being treated in such a cruel manner. When our toy poodle died last year, my wife and I cried for days. Even till this day, we still talk of our little toy poodle.
We are so heart broken that we do not intend to have another pet. Each time we see a toy poodle our hearts would jump. We missed out pet everyday and we could not understand why would someone want to abuse or kill an innocent little dog.

Spaghetti from SG & JPN

When I sent the picture of the spaghetti which my wife cooked to our friend in Japan, the latter not to be outdone, responded by sending us the Japanese version of home made spaghetti (right pic).

Interacting with the retirees

I was at Kovan hawker food center to meet some SIA retired ground staff but accidentally bumped into a few retired IFS there. I joined them for a while before the ground staff appeared. We had an hour of chatting plus few cups of coffee and tea. The IFS were all in their early 60s and full of zest for living. They participated in the chats actively and the only thing that betrayed their age was the wrinkles on their faces.
After an hour, I left them and joined the ground staff who were regular kakis at this place. These retirees religiously meet each other twice a week to have drinks and meals together for the last 10 years. I used to join them when I left the airline in 2003 for a while but not anymore after I became more occupied with my work.
Nevertheless, It was nice meeting the two groups. I did not snap any photo as most are quite sensitive about them appearing in my blog.

Grilled sambal sting ray at Chong Pang

This is the grilled sambal sting ray rice set ($6.50) The taste was quite good and spicy and I had it at a Chong Pang Village coffee shop. It was very popular in the evening and the place was crowded. It took me 20 minutes to get my food. 

Ikan pari (sting ray) assam pedas and spicy sotong (squid)

Dissatisfied with the assam pedas fish at Serangoon Gardens yesterday, we went to the Chinese stall at Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 (Chong Boon Market) that sells the above. This would be my third time visiting this stall. Admittedly, this time the assam sting ray wasn't as good as on the previous occasion. The reason being the sting ray was not soaked in the assam gravy for a long time. We were there for an early lunch. The squid was so so. The best time to eat is in the evening when the assam gravy has been cooked a few hours earlier and the fish,squid and chicken meat had been soaked in the gravy for a while.
For the 3 dishes and 3 bowls of rice, we paid $18 which is quite reasonable.

Malay food @ Serangoon Gardens

This stall is at a Serangoon Garden coffee shop facing the UOB Bank. The food used to be very good but today when I visited it after a long break I found the food to be slightly disappointing. I think the cook must have retired or left. Still, it is worth visiting if one is in the vicinity as there are no Malay food around that area.
The fish assam pedas ($3) is a little diluted and generally the food lacks the punch. It is reasonably priced at $5.50 per plate (rice,sambal goreng, spicy cuttle fish and sambal kupang or green mussels).

Fruits and claypot dinner

The breakfast was some cut fruits like oranges, jack fruits and mango. It's refreshing to have fruits in the morning particularly now that the weather is hot and humid. Eating fruits also prevent constipation.
Dinner was at a hawker stall in Ang Mo Kio Ave 10. It was at Yu Fa Claypot Delights. The dinner was made up of 3 types of dishes, namely assam sting ray, pork trotters in vinegar and ginger plus braised pork with preserved vegetables and tau pok. The meal was superb and cheap ($16 for 2).

Penang laksa in Singapore

There are two items on the menu: assam laksa ($3.50) and fish balls in assam laksa soup ($2.50 for five balls). The fish balls (topmost pic), to me are no big deal. They are just like those one could buy from the supermarket. The laksa gravy is authentic and spicy and the noodles are springy. This is the second I've eaten in 2 weeks.

Venue:

D'LAKSA

B1-K7 Hougang Mall, 90 Hougang Avenue 10

Open: 10am to 10pm daily


Those who plan to eat the noodles at home can ask for the soup to be packed separately.

1983 cafe prices cheaper than ....

Cafe 1983 is one of the eateries that serves besides the traditional kaya toasts, coffee etc, mee rebus, mee siam and many more other local dishes.
I was at Changi Airport Terminal 2 yesterday and was surprise to discover the prices at 1983 were cheaper than those at  Toast Box, Ya Kun etc.
The traditional kaya butter toast set which comprises of 2 soft boiled eggs, toast and a cup of hot drink cost only $4.30 while the same one at Toast Box cost $5.40, Ya kun $4.80. Mind you this Changi Airport T2 where the rental is much higher than Toast Box, Yakun etc at the heartland malls.
The mee rebus and mee siam set at 1983 is only $5.50 compared to Toast Box's $6.70.
I have not eaten at 1983 but often at Toast Box and Ya Kun. I was told the food at 1983 is as good as at TB and YK.
Currently there 4 1983 outlets in SG. Click here for its website.

Home prepared Japanese meal

We decided to eat in due to the rain. We had Japanese white rice with mentai (salted fish roe), Japanese preserved vegetable, miso soup and a plate of broccoli, sweet peas, ladies' fingers and fried egg with bacon. It was a hearty meal, I must admit. Again compliments to my wife.

Wagyu beef for lunch

We bought the 2 pieces of Wagyu beef from a Japanese supermarket and cook them for our lunch. The meat is tender and juicy. Wagyu beef originated from Japan. Wagyu cattle is specially bred for its
meat and could fetch a high price. The meat simply melts in the mouth. There are very expensive in Singapore ($20 per piece of 200 grams) but in Japan it is about half the price.

He felt humiliated at the cabin crew interview

Dear Forum Editor,

Good day to you.

I'm a Singaporean who's very proud of my flag carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) and it's a brand I hold in high esteem.
I'm sharing my experiences in this letter because I'm concerned Singapore Airlines is losing it's competitive edge.

I was a candidate at the most recent SIA cabin crew walk-in interview.
It was a negative experience for me because I met a difficult interviewer at the one-to-one interview.
I answered the interviewer's questions accordingly and when I tried to elaborate relevant points, he made this retort a few times-"did I ask you?".  I was courteous and genuinely smiling during the interview and the interviewer told me to stop smiling.  The warm smiles of the Singapore Airlines cabin crew is one of their signature traits.  Shouldn't a cheerful disposition be a desirable trait in a cabin crew candidate?  When I told the interviewer I want to work for my own flag carrier instead of other airlines and I'm willing to learn to improve myself, he replied sarcastically, "did you go for a course to prepare for this interview".  I was rejected after the interview.
I'm not disgruntled because I didn't get the job, I can accept if I'm unsuitable.  However, the interviewer's attitude made me feel demoralized and put down.

In July this year, I had a different experience during the Emirates Cabin Crew recruitment campaign organized by Sass Atlantic.
I credit and appreciate Emirates and Sass Atlantic for making it a positive experience, even though I was unsuccessful.
The Recruitment Officers from Emirates were professional, encouraging and kind throughout the selection process.
Sass Atlantic staffers provided invaluable assistance and guidance to all candidates.

In sharing my experiences, I wish to highlight that any job interview should be the candidate's platform to promote himself and his qualities that make him suitable for the job and the interview decorum should be in accordance with the company's image.  If the job interview isn't properly conducted, how will the company suss-out the best candidate for the job.  Some candidates for airline jobs may become the target market or potential passengers of the airline they interviewed with.  The interview experience will affect how the candidate perceives the airline in future. If SIA doesn't address these issues, I'm concerned they'll loose out to competitors.

Thank you for your attention.

BT: Song sung and lyrics written by yours truly.

My huge lunch @ Hougang Interchange/MRT Station

Yesterday, I ate only 1 meal (lunch) and was very hungry by 1pm. I adjourned to Hougang Interchange/MRT Station and had lunch at one of the coffee shops. First, it was the ba-chor-mee ($3.50) followed by the Hainanese chicken rice ($4 with rice, breast meat, gizzards and liver). Both dishes were delicious and priced reasonably. In fact, this was my first time eating at this place. I chose the food according the queue of people. Long queue of people usually mean that the food is good and cheap.