Dear Sister (2014)

Recently, I just finished this j-drama and I decided to write something-up about it. Dear Sister broadcasted its first episode on October 2014. The whole series only consists of 10 episodes, 1 hour each. Its a love comedy tv series.

Dear Sister is about the lives of 2 sisters, Fukazawa Hazuki(29 y.o) and Misaki(27 y.o). Misaki left her family after graduating from high school and reappeared into Hazuki’s life. Misaki is a lively playful girl and puts on a happy face all the time. Hazuki is more serious, mature, down to earth, socially-awkward, and dense in love relationships. Both of them are polar opposites of each other despite being borned from the same mother. Misaki has a secret that she does not want her sister to know. Overall, I think there is a good balance between romance and comedy. It is only 10 episodes,so, it does not feel draggy. It ended with a proper closure. I would rate Dear Sister as 8/10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eGdn_7VpYo

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

One day, I stumbled upon this sushi documentary on my friend’s facebook post. I went on to search for links to where I could watch this documentary online.

Basically, it is documentary on a Japanese chef named Jiro Ono. He is of course, a sushi chef. The documentary lasted about an hour and a half. Documentaries are usually boring to me but I find this one slightly interest me more than the typical ones.

In this documentary, Jiro’s daily life was captured on screen. From the moment he wakes up to the moment he locks up his restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, is properly shown to the audience. Sukiyabashi Jiro located at Ginza, Tokyo has earned 3 stars from Michelin which is an amazing feat to achieve. He was 85 years old when the documentary was premiered to the general public.

He has two sons, Yoshikazu and Takashi. The younger son, Takashi left to open a mirror-like restaurant in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo. However, the elder son stayed with Jiro as he is the future successor to the Jiro’s restaurant. Yoshikazu is still an assistant to Jiro because Jiro is still working as the head chef. Retirement is a word that doesn’t belong to Jiro’s dictionary. Despite being 89 years old today, he is still going strong for his passion of making sushi.

Through the documentary, I learnt from Jiro that hardwork and perseverance will lead to success. He also mentioned that you need the proper attitude and love your job to achieve success.

As Jiro quoted:

Long story short, it is an interesting documentary. I would highly recommend this if you have time to spare. Jiro Ono is recognised as the greatest sushi craftsman alive. Even though a meal at Jiro’s costs a whopping 30,000 Yen, I will drop by his restaurant for a meal when I have the oppurtunity.

Here’s a link of the documentary:

Nando’s @ Bugis Junction

Today, we visited Nando’s outlet at Bugis Junction. Nando’s originates from South Africa with Portuguese flavor. It is mainly known for their grilled chicken with various types of flavors to choose from such as lemon and herb, medium, hot, extra hot or extra extra hot peri-peri marinades (properly known as Galinha à Africana).

You can order chicken in quarters, halves, or wholes and butterfly breasts(aka the Boneless). They have other dishes as well but normally you would want to go for the flamed-grilled peri peri chicken with 2 side dishes. Peri Peri aka African Bird’s Eye chilli is a variety of Capsicum frutecens found in East and Southern Africa.

For the not so brave one aka Mua:

Butterfly Chicken Breast Lemon & Herb Sauce with 2 regular side dishes; Chips & Mediterranean Rice (S$17.50)

Hers:

1/4 Chicken Extra Hot Peri Peri Sauce with 2 regular sides; Potato wedges & Mediterranean Rice (S$14.50)

One plus point about butterfly chicken breast is a boneless meat. It is slightly on the dry side. The chips and potato wedges were deep fried in fresh oil while the mediterranean rice was butter-y and flavorful. The tenderness of the chicken varies from outlet to outlet which is a downside of franchising.

Nando’s @ Bugis Junction (Nearest MRT: Bugis)

Address: #01-85/87, Bugis Junction 200, Victoria Street, Singapore 188021

Phone:6338 6555

Opening hours: 10 am – 10 pm, daily

Dean & DeLuca

Dean & DeLuca

We dropped by Dean & DeLuca over the weekends around 3.30pm for some bites. It is located on the 4th floor at Orchard Central.

Rainbow Sliced Cake (S$7.50)

The rainbow sliced cake was a little bit too sweet for our taste. The whipped cream was generous. The purple layer of the cake had a very strong bubble-gum like taste to it. For a cake that cost S$7.50, the size was alright. However, I would recommend one slice of rainbow cake to be shared by 3 – 4 pax. Having too much of rainbow cakes makes me want to vomit rainbows.

Ohya, I also paid S$4.00 on a 330ml of “spring water”. LOL

We will try having a proper meal at Dean & DeLuca in near future.

A heads up for the peeps,  do come slightly earlier as the place is limited on seats if you decided to visit.

I saw a family of three, bought the food over the counter and ended up seat-less. It would be best to get a seat before queueing up at the counter to place an order.

Dean & DeLuca

Orchard Central (Nearest MRT: Somerset)
181 Orchard Road #04-23/24
Singapore 238896
Tel: +65 6509 7709
Opening hours: 11am – 10pm daily

Memphis Depay – 1st Signing for 15/16 Season

Memphis Depay for Netherlands

Memphis Depay is a Dutch footballer who plays for PSV and Netherlands national team. The 21 year old’s natural position is a left winger. He is quick, packs some tricks on his sleeve where he cuts in with his right foot and “dances” away from the defenders.

Apparently, he uses his given name instead of his family name because he has “daddy issues” since he was a kid.

The Dutchman scored 28 goals in 39 appearences in 14/15 Season. He has led his club to winning the 2014–15 Eredivisie title. Not to mention, he has already made his senior team national debut and scored 2 goals for his country in just 15 appearences.

Hooray!! Manchester United and PSV has agreed on his transfer to his new club, Manchester United on 7th May 2015. Certainly, we assume that he will pass his medical test when the transfer season opens in June 2015.

Here’s a video of his recent performances.

Manchester United should be busy in the June 2015 transfer market. We will need to purchase some talents especially in the defence area. Memphis Depay will be an awesome addition to our squad and boost our attacking capabilities.

Jonny Evans – Player Analysis & Review

6 Jonny Evans – Defender

Jonny Evans

History

The boy from Northern Ireland was brought up from the Manchester United’s Academy. His natural position is in central defence. There is nothing much worth mentioning about him. LOL

Current performance

There was one season where he played like a solid centre-back. Sadly, the good form didn’t last long nor continued after that season. He made stupid back-passes, reckless challenges at important cup games, conceded penalties unnecessarily and etc.

Conclusion

LvG should consider putting him on the transfer list. Numerous chances were given to him but he didn’t perform as expected. There are many other youth defenders from the academy who can play better than him. Enough about this fool.

Over and out.

Marcos Rojo – Player Analysis & Review

5 Marcos Rojo- Defender

Marcos Rojo

History

The Argentinian joined Manchester United back in August 2014 at a cost of 16mil pounds from Sporting Lisbon. He can play as a central defender or a left-back. He seem to be more comfortable playing as a left-back after LvG tried putting him in the two positions.

Current performance

Recently, he just recovered from a shoulder dislocation injury back in November 2014. He has been playing well consistently. There is really nothing to criticize about him except that, there are a couple of times when he was caught “ball watching” as the wingers skipped past him.

Conclusion

In LvG’s books, he is a starting 11.  I would prefer LvG to play Marcos Rojo over Luke Shaw if the manager decides to play more defensively.

Over and out.

Luke Shaw – Player Analysis & Review

3 Luke Shaw – Defender

Luke Shaw

History

Luke Shaw was one of the LvG pre-season transfers at a cost of 30mil pounds from Southampton. One of the most expensive Englishmen for a player of his age, 19 years old! No offence but English players are always overpriced in the transfer market. His weekly wages are a thumping 100k pounds. He had a great performance in the previous season,however, in my honest opinion, his performance does not justify his transfer fee and weekly wages. Not to mention, he is injury-prone as well. He suffered a hamstring injury just before the season begun.

Current performance

Luke Shaw is a natural left-back defender. So far, his link-up with Angel Di Maria on the left side is good. He brings the ball up the field, tries to outpace defenders and sends in a cross to the 6 yard box. Most of his crosses are effective as he crosses it to the danger area. As of now, there is nothing much that I can comment about his performance in the current season since his injuries hinders his gametime.

Conclusion

LvG will have to play Luke Shaw over Marcos Rojo if he wants to adopt a more attacking gameplan. One of his plus point is his age,thus, the potential to be a great player is vast. I hope that he doesn’t suffer anymore injuries as it will shorten his lifespan as a footballer.

Over and out.

Tori Q

Tori-Q had been my favourite yakitori place when my cravings for Japanese meat sticks emerge from my voluptuous belly.

History

Tori Q had been around since year 2000. I still remember when the first shop was opened in Takashimaya Shopping Centre Basement Two. According to them, Yakitori, which means Grilled Bird is a Japanese type of skewered chicken. On the other hand, “Q” ”is merely a short form for barbequing with good quality and service resulting and hoping for rapid long queuing.

What is yakitori?

Yakitori is basically japanese skewered meat. The raw meat is skewered by a bamboo stick and hand grilled while applying generous amount of ”tare” sauce. ”Tare” sauce gives a sweet & savory taste, sort of like bbq sauce but just slightly milder. Yakitori is normally served with beer at izakayas. It’s a place where typical Japanese salarymen go to place after their hectic day of work. Tori Q has a machine from Japan to do its meat grilling. The kitchen staffs just have to insert the skewered meat onto a clip. Then, it will rotate around the machine,thus, grilling it in high temperatures. By doing so, it retains the juice from the meat and seals it shut with a slight char on the surface.

What is on their menu?

Their standard bento set comes in three different types such A,B, & C. It is normally accompanied with pickles,seasweed & Japanese short-grain rice lathered with “Tare” sauce.

Bento A	Bento B	Bento C

This is what I have ordered:

Bento A + (1 x Arabiki pork sausage, 2 x chicken meatballs) @ S$9.20

My favourite yakitori is the signature meatball. It is very juicy and tender. The texture is unlike any other meatball I ever tried so far. The “tare” sauce is their housemade special secret recipe sauce that goes well with the yakitori meats. As a result, I tend to order an extra chicken meatball for my Bento A. I gobbled down the rice with pickles as the ”tare” sauce topped with seaweed was too savory to resist. A satisfying meal indeed. Other than those shown in the picture above, there are many other choices of yakitori available throughout the day.

You can find Tori Q in most of the shopping malls in Singapore. The first branch in Takashimaya Shopping Centre has the longest queue compared to other branches. This value for money meal is worth the long queue.

Sadly, they don’t do franchising as they strongly believe that “quality comes first”. I hope that one day franchising will be permitted because Tori Q will be a big hit in Malaysia. If that fateful day comes, I will be the first person to open this AWESOME Tori Q back home.

Chye Seng Huat Hardware @ 150 Tyrwhitt Road

Hey guys, it’s 11am on a Saturday. Having missed breakfast, we rushed out for brunch at Chye Seng Huat Hardware. It’s located near the famous pig organ soup, Cheng Mun Chee Kee Pig Organ Soup which I will write-up a review on another day. xD

The sky was cloudy and almost every table at CSH are occupied. Fortunately, we found the last table with shelter, just outside the shop that was unoccupied. Please take note that orders are made from the cashier counter and not from your table. We arrived at hungrily and noticed that there is a long queue at the counter. The menu is rather limited as there is only a single double-sided page menu. One side for food & another for beverages.

The Huat Breakfast with 2 sunny side up eggs(S$18) & Mushrom Aglio Oglio(S$17)

The Huat Breakfast consists of a ham steak topped with a small scoop potato salad, 2 chicken sausages, half grilled tomato & a toast. The ham steak tasted very “cheap”, the chicken sausages very flavorful, and the potato salad was the highlight of the whole dish. Overall, it is just an ordinary big breakfast that you can get practically anywhere.

The mushroom aglio oglio has tempura fried oyster mushroom on the top and the spaghetti noodles are garnished with lots of garlics, cilantro, and shiitake mushrooms. It was delicious as we love garlicky dishes but she didn’t like it due to the chopped cilantros were overpowering. HAHA. I think it adds a unique flavor to it and it was not bad but it is no big hoo-ha either.

For drinks, ice latte (S$7) & homemade lemonade(S$5)

The ice latte is a little to small for me but it certainly packs a punch.

For me, I think it is a little too pricy for a small sized ice latte.

The homemade lemonade was refreshing & very citrusy. Mint leaves were added to adds a fresh touch to it. Ginger bits at the bottom of the glass enhances  even more.

At the end of our brunch, we realised that we had no more room for deserts. LOL XD

Chye Seng Huat Hardware

Address: 150 Tyrwhitt Road Singapore 207563 (Nearest MRT station: Lavender)

Tel: +65-6396 0609

Opening hours: Tues to Fri – 9am to 7pm; Sat to Sun – 9am to 10pm. (Kitchen closes at 5pm)