Cafe Hopping - Woodshed

After our bak kut teh meal, we headed to the adjourning cafe to grab coffee. Outside the cafe, they had a blackboard sign that advertised a 10% discount for patrons who flashed the receipt of the bak kut teh restaurant.

Mum got a Hazelnut Latte, the Younger Sis got the Genmaicha and I got my usual Cappuccino.

Cappuccino

I wish I could have gotten dessert to go with coffee, but we were all too stuffed to stomach any. Mum's Hazelnut Latte was nice, but the Genmaicha was too milky for my liking. My cappuccino was good.

This entry is pretty lame. Sorry.

Woodshed

Address: 204 Rangoon Road Singapore 218451

Phone: 6299 4308

Dining Out - Ng Ah Sio Pork Ribs Soup Eating House

Brunch with the Mum and the Younger Sis today. We drove to Rangoon Road with the intention of breaking fast at one of the hipster cafes, but saw Ng Ah Sio and decided to go here instead for nostalgic reasons.

Dad used to bring us here when we were young and taught us the art of brewing tea while enjoying the delicious bak kut teh. Without him to carry out the tea ceremony, we started to bicker over the correct way to do it until the friendly server stepped in to correct us and offer her assistance.

Yummy Bak Kut Teh Spread

Apart from getting a bowl of pork ribs soup each, we also ordered pork skin (delicious collagen goodness), tau kwa pok, preserved vegetables and blanched lettuce to share.

This place made headlines when it turned down then Hong Kong Chief Executive, Donald Tsang's request to dine at the place after its usual operating hours in 2006. He eventually got to dine at the place 5 years later and his successful second visit also made the news.

Somehow in my memory, the food tasted better when I was young. How I yearn for those days and those times.


Ng Ah Sio Pork Ribs Soup Eating House
Address: 208 Rangoon Road Singapore 218453
Phone: 6291 4537

Show Time - The Lady of Soul & Her Ultimate 'S' Machine

Watched the 5th and final The Studios: fifty play with the Playmates today, which is Tan Tarn How's The Lady of Soul & Her Ultimate 'S' Machine.

The Lady of Soul & Her Ultimate 'S' Machine

The play touches on the themes of censorship, bureaucracy, sex, homosexual relations, communism - subjects that are largely taboo in our nation. It is about a nation's search for "soul" in order to become a vibrant nation, with the task executed by the ridiculously redundant committees, sub-committees and sub-sub-committees typical of those found in the local civil service.

Watching the play, I was reminded of the government spending $400,000 and months working on renaming the revamped Marina Bay area in 2005, only to conclude the massive branding exercise by deciding to stick with Marina Bay.

As S astutely pointed out, the fact that the political satire held such relevance more than 20 years after it first premiered in 1993 showed how little the civil service and our society has changed.

You would think that the funniest character in the play would be the cross-dressing Madame Soh, who sexually harassed all other male characters as part of her his in-your-face persona. But I felt that the characters that provided much of the comic relief in the show were the 2 female minions, who wayang-ed on cue. After all, the funniest jokes are also those that ring painfully true.


The Lady of Soul & Her Ultimate 'S' Machine
Event Date: Thu, 7 - Sun, 10 May 2015; Thu & Fri: 8pm; Sat: 3pm & 8pm; Sun: 3pm
Venue: Esplanade Theatre Studio

Show Time - No Sex Please, We're British

To be honest, I did not really enjoy this play. I am not even going to attempt to summarise the plot, but I am just going to do a Ctrl+C & Ctrl+V of the lengthy synopsis from Sistic.

No Sex Please, We're British

This riotous comic farce notched up a staggeringly successful sixteen-year run in the West End.

The plot surrounds a young, highly ambitious, assistant bank manager, Peter Hunter, who lives in a flat above his bank with his attractive, new bride, Frances. Married life is bliss and Peter's banking career blossoming but then Frances innocently sends a mail order for some Scandinavian glassware. What comes back though is a box full of Scandinavian – 'er, adult material! Then the fun starts!

The two, along with the bank's frantic, chief cashier Brian Runnicles, must decide what to do with the subsequent veritable and unstoppable flood of extremely dubious photographs, books entitled 1001 Perversions, reels of blue movies and even the arrival of two, glamourous "party girls" that threaten to engulf this happy couple - not to mention Peter's career at the bank!

The matter is considerably complicated by the sudden arrival of Frances' overpowering and intruding mother-in-law, Eleanor, and Mr. Bromhead (Peter's so-important boss), Mr. Needham (a visiting bank inspector of even greater importance), and Superintendent Paul (a nosey police superintendent who won't be deterred and threatens to reveal everything).

Add the muddled Brian Runnicles who does everything wrong in his reluctant efforts to help set everything right and all of that works up to a hilarious ending worth of one of the great, British farce plays.

I do not blame you if you did not get through all that. 

Sure, there were funny moments worth a chuckle or two, but by and large the plot about the characters' shame and panic over the pornographic materials mailed to them is dated since people these days might even post about the hilarious error on their social media sites.

Plus, it did not help that the acoustics of the theatre was not that good so some of the dialogue spoken was barely audible from where we were seated. The elderly gentleman seated in front of me constantly turned to his younger companion and asked her to repeat what the actors said. As you can imagine, that really added to my enjoyment of the show.

I need to point out that the actors played their roles well, but their acting could not save the show from its plot. Tickets to the play are upwards of $100 and in my humble opinion, not worth the price.

No Sex Please, We're British

Event Date: Wed, 6 - Sat, 16 May 2015; Tue - Fri: 8pm; Sat & Sun: 4pm & 8pm

Venue: Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel

Dining Out - Manzoku

Before our play at Raffles Hotel, SC and I met at Manzoku for dinner. This is the sister outlet to Chikuwa Tei on Mohamed Sultan Road.

The tables in this place are spaced very close together, such that I knocked over a bottle of soy sauce while wriggling between the tables to get to my seat (or it could just be that I am a hippo). This means you don't have to try very hard to eavesdrop on your neighbouring tables or to observe delicate moles on their faces.

The menus are exactly the same as those used in Chikuwa Tei. For the specials, they just hand-wrote the word 'Manzoku' and pasted it over 'Chikuwa Tei'. It was pretty funny.

I got the Chirashi Don, which features thick slices of sashimi laid atop vinegary Japanese rice.

Chirashi Don

The portions were generous so it satisfied my craving my sashimi sufficiently. At $25, I consider this value-for-money compared to Chirashi Dons in other restaurants.

Manzoku

Address: 18 Purvis Street Singapore 188597

Phone: 6734 4436

Random iPhone Shots

Some random images that make me LOL.

This one describes me to a T.

This one needs no explanation.

S sent this to me and we launched a HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA texting war.

This is the meme I want to send to people who give me bad well-meaning advice. A cute animal always softens the blow, no?

Show Time - Backstreet Boys

BACKSTREET'S BACK, ALRIGHT!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

That pretty much sums up my level of enthusiasm the entire night while watching the concert with S & J. On a side note, going for the concert signalled that it is already May. How did time fly back so fast? But it's okay...

Sorry, I could not resist.

The sold-out concert was held at The Star Theatre and the audience are mostly in their late 20s and 30s. But when the time came, everyone started screaming like overexcited teenagers (us included). 

The Backstreet Boys are conscious of their age and made passing jokes about it. Their synchronised dance moves were low impact but still endearing nonetheless. They came onstage playing instruments and performed some of their songs a capella midway through the concert.

When they performed songs from their latest album, In a World Like This, responses from the audience were lukewarm but still supportive. But as soon as the opening strains of their past hits start playing, the audience went crazy (us included). We had a great time singing along to songs like The Call, Shape of My Heart, Larger Than Life, I Want It That Way.

My only gripe is that the acoustics of the place was terrible. The music was so loud at some points of the concert that I had to raise my hands to my ears because it was so loud it hurt. 

Still, I had such a fantastic time with my homegirls. Ah, nostalgia. Oh, to be young(er) and carefree again.

Backstreet Boys

Event Date: Sat, 2 May 2015, 8pm

Venue: The Star Theatre