A Matcha Made in Heaven

A matcha made in heaven: A brilliant matcha themed tea break at Asanoya featuring matcha ice-cream, matcha latte, and a matcha azuki donut.

Matcha Ice-Cream: A wonderful milky and creamy ice-cream that melts really quickly and easily in your mouth. The sweetness of the ice-cream is well-balanced with the bitterness of the matcha. The ice-cream manages to leave behind a wonderful green tea aftertaste in your mouth long after it is gone, without overpowering any of the other tastes. Definitely a must-try for matcha and milk tea lovers alike.

Matcha Latte: The one thing about this dish is definitely the richness of the tea. Where the ice-cream is milky and creamy, the latte is rich and bountiful, gracing you with the full flavours of matcha and latte. A wonderful blend that will delight and entice your tastebuds indeed!

Matcha Azuki Donut: This is the dish which exemplifies the meaning of desserts. The most obvious taste one will partake in on the first bite is the pure sweetness of the sugar toppings. Be prepared for a complete flavourful experience, though, as the mild bitterness of the matcha and creamy texture of the red beans support the initial sharp sweetness. To add on to that, the dough used for the donut is fragrant and provides a wonderful base for each one of the other ingredients. Those with a sweet tooth will definitely enjoy this wonder feast of tastes.

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Charlotte

So, here I am lying in bed late in the middle of the night, unable to sleep with a million thoughts and emotions running through my head. Most of these thoughts and emotions were brought forth by my experience of an anime, Charlotte.

For anime fans who have not watched this anime before, I heavily recommend that you check it out. There are only 13 episodes in the series and I managed to absorb it all in one night.

The anime is about the main character, Otosaka Yuu, who has the ability to possess another person for up to 5 seconds. For years, he has been using his ability to cheat his way through life, even enabling him to enrol in a prestigious high school.

The anime's plot starts when Tomori Nao, another individual with special powers, catches Yuu using his powers. She makes him join the Hoshi-no-Umi Academy, a school founded to protect students with supernatural abilities. Yuu is then forced to join the student council of the school whose goal is to track down abusers of these supernatural powers.

This anime series is a heart wrenching one and it played my heartstrings like an instrument. The ending, in particular, was such a touching and romantic one. I will not spoil any more of the anime's plot or ending for any one of you. However, I will mention that the series has left me questioning myself on many of my choices and decisions in life. As I am typing this right now, I have only just finished bawling away and wiped my tears dry. I have felt an enormous amount of sorrow and regret in the last few hours.

My sadness comes from the plight of the characters in the story and feeling and emphathising with their emotional roller coasters. I regret how I was not able to make the same decisions and choices as Yuu had done in the anime for his siblings and the sacrifices he had made for the people that he loves around him. I regret how I had not treated my family, and brother especially, and shown them my love in the most ideal way.

Somehow, writing away at this blog helps me to resolve some of the feelings that I had within me. This post serves me in more ways than one. It helps me recommend a spectacularly produced anime to anime lovers reading my blog while enabling me to put some of my deepest emotions into words. It is a form of resolution to me, I guess.

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Japanese Curry Express

My second blog post for today is a review of a nice little shop I went to eat at yesterday evening for dinner.

The name of the shop is Japanese Curry Express and it is situated at Fortune Centre. Here's their name card for those of you who are curious to know where to find the shop:

Take note that the place is closed from 1500 hrs to 1630 hrs daily and is not open on Sundays and public holidays (come on, let the shop owners have their breaks please!).

I haven't actually tried all of the items on their menu yet (that will have to wait for future trips to the place). I will talk about some of the food that I have eaten yesterday though.

Dish 1 - Ebi Fry Curry Rice

So there's my main course: deep fried prawns with Japanese curry and rice.

The curry is the main highlight of the dish. The curry isn't too thick but I think that some of you who like thicker varieties of curry may find the curry too thin (I personally think that the texture of the curry is just nice). The carrots and potatoes used are boiled until they are soft (although one should be expecting that). I think that the curry is a little bit bland though some of you might like the gentle taste of the curry on your tongue.

The prawn is crispy and tasty. The batter used isn't too thick so you won't feel queasy inside from eating it. The prawn is also not too oily and is healthier than ebi fries from other Japanese restaurants. The prawn is crispy with a soft texture inside and goes along really well with the curry (maybe that's why the curry is slightly bland: to bring out the taste of the other items in the dish)!

The pickles are almost tasteless but that isn't the main highlight of the dish and I can bet that most people wouldn't even touch the pickles in the first place.

All in all, the curry rice is pretty delectable and is well worth its price. The standard of the dish matches that in common Japanese restaurants such as Ichiban Sushi and Sakae Sushi. If you like Japanese food, you definitely will not be disappointed by this particular dish from this shop.

Dish 2 - Salmon Mentai Maki

In case you guys are wondering, yes, the photo shown is a cropped and tilted photo. I edited the photo so that it looked better.

This is where your tongue will really water. The salmon mentai maki's main topping is the seared salmon that you can see so clearly in the picture. The salmon is half-raw and is cooked using a blowtorch, giving that smoked taste that many of you will like. The salmon is also seasoned with a little bit of barbecue sauce that brings out the smoked and seared taste of the salmon really well. You will also enjoy the smooth, soft and rich texture of the salmon as well!

The sushi also contains soft crabmeat and cucumber that most of you will not even notice because it blends so well with the taste of the salmon. The crabmeat and cucumber fillings are very well chosen as their taste complements and improves on the taste of the salmon, ensuring that your tongue doesn't get overwhelmed by too many strong tastes.

Imagine an orchestra where all of the different musical instruments are singing in harmony with each other, blending and complementing each other's sounds. This sushi is akin to that grand and soulful melody. I feel that the recipe for the sushi is so carefully thought out.

If you are ever at the shop, this dish is one that you must order! Trust me when I say that you will enjoy the sushi.

Dish 3 - Ebi Mango Maki

I really liked this dish as well. This dish excels in the same regard as the salmon mentai maki: The different ingredients and fillings used blends really well together.

The mango used for the dish is pretty fresh, in my opinion. Also, the mango has a texture similar to that of the salmon in the previous dish. All this is just the icing on the cake. Here's the best part of the dish: The soury sweetness and texture of the mango used is complemented really well by the crunchiness and crispness of the ebi fry used in the filling of the dish!

One would not expect that these two ingredients (mangoes and prawns) can go so well together! The taste of the prawn does not overpower that of the mango at all while the mango provides a nice soury taste that goes really well with the prawn. The dish is aptly named because both the mangoes and the prawns are the main ingredients of the sushi.

Neither one of those two ingredients steals the spotlight from each other. You can imagine both the mango and the prawn as best friends, willing to share whatever they have with each other. Both of these friends give the best of what they have to each other without any selfish intents involved.

As I'm typing this, I feel that this dish can be the perfect dish to commemorate one's friendship with a close friend of theirs'. This kind of relationship: To support and aid each other without overpowering one another's personality and preferences is embodied within the dish itself. I'm wondering if the person who came up with this recipe has experienced such a friendship before.

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Le Bistrot de l'Olive French and Mediterranean Bistro

This post is made regarding a dinner I had eaten on Sunday.

So I went to this French and Mediterranean bistro named Le Bistrot de l'Olive on Sunday with two of my friends.

Here are some pictures of the place:

Despite how the photo looks, there isn't actually a buffet bar and the bistro isn't a buffet restaurant either.

We did not order much at the café due to budget constraints but our tastebuds had a nice treat, nonetheless. My friends also mentioned that you can find the menu for the bistro on the internet if you just do a little bit of Googling.

EDIT: I've found the menu and website of the bistro for you guys!: http://www.delolive.com.sg

Dish 1 - Tabouleh

The salad's main taste is definitely sour. Those sour food lovers out there will definitely like this dish. In addition to that, there is a fresh taste of mint in the sauce and seasoning used to make the salad. I also commend the bistro for the freshness of the cucumbers and tomatoes used!

One thing to note though is that the taste of the dish might be a little too strong for those of you who are not used to the taste of the herbs and spices used.

Dish 2 - Grilled Prawns

I can say that I remember the Saffron Rice being extremely fragrant with the nuts giving the rice a nice and crunchy texture and feeling in addition to the taste of the herbs and spices they used for the rice.

The prawns were also pretty delectable. (Remember to squeeze the lemon on the prawns if you're eating this dish!) I suggest eating each of the prawns with a little bit of the cream sauce that's shown on the plate. The taste of the cream and lemon blends really well with the taste and texture of the prawns.

The grilled tomato was also rather tasty and the onions in the salad are definitely not as raw as they look although some of you might dislike the strong taste of the onions.

All in all, this was a pretty delectable dish.

Dish 3 - Salmon Fillet

Nothing much to say about the rice or the salad at the side cause they are the same as that from the previous dish.

The salmon is pretty notable though: The skin of the salmon is crunchy and makes a rather nice combination with the soft centre of the salmon. The salmon fillet was grilled pretty evenly such that the whole fillet was cooked just nice without any part of the salmon being overcooked or undercooked. One thing to love is the fact that the salmon isn't fully cooked also so you can taste a slight bit of how fresh the salmon they used is!

Dish 4 - Saumon Grill Aux Epinards En Sauce Beurre Blanc

The name basically translates to salmon fillet with black squid ink linguine. The salmon is the same type of salmon as that in the previous dish so you can refer to my review of the salmon fillet from there.

The main selling point of this dish is the squid ink linguine. I remember the linguine having a nice sweet taste that isn't too strong in flavour. You can also taste the "fire" in the linguine if you understand what I mean. The texture of the linguine is also just nice: Not too soft or too chewy and you can really feel the chef's effort in ensuring that the dish is cooked to perfection.

All in all, I'd say that this bistro is somewhere I would recommend to anyone wishing to give their tastebuds a nice treat. However, because of how pricy the place is, it isn't somewhere that I would frequent or visit more than once or twice a month. The food is enough to keep one earning for another visit to the bistro though!

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Canteen Lunch

So it turns out that the canteen is finally open again today. The canteen operators had been gone for a holiday for a few weeks and my craving for their Commando Chicken was killing me.

Here is a picture of the Commando Chicken for illustrative purposes:

The Commando Chicken is as it looks: Chicken fried to a crisp with a sweet and spicy batter. The chicken isn't hard either and your teeth will sink in easily into the juicy and succulent chicken meat. The batter isn't particularly spicy but it is very appetising and will play a really nice and enjoyable game with your taste buds.

Add on the creamy chili sauce and mayonnaise and the dish becomes more or less perfect: The texture of the meat and fries blends really well with the sauces.

I can't wait for the next opportunity to have such an amazing lunch again!

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Toa Payoh Dinner

So I'm out today with a few of my friends (Hendrich, Jee, Larent and Nan Huei) to have a nice Claypot rice dinner at the market at Toa Payoh.

Here's the main dish and reason why we had our dinner today:

Yummy and amazing Claypot rice (and steaming hot too as you can see from the photo).

I'd say that the one thing I like from this dish is the fact that the salted fish used was extremely fresh and fragrant. You can really taste the quality of the salted fish used.

Of course, as with all Claypot rice meals, we have to add the dark sauces in and mix the rice up for the full experience!

As in the following picture, there were accompanying dishes with our meal as well:

Yum yum meal yay!

1) BBQ Sambal Stingray

Sizzling hot BBQ stingray on a hotplate. I enjoyed it as much as you'll enjoy looking at the photo that I took of it.

A whole bundle of spicy goodness ohmigosh!

2) Satay

Yum Satay!!! Makes your mouth water, doesn't it. We had some Satay accompanying our meal as well because what dinner would be complete without some Satay? Filled my craving for meat really well.

3) Sambal Kang Kong

Our last dish is a plate of sambal kang kong to round off our meal with some vegetables as well as add the emphasis to a local meal.

I'll say that I definitely enjoyed myself during this meal and I thank all of my friends for the amazing time we had together

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Mahjong 台s

So here I am playing Mahjong today with absolutely no idea how to count the 台s at all. Thankfully, I have good friends who helped me with counting the 台s as I played the game.

Basically, the 台s are counted as an addition of a set number of 台s for your winning hand depending on how hard it is to acquire that winning hand. Added on to that will be any 台s gotten from bonus combos in your winning hand.

Disclaimer: Some of the information below is taken from the Wikipedia page that I'm referring to as I type this blog post. I did not copy any of the information word-for-word though. All of the contents below have already been paraphrased.

台s from Winning Hands:

One 台:

臭平和: Win by amassing a hand of four sequences. In addition, the winning tile cannot be an "in-between" tile or used as the "eyes" in your winning hand. This winning hand is similar to the 平和 except that the 平和 has another criteria that has to be met: If you manage to amass the abovementioned hand without obtaining any of the animals or flowers, your hand will be considered a proper 平和, which is worth four 台s in the game, instead.

Two 台s:

对对胡/碰碰胡: Win by amassing a hand of four triplets or quadruplets in the game and not qualifying for any of the other types of winning hands mentioned below.

半色: Win by amassing a hand containing tiles of only one suit. This winning hand is similar to the 清一色. However, this winning hand allows one to have a mixture of one or more wind or dragon sets (东, 南, 西, 北, 发财, 白板 or 红中) in your hand as well. If you manage to amass such a hand without any wind or dragon tiles, your hand will be considered a 清一色 winning hand, which is worth four 台s, instead.

Three 台s:

小三元: Win by amassing a hand containing two dragon triplets or quadruplets (发财, 白板 and 红中) with your "eyes" being the third of the dragon tiles. This winning hand is similar to the 大三元 with only one difference: The 大三元 hand involves three dragon triplets or quadruplets instead of two. The 大三元 hand is worth five 台s.

Four 台s:

平和: Win by amassing a hand of four sequences without obtaining any of the animals or flowers. In addition, the winning the cannot be an "in-between" tile or used as the "eyes" in your winning hand.

大牌一九: Win by amassing a hand of triplets or quadruplets containing only the following tiles:  一万, 九万, 一索, 九索, 一筒, 九筒, 东, 南, 西, 北, 发财, 白板 and 红中. This winning hand is similar to the 请老头 and 字一色/大字 with only these differences: The 请老头 does not involve any wind or dragon tiles (东, 南, 西, 北, 发财, 白板 or 红中) while the 字一色/大字 involves only wind and dragon tiles. Both of these winning hands are worth the maximum number of 台s on the table.

清一色: Win by amassing a hand containing tiles of only one suit without any wind or dragon tiles (东, 南, 西, 北, 发财, 白板 or 红中) in your hand.

小四喜: Win by amassing a hand containing three wind triplets or quadruplets (东, 南, 西 and 北) with your "eyes" being the fourth of the wind tiles. This winning hand is similar to the 大四喜 and 十八罗汉 with only these differences: The 大四喜 involves four wind triplets or quadruplets instead of three while the 十八罗汉 involves four wind quadruplets instead. The 大四喜 hand is worth five 台s while the 十八罗汉 is worth the maximum number of 台s on the table.

Five 台s:

大四元: Win by amassing a hand containing three dragon triplets or quadruplets (发财, 白板 and 红中).

大四喜: Win by amassing a hand of four wind triplets or quadruplets (东, 南, 西 and 北). This winning hand is similar to the 十八罗汉 with only one difference: The 十八罗汉 involves four wind quadruplets instead and is worth the maximum number of 台s on the table.

Thirteen 台s:

十三幺: Win by amassing a hand containing all of the following tiles: 一万, 九万, 一索, 九索, 一筒, 九筒, 东, 南, 西, 北, 发财, 白板 and 红中 with your "eyes" involving any one of these tiles.

Maximum 台s:

请老头: Win by amassing a hand of triplets or quadruplets containing only the following tiles: 一万, 九万, 一索, 九索, 一筒 and 九筒.

字一色/大字: Win by amassing a hand of triplets or quadruplets containing only the wind and dragon tiles (东, 南, 西, 北, 发财, 白板 and 红中).

十八罗汉: Win by amassing a hand of four wind quadruplets (东, 南, 西 and 北).

So I walked out of the mahjong room breaking even (not losing or winning any money) which I consider lucky since I am a pretty new player with almost zero experience counting the 台s in the game at all.

Good game well played, guys! Was a fun day out with you three!

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