The King & I

My breath smells like durian.

I'm burping durian - Ultimate joy!

Mum bought the durian sampler from Goodwood Park hotel's durian feast and I had an entire box to myself.

Never had so much durian delicacies in a span of 3 days. Well, it had to be consumed within 3 days.

I'm happy and stuffed.

Cambodia : Culinary Delights

Apart from brekkie at the hotel served in the comfort of our room (like breakfast in bed), all our meals were taken along Pub Street, near the Old Market. We had to try a lil of everything. Khmer, Indian, French, Italian ...

:: Dinner at Kamasutra - Indian fine dining.

The curries and garlic naan were savoury and very very good. ::

:: Lunch at Le Bistrot De Paris.

The quiche lorraine was the best I had ever tasted.

Piping hot, fresh from the oven with a light and fluffy crust. Yummylicious!

The beef in red wine sauce with potatoes on the side was pretty good too. ::

:: Khmer cuisine on the last night at the Cambodian Kitchen Restaurant. We ordered way too much for just 2 people. But what the heck, it was our last night in Siem Reap.

Had to try the Amok Fish which was a Khmer specialty. Turned out to be fish gone amok. Hmm, not quite to our taste. The rest of the dishes were so-so, to me, Khmer cooking is a cross between our local tze-char + Thai cuisine. ::

:: And ooh, dessert was a flaming banana + coconut ice-cream soaked in rum.

See the flames above? Like a flaming Lamborghini huh? ::

Bice + Tangerine + Senso + Samar + B&B Room

yup yup yup! more glorious food ....

Tuesday 24.04.2007

Attended the grand opening of Bice (bee-chey) Bistro @ The Cannery ... free flow of bubbly and wine + finger food. Lee & I were appalled at some of the guests ... some people are really greedy when it comes to food especially when it is free. There was this group of rather good looking girls in front of us who were gobbling their food while queing for food at the same time. Talk about multi-tasking! There was this other guy who was eyeing my plate of food when I just placed it on the table momentarily. He had the cheek to ask if that was his. Hello?! Short-term memory mister, you have your hands full already, how can it be yours? duh!!!

While the wine + food was good, we still had room for dessert. We chanced upon Tangerine (also under The Cannery group of pubs/restaurants) and decided to check it out.

I have found an alternative to The Chocolate Factory (TCF). And I have been shamelessly promoting it to TCF lovers.

After an overdose of TCF in previous weeks, Tangerine was a welcome change. While not as rich as TCF, the hot chocolate was delicious! And lighter for the pocket too! The cakes were lovely as well. We had the tiramisu, cheese cake and the chocolate mousse I think, can't really remember as this was 2 weeks ago. In terms of quality and presentation, Tangerine is on par with TCF and Baker's Inn. I can't condemn Canele enough.

Thursday 26.04.2007

What luck! With the US partner down in Singapore for a meeting on a program I am working on, I had the opportunity to attend a nice luncheon with the partner and managers at Senso. It's been ages since I last dined at Senso. The last experience at Senso was fabulous - a birthday dinner with pals some 3-4 years ago I think. Impeccable food + excellent service + warm, cosy ambience.

Senso has kept its standards up over the years and as such lunch didn't dissapoint. Opted for the set lunch, a pretty good value at $34+++. Dessert was strange and yet surprisingly delightful - chocolate in tomato with pistachio ice-cream by the side. While the sound of it might send your stomach churning, it was very unique I must say!

Had dinner at Samar @ Arab Street that night after work. After a long day of meetings, I was too darn tired nor in the mood for an enjoyable night out. Needless to day, dinner was quite a non-event for me.

Monday 30.04.2007

Met Jas + Pat for brunch at The Bar & Billard Room @ The Raffles Hotel.

Gosh, it was really disappointing. For such an expensive brunch, the spread and quality of food was really quite dismal. At the raw food bar, the selection didn't look nor taste fresh. The only saving grace for me was dessert. The pralines were wonderful!

I still rank The Tiffin Room high on hotel brunches. Or high tea in my case. Will just stick to drinks at Bar & Billard.

Wacha Up To?

Friday 20.04.2007

It was an 'introduction' between 2 knowing parties. Chose a quaint and much flogged about place for nice and quiet dinner - Wacha @ 14 Ann Siang Road.

Told tee about the place 2 months back and we were due to have dinner with the peeps there. But alas, there were last minute hiccups and I had to cancel reservations - twice. Despite the possibility of being black-marked by the nihonjin proprietress, I was undeterred and made reservations for the third time, with stern warnings to the dinner attendees.

And wakaka, we made it to Wacha!

First things first - the dinner party. Here are pics of us sans flushed faces, before the sake.

:: tee + me :: lakky blings ::

I got to know about Wacha though ChubbyHubby's blog in February this year and was intent on visiting the place. Especially when it was just a twirl + hop + skip away from the office. The intent was so strong that I was so close to taking half a day off just for a nice afternoon tete-a-tete (they only open from 2pm onwards).

In just over a month, like the property market, prices for the set meal went up by 25% to $40 for 4-course meal. Nevertheless, I was so charmed by the pics of the pretty lil appetizer baskets and I just had to see if it really lived up to the hype.

As we all know, the Japanese place huge emphasis on presentation. Wacha is no different. From the facade of the shophouse, to the eden-looking tables with its plastic (prickly) vines, to the food baskets - the aesthetics were cute yet elegant.

Now the lowdown on the food.

The baskets were delightful. Each of us was presented with a basket of our own, consisting of 6 appetizers resembling an assortment of pickled delights.


The second course was a non too spectacular age-dashi tofu dish. For mains, we had a choice of either saba / chicken kakiage / unagi with 'plane' rice. The gals opted for the chix while the boy opted for the unagi. The 'plane' rice was good! Ask tee - she finished every grain! haha :)


For sweets, we had the green tea cheesecake, a cement-looking goma (black sesame ice-cream), green-tea ice-cream and an effervescent maccha affagato. Of which, I think the goma and green-tea fared best.


Perhaps my expectations for Wacha were on the high side. After all, CH's review seemed more exotic and exciting as compared to the menu that we were presented with.

Nevertheless, Wacha is a perfect place to while a lazy afternoon away which ambling along the quirky shops along Club Street. It is also a nice place to bring a date to. In fact, it might be just perfect to hold speed dating parties! Business idea anyone?

+ + +

Night at the Museum

Since we couldn't shrug off the Friday chill-out mood, we headed to the National Museum to check out the new bars. It was a toss between Novus (quieter and more atas) and Muse (louder and more poseur).

Not quite in an atas mood, we settled for Muse. Reminiscent of Post Bar @ The Fullerton with its high ceilings, the setting also bears semblance to MOS with its loud and thumping music.

Despite the pumped up vibe, it was surprisingly quiet for a Friday evening, which was just as well. Seated outdoors, its a great place to catch up + chill.

Satsuma

Paid a visit to Satsuma, the hipper and younger sister of Shunjuu.

Nope, Satsuma is not a geisha mind you .... its a nice lil enclave located at Gallery Hotel.

It was a pre-holiday get-away from the office ... we all needed a short break and so we planned for a lil tete-a-tete in dresses, high heels and all :)

Since the gals were craving for hot chocolate, we headed to Robertson Quay once again ... now a favourite hotspot with its close proximity from the office. Thanks for Angie whose friends' cousin owned Satsuma, we secured our reservations at the last minute and got to meet the affable owner herself.

Satsuma serves a terrific range of yakitori, we especially liked the foie gras and oysters wrapped with pork. The gals' favourite dish was tofu with melted cheese - very smooth and really quite heavenly .... Having heard about the drinking games at Satsuma :

" sorakyuu of shochu - a conical cup with a hole at the bottom. You'll have to cover the hole with your thumb then down the shochu in a gulp amidst much ruckus created by wooden 'clappy' things which the waiters will rattle vigorously"

But not quite in the mood for hardcore drinks, we opted for something a lil more lighthearted - Shochu cocktails, which were so-so.

As mentioned, we ended the night with dessert at The Chocolate Factory once again (my 3rd time there in 3 consecutive weeks!). With Easter round the corner, the coldroom showcase was peppered with delectable chocolate eggs which were oh-so-tempting!!!

More ECI

Friday 30.03.2007

been dreaming of chocolate the entire week ...

yup, after a stressful week at work and after a bout of flu ... spent Friday night with tee + lee having a light dinner at Miharu + dessert at The Chocolate Factory ...

this time, I opted for the Chocolate Tarte ... which was ecstatically goooood ... puuurrrre + smoooothh ... as expected, the gals enjoyed the Vienna hot chocolate ...

i'm one happy gal too :)

when the rest of the crew came, we had Mascato + Bubbly at Tasting Notes to start off the night ... followed by more drinks at O Bar ... leaving tee in a happee state, haha

we survived ... cheap + sleepee drunks unite!!!

:: [clockwise] Pleasure, Black Forest Cake & the Chocolate Tarte ::

Basil Alcove

Wednesday 28.03.2007

Dinner with the gals ... more specifically in favour of Rachel who has left our sunny island to seek greener pastures else where ...

The venue of choice was Basil Alcove - highly acclaimed amongst local floggers (food bloggers) for good quality Italian food at basement prices ... okay, reasonable prices. Located at Fortune Centre, it offers alfresco, no frills dining with its plastic chairs and foldable tables. To put it simply, it is fine-dining ala kopitiam style.

Upon glancing at the menu and its ultra reasonable prices, we ordered our mains and 3 starters/appetizers. A total of 7 dishes for 4 hungry gals! It was enough to feed an army!

The lacklustre ambience actually made the food shine even more, since one has no choice but to focus on the food and momentarily forget about the lack of frou frou associated with fine dining.

A fan of squid ink pasta, I ordered the linguine with clams - delish! Rachel ordered the duck dipped with vinigerette, Lak had the bratwurst carbonara and Kay Bo Cha Cha had the cod with mash potato on the side. Our starters/appetizers consisted of a mix of mushrooms, ceasar salad with generous portions of roasted chicken and a dozen mussels. Pity they didn't have a dessert menu.

Even though the staff kept forgetting that we needed spoons, service was pleasant. The only grouse we had with the place was the lack of payment options - only cash is accepted! Used to credit card payments, we had to empty our wallets to pay the bill which amounted to $90+ and thereafter we all had to scramble in search for the nearest ATM. It is a very unsettling feeling to have just 2 bucks left in the purse ya know ...

:: kinda like "in the mood for love", doncha think? ::

:: at it again ::

2.8.1

16.03.2007

yes, this is late i know ... but here is the documentation (ya lah, occupational hazard, everything also must document in order to cover my smarty @$$) on my 28th (sigh) ... which has come and gone like a whirlwind romance ...

1st celebration started with the 'ees' ... it was a triple celebration for tee (1st March), jee (17th March) and mee! (18th March)

Dinner at Brotzeit @ Vivocity ... succulent german sausages ... shall not describe any further else i'll start inviting lewd remarks from the bunch ... hehe ... crispy pork knuckle ...traditional desserts ... and of course BEER from Paulaner *burp*

all in all, a very good dinner with a nice laid back atmosphere with chill-out beats and excellent + friendly service ... the waiters were so accommodating that they even dimmed the lights just for us ... and come to think of it ... for no particular reason at all!

next stop was St James ... partied, partied, partied ... yet another failed attempt to check out Dragonfly ... guess the Ah Lian in me ain't powderful enuf to warrant a visit ...

was so bushed, I fell asleep on the table during supper only to be woken up when it was time to head home ...

2.8.2

17.03.2007

Part 2 of celebrations started with dinner at The Secret Garden along Bencoolen Street ... am not gonna elaborate too much since the gals have already blogged about it here and here ... the paparazzis were way ahead of me! haha

So read about it on JellBell's blog on Martin's flat tyre ... what an eventful night!

After the tyresome problem was resolved, we headed to Brussel Sprouts @ Robertson Quay for a couple of Belgian beers which were really quite intriguing with the cute + matching glasses ... some beer had a herbal taste to it, like essence of chicken laced with alcohol ... queer but well, worth the try ...

We love to cam-whore!!!!

2.8.3

18.03.2007

Dinner with family at Togi, a Korean Restaurant at Temple Street ... pretty decent fare at very reasonable prices ... the blings loved the kimchi seafood soup ... slurping up every single drop ... heh

Pardon me, but I'm getting quite lazy at blogging, so read about it + see pics on the middle bling's blog (posted 19th March)

2.8.4

20.03.2007

Dinner with the office gals at Netsuretsu Ichiban-Tei (at least that's what the receipt says)

Decadent dessert at The Chocolate Factory (finally!!!) Darn good! Too much of ECI (Estimated Chargeable Income) at work warrants this sort of ECI (Excessive Chocolate Indulgence) ... enuf said :)

The hot chocolate was marvellous! Never a fan of hot choco, but this is one not to be missed! Also, the chocolate souffle and bread + butter pudding was very very rich + very very yummy ... choco overload man! Can't wait to go back!

a long weekend

yea, its been a great break ... been pigging out, hanging out & youtubing helluva lot! here is the low-down :

Club-hopping on Friday night ... Oosters, Ice-Cold Beer, Balaclava and finally St James (again, I missed Dragonfly) all in one night. And lo and behold, I bumped into my client at Ice-Cold Beer ... hmm, I seem to have much fate in meeting my clients at bars, don't I? Met this particular one on Thursday in fact. What a coincidence to have bumped into him the next day, standing at a table next to where I was seated. And uh-huh, suggested that I call him out the next time I'm out drinking ...

Finally (part 1)! Got a chance to try out the third and newly opened branch - Canele at Paragon. Very nice cake counter that will set your taste buds drooling. But the cakes were such a disappointment! Cakes were very dry and didn't have that 'oomph'. Presentation was mediocre. Service was startling. Some waiter sent the plates a crashing which woke bee up from his usual sleepy stupor. Am aiming to try The Chocolate Factory next. Apparently, it garnered more ardent worshippers from the staunch chocolate community.

Reunion dinner was pretty good. We had steamboat porridge (without the grains) at Joo Chiat. Yeah, I know its kinda hard to imagine, but the broth mixed with seafood + meat was really sumptuous. Frog legs were added in the last bit and I swear I didn't touch any froggie meat even though some relatives (jokingly) insisted that I did. I ain't ate no frog man! Ewww!!!

Lunch on CNY itself on the first day was at Sha Tin at Geylang and at Mong Hing Teochew Restaurant at Keypoint on the second day. The first restaurant was really lousy and the latter was so-so. I have come to realize that luncheons on CNY were never really fantastic. But then again, I'm no Chinese food gourmand. Give me a simple and tasty wonton noodles + 'dian xin' and I'll be the happiest Dim Sum Dolly.

Finally (part 2)! Got to check out Cafe Del Mar at Sentosa's Siloso Beach with lee. Hmm ... lee thinks its a great place to make out ... uhm, that extends largely to the whole of Sentosa with dimly lit corners and all. Another disappointment. Not as great as it looks. Not so pleasant in our muggy weather. The experience would have been better if there was a slight breeze that night. Music is not limited to just Cafe Del Mar tunes. So it can get a lil' incongruent at times with house music for a chill out place. Expect some families with kids, beach goers in board shorts + flip flops and the occasional pool dippers at night (duh!). Bikini babes? Probably in the afternoons :)

Finally (part 3)! Got to try out Kim Gary at Vivocity after hearing all the ravings from the 'ees' when they made a trip up to KL some time ago. Tried the infamous peanut butter thick toast. It was waaayyy too thick! At 2 inches. Had quite a tough time sawing + gnawing at the base of the toast. Interestingly, Ken actually thought that Kim Gary was the name of a hair salon (think Kim Robinson) hahaha!

Ms Piggy

Oh my gawd! The past week was full of pig out sessions!!! I seriously need to go on a diet or control my food intake ...

Uberburger on Monday night with fee (the new 'ee'? hmm...we'll see) and lee. Didn't have the funds to stomach the infamous one-oh-one burger, costing what else but $101. Settled for more reasonable choices which were still good nonetheless.

We had the official catch-up session on Tuesday night at Kazu Sumi-Yaki at Cuppage Plaza, serving a good round of yakitori sticks. Lee's recommendation and it didn't disappoint - it was darn good!!! In fact, the simplest appetizer of raw cabbage with miso past was surprisingly wonderful on the palate. Healthy yet packed with wholesome miso flavour. We ordered a whole range of skewers, ranging from the not so adventurous fare of sausages with cheese, asparagus with mushrooms, chicken skin, squid, lamb, wagyu beef (yeah baby!) ... to exotic Fear Factor cum @lloy's favourites of chicken heart and gizard. My favourite had to be the foie gras, which was really juicy and succulent.

Power Lunch on Friday at Brussel Sprouts (B.S.) located at The Pierside at Robertson Quay. Just next to Brasserie Wolf where we had our last Power Lunch. With mussels as the signature dish, @lloy/j-mee/lee/jee/sharon opted for the bucket of mussels done in different styles. However, it didn't live up to expectations as the mussels were ridiculously small ... actually, they were so tiny, they resembled clams instead.

fee/jacq/me opted for the $19.90 set lunch which was quite a disappointment. My mussels in vinegar was not appetizing at all, my duck linguine was served lukewarm and wasn't tasty enough, while fee + jacq's fish and chips didn't fare too well either. The only saving grace was dessert. The pecan pie + ice-cream / brownie + ice-cream was pretty good.

Wouldn't go back to B.S. as its really quite BS. By the way, its the same people that opened Archangel at Great World City as well, and if you remember, except for desserts, it sucked too.

So I can only conclude one thing. They are better at desserts!!!

Brasserie Wolf

another expensive lunch this week ... well, not as expensive as Iggy's but more expensive than usual ... this time at Braserrie Wolf (operated by the Esmiralda Group) at Robertson Quay, an alternative to Sage which was fully booked ...

we all settled for the 3-course set lunch (S$24 +++) ...

overall, food was decent at reasonable prices .... amongst us, we had appetizers of either sausages with asparagus salad, or salmon with cheese ... we all ordered the rack of lamb for mains ... very nicely done ... meat was tender and succulent, portions were just right, sauce was peppery and complimented the side of mashed potato ... dessert was wonderful ... the log cake was rich and creamy, unlike the run-of-the-mill fluffy sponge versions ... poached pear with vanilla ice-cream + chocolate sauce had a nice texture ...

great place for lunch if you wanna get away from the CBD crowd :)

Itchin' for Iggy's

i have been itching to try Iggy's for ages ... correction ... DYING to try Iggy's ... heard so much hype about the place ... refer to this article (and here too) which states claim that it is one of the world's top 100 restaurants (kicking Les Amis out of the usual league) ...

"Iggy's comes in at number 98. It is, it must be noted, the only restaurant in Southeast Asia in the world's top 100"

it is also ranked as the 4th best restaurant in Asia ...

with such accolades ... who can resist not trying it out when its in Singapore and a just phone call away to making a reservation?

since the wedding was held at The Regent and i needed to take half a day off ... decided to seize the opportunity to finally try out Iggy's with Wilson + Yingkai as lunchmates in tow ...

set lunches are a cheaper alternative to dinner ... a 3-course meal costs $45+++ (if wagyu beef is selected, it will set you back an additional $30) while a 5-course meal costs $75+++

overall, THUMBS UP for Iggy's ... service was great ... from making the reservation, accommodating to my changes, confirmation of reservation ... everything was well handled ...

being a cosy 28 seater restaurant (reservations are a must!), actual service was excellent too ... we were always well attended to ... and another plus : i love the warm bread served before the actual meal ... soft bread stuffed with olives (my fav!) ... fantastic!

don't expect chi chi ambience ... setting is simple, nice and casual ... come for the food!

:: appetizers .. but prior to that we had sesame tofu under a layer of soft pumpkin puree served in a shot glass ::

:: i had the squid ink pasta ... which was a tad too salty but still nice nevertheless,

tuna carpaccio was excellent as was the the juicy prawn croquette ::

:: mains (top) ::

:: i had the Schnitzel ... was a lil too tough for my liking ...

the boys had the Seabass with mashed aubergine ... very well done ... absolutely tasty ::

:: dessert (bottom) ::

:: Panna Cotta with dried tomatoes + basil ice-cream ...

i liked this cos its a very interesting concoction of PC using herbs ... which is really rare,

but YK didn't really enjoy it tho ..

Wilson's Bellini (champagne ice-cream) was more like a sorbet ... very nice and smooth ::

melt me a mountain of chocolate

mention chocolate and i go weak in the knees ... especially if its Valrhona ... which still beats Godiva (to me at least!)

anyhow, Angie was raving about Morton's Molton Godiva Chocolate Cake that started my cravings ... with Shimin's birthday around the corner ... it was the perfect excuse to splurge on decadence at $23.50 a slice

here is my moment of truth ...

verdict? not totally impressed ... although the cake did ooze out thick meanders of chocolate, somehow i wasn't completely overwhelmed ...

To Russia with Love

I have been asked to contribute my take on "local/secret gems" on quirky finds in Singapore for a foreign magazine ... I chose Salad at Haji Lane since this where we are selling our wares as well ...

Before you get too excited ... its just a short + simple contribution ... nothing fancy ... if it gets approved by the editors ... my take will be out in the December'06 issue ... promise to update in due course ...

And since i promised Stacey that we will check out Haji Lane together ... here are some pictures of Salad ...

Since we were around the Arab Street vicinity, decided to have a go at Russian food @ Nadezhda Russian Restaurant

Since we didn't know what to order, we settled for the recommended items per the food review instead ...

Borsch Soup – i call it this a Russian Minestrone Soup (sans beans) ... looked a tad disappointing ... but it turned out to be very tasty ... although another review says otherwise ...

Minskaya Kotleta – roasted chicken leg stuffed with mushrooms + Russian salad on the side ... very tender meat ... this dish it has a certain smell to it though ... best to eat it with the mustard provided ...

Blinchiki Apple with Ice-Cream – pancake stuffed with fresh apple served with honey + whipped cream + ice-cream ... this was the best of the lot! very very yummy!!!

Pelmeni - akin to wontons ... there are 3 variations of pelmenis (pork/meat/mixed) to choose from ... we opted for mixed ... there are also 4 types of dressings ... i can't remember which one we chose though ... at first bite, it was quite tasteless ... however, the flavour tends to emerge with more mouthfuls ... texture of the pelmenis was average ...

aahhh ... drinks ... this is where our faces started cringing ... although we seriously wanted to order some vodka (shots) ... we thought that it would be more fun to try out some traditional Russian drinks instead ...

simply awful!!! bleah! drinks ordered were supposed to be Russian teas and somehow there was a tinge of alcohol in them ... not very palatable ... should have gone for the vodka instead!

:: Kvas; Tea Grip (L-R) ::

:: Borsh Soup; Minskaya Kotleta; Blinchiki Apple; Pelmeni (clockwise L- R) ::

Well ... it was quite an interesting experience at Nadezhda ... worth a try if you have not had a go at Russian food ... don't expect fantastic ambience + service ... just go for the food ...

Would like to try Shashlik Restaurant (run by cranky Hainanese men and apparently famous for their beef steaks) next ... any takers?

beer buddies

it's the month of October ... and it's time for bosom beer buddies to congregate!!!

after a failed attempt to try out the fest at Werner's Oven ... we have settled for the Erdinger Oktoberfest 2006 instead ... happens from 5pm until late ... it promises 'a mouth-watering spread of traditional German food, along with great tasting Erdinger wheat beer, which will be available at special prices'

so buds ... get your tickets (cheaper if bought in advance) ... grab a mug and i'll see you there on Friday the 13th :)

Singapore Biennale 2006 - City Hall

Went for another Biennale series ... this time at City Hall ... a lot more exhibits here as compared to the National Museum ...

Joined the on-site tour which lasted 1 - 1.5 hours ... a good choice as it gave better insight into the artists and their respective works ... given that 99% of the exhibits did not have any narrations in order for one to appreciate the artwork ... however, if one really wants on-site narrations, the other alternative is to use a mobile phone to dial into a dedicated line which will then blurt out the necessary info ... bleah!

It was a very enriching experience ... since i have never been inside City Hall itself ... quite a thrill to walk through the hallways ... into the judges' chambers *grinz* + the courtrooms *grinz grinz* without being criminalised :)

Am not gonna elaborate on the exhibits this time as there were too many ... came across some very disturbing ones too :(

No pictures of my visit as well ... due to poor lighting + quite a number of video installations ...

oh yes, here i am pigging out again ... this time at the alley of Keong Saik Road for some very good Zhe Char + drinks at Whatever cafe ...

Singapore Biennale 2006 - National Museum

extracted from the

Singapore Biennale 2006 Website :

"BELIEF is the theme for Singapore's first visual arts biennale.

If today's world has painfully called into question many certainties governing society, history and humankind, can it also be described as an era of uncertainty in which the very subject of belief is in question?

In the context of this so-called crisis of values, what do we individually and collectively believe in? Do we act on our beliefs or is belief simply a mindless act?

Are the religious beliefs communicated by the great faiths more relevant than the secular beliefs in science, progress, democracy and politics that succeeded them? Or has the conflict between the two spawned such states of violent and ethical extremism in the service of religious and economic power that belief in anything appears incomprehensible?

Are we beyond belief or at the threshold of its revival?"

Well, one thing's for sure ... i believe i was near boredom after staying at home the past 2 days and therefore the decision to check out the SB exhibits at the National Museum after hearing about The Last Supper from Andrew ... who remarked that as a foodie ... i needed to catch it ... and so i did!

The Last Supper by artists Bigert and Bergstrom is a single channel video installation ... its a very interesting documentary about the tradition of giving condemned prisoners a last meal of their choosing (in most cases) before they are executed ... very stylishly done, creative cinematography with the right undertones to match ... it has some very poignant moments ...

it is also interesting to note that in some prisons, the last supper is replaced by sweet vice i.e. alcohol/tobacco ... while some unfortunate ones are not accorded such a luxury and its straight to the gallows for them ...

apart from convicts, even animals were mentioned ... sheep are fed a good last meal before they are slaughtered for religious purposes ...

Some quotes (as i remember it) worth pondering ...

"mention the last supper/meal ... and it is somehow synonymous with executions" - largely due to Christian teachings where Jesus had his last supper with his disciples

"convicts who maintain that they are innocent often refuse the last supper" - probably because they uphold their innocence above everything else and hence the unimportance of having a last good meal

"the last supper serves to fortify the soul as it makes it journey towards Hades" - don't forget, even spirits need to eat! hence the offerings during the 7th month period

a 58 minute film ... its well worth the S$5 entrance fees for the SB exhibit at the National Museum ... go catch!

oh yes, the SB volunteers at the National Museum were so sweet ... they gave me a whole bunch of SB badges!!! there are 95 different ones to choose from ... one stands to win a plasma TV if all 95 badges are collected ...

lemme know if anyone wants some of the badges ... i don't know what to do with them really :)

some very expensive afternoon tea at The V Tea Room @ Esplanade ... very pretty place ... very victorian ... very Marie Antoinette (can't wait for the movie to be released! i love the soundtrack already! *i waannnt caaandy!!!*) ... with great cakes (and prices) to match ...