Dinner at New York New York

Yesterday was my elder brother’s birthday but we only celebrated tonight.

There were nine of us and therefore we had to be separated into two tables.

I did not feel like having hamburger for dinner and therefore did not order the humongous hamburger that can feed four people. We should have ordered that because we found the food portion to be too small for us. So we had to order more than one serving of food. The food were quite tasty but the drinks were nothing to shout about.

I had Lamb Shank and after that shared a Coney Hotdog with Jeff. The Lamb Shank tasted better than Jeff's order of Lamb Chop. The hotdog in the Coney Hotdog was quite tasty but the sauce that came with it tasted like the sauce for the spaghetti bolognese since they use minced meat.

The restaurant was less than half full when we were there.

Signboard

Signboard Outside Restaurant

Signboard Outside Restaurant

Menu

Menu

Menu

Menu

Menu

Menu

Menu

Menu

Menu

Menu

Menu

Menu

Menu

Interior of Restaurant

Interior of Restaurant

Interior of Restaurant

Interior of Restaurant

Interior of Restaurant

Interior of Restaurant

Interior of Restaurant

Table Number

Our Orders

Orange Juice

Lemonade

Caesar Salad

Pepperoni Pizza

Garlic Bread

Lamb Chop with Potato Wedges

Lamb Chop with Potato Wedges

Lamb Shank

Seafood Pizza

Teriyaki Beef Burger with Fries

Coney Hotdog with Fries

Part of Coney Hotdog

Waffle with Ice Cream and Peaches

Waffle with Ice Cream and Chocolate Dripping

Smooth Sailing

Driving to work had been a breeze these three days.

There was no car in front of me except this morning when I had to drive to the city to bank in to pay for my SCB Visa credit card. I left home at 6.40a.m., drove to the city and by 7.05a.m. I arrived at work. It was wonderful to see the sun rising from the East as I used the Coastal Highway.

I am enjoying the traffic-less driving while it lasts. I am sure traffic will be back to normal by next Monday.

The last two days had been once again pure bliss at work. Some people are back to work since yesterday but there was not much distraction.

I digress - From my observation it seemed like there are more sounds of fireworks and fire-crackers this year. I had trouble falling asleep on the eve of CNY due to the sounds of these things.

Since I do not have Astro at home, right at this moment I am listening through the internet via AO Radio the semi-final match between world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and world No. 14 Fernando Verdaso of the Australian Tennis Open 2009. They are on to the fifth and final set with both players tie at two sets all. How close can the match be after 4 hours and 41 minutes?

Dinner at Home

Dinner at Home

Sweet and Sour Prawns

Roast Goose

Sauce for Roast Goose

Vegetarian Dish

Staying Motivated

Staying motivated and doing some work while almost the rest of the world outside is having holidays is no easy feat. But then I choose to be in this situation and therefore I have to find a way to stay motivated.

Two thirds of us are back to work while one third is still on leave.

At the beginning of my work day, I set target for myself to reach by the end of the day. I once again welcome pure bliss – only two phone calls – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both are from officers from government departments.

So without much distraction, I have to accomplish what I have set out to do. I did achieve my target and have ten minutes to spare.

One of the national radio stations did not have any deejays manning in the afternoon and the same songs were repeated every fifteen minutes. (And even when there is deejay manning, the same songs can be repeated every hour and that is why I am still puzzled up to today why one of colleagues like to listen to that particular channel so much). I have to change it to another channel before I fall asleep.

Dinner at Home

Pork Spare Ribs with Cabbage and Tomato

Stir Fried Scallops with Ginger and Shallots

Dinner at Umai Fine Japanese Cuisine

This year Jeff and I decided not to go our cousin's open house for dinner.

Instead we went to Umai Fine Japanese Cuisine located at 1st Floor of D'Junction building. I had wanted to eat in this restaurant since exactly one year ago and tonight I finally got the chance to do so.

Exterior of Restaurant

Interior of Restaurant

Interior of Restaurant

We were the first customers for the night and after being there for a while, a couple turned up. As we were about to leave, a family of three people arrived. While the restaurant has quite a number of workers working, most of them can only speak Malay.

Hot Ocha

5 Types of Sashimi

Jeff and I love to eat sashimi while the rest of the family do not take this stuff. He ordered the 7 type of sashimi to share between us but only the 5 type of sashimi was available.

For those who do not really like sashimi, I suggest you order something else and not this dish because the fishes can be really fishy esp. the one with the skin still intact. Only with the help of a big chunk of wasabi the fishy smell disappeared and we could swallow. I have not had so many varieties of sashimi in one sitting and therefore I enjoyed this dish a lot esp. the salmon.

Chimi Moriawase

Chimi Moriawase

Chimi Moriawase is an assortment of baby octopus, seaweed, shellfish and fake sharkfin. It is quite enjoyable to nimble bit by bit when time is on our hand.

Empty 5 Type Sashimi Plate

Empty Chimi Moriawase Plate

We took half an hour to finish the two plates. We rested for ten minutes and then ordered noodles with tempura.

Soba with ...

Tempura

Udon with ...

Tempura

The soup for the noodles was too salty and therefore we did not drink any of the soup. The price of salt must have come down. This is also the first time I have tasted prawns inside a bowl of udon.

Overall I enjoyed myself and were satisfied with the meal except for the soup in the udon.

When it was time to pay the bill, there was a 20% discount during CNY and no 5% Government Service Tax was charged.

I will definitely go back to this restaurant.

Family CNY Reunion Dinner at Masakan Sedap

Soup

Steamed Garoupa

'Kangkung' with 'Belacan'

Aubergine

Wet Butter Prawns

Oyster Omelette

Deer Meat with Ginger and Shallots

Last night's we had dinner at home.

Tonight we went out for dinner. The angpow from Contractor Wong CZ was more than enough to cover for tonight's family reunion dinner. Hehe

Wishing all of you Happy Chinese/Lunar 'Niu' Year.