pepper lunch express rice

was at food junction in raffles city shopping center for dinner just now. last time i went there, i had my usual favourite of sticky gooey beef noodles (i am such a big time sucker for that starchy stuff). so anywayz, at that time, the stall next to it was bloody crowded; the queue stretching all the way to the next 2 stalls behind. being a typical singaporean, yeah u guessed it, i also had to check out what that particular stall was selling. lo-and-behold, it's the express outlet of pepper lunch! ok it ain't exactly that famous (that's why i'm doing a free promo for it now) but i came across an outlet when i was at imm some time back and found it kinda interesting - yet another one of those wacky jap inspired or rather brought over concept thingy. wanted to try it out then but decided that it was kinda ex for a simple fried rice on a hotplate fanfare. but guess wat? being an express outlet, the prices here are cheaper. the cheapest starting at 4.90, still kinda ex for me but well reasonable for foodcourt prices i guess. (it's quite sad that if you want a decent meal for 2 bucks, the hawker center is the only place left these days. higher cost of living indeed man. won't be surprised that it won't last for long either).

thus, without thinking i found myself at the queue and placed an order for the cheapest 4.90 beef fried rice. thank goodness there were only like 5 of us (myself included) in the queue. not too sure if it's because it wasn't the peak hour or that the novelty has died down. at the same time, i was craning my neck to see how the other folks were stirring up the contents on the hotplate when they got theirs. that's because on the pipping hot hotplate, we are served with raw beef, a scoop of rice with corn and butter + sauce in the middle. so we have to do the stirring and mixing it up on our own. of course, therein lies the fun! it could be that it gives you a sense of accomplishment, macham like you have just cooked for yourself a good meal or the fact that it is cooked in butter (think of those teppanyaki steamboat meals where you shabu- shabu your marinated beef with butter. yeah yummy indeed) that makes it rather delicious on the whole.

the sad part though is that i didn't manage to snap a shot of my stir-fried masterpiece cos my phone batt only had 1 freaking bar of power left. oh well, it just means that i've got a great reason to have another pepper lunch meal again ;D this time i think i shall try the curry rice instead. lol.

red hot chilli peppers

i'm sick. sick in the throat and sick in the head.

sick in the throat because i woke up with a pretty bad throat this morning, courtesy of all the chinese new year junk goodies. such stuff causes the build up of 'heatiness' in the body, or so they say, according to traditional chinese medicinal diagnosis. blah. it's so freaking sore that it's not funny. anywayz, i decided to do a quick google on the big net to find the fastest way to cure it. you know lah, with the advent of the internet and google to goggle sense out of it, every and anybody can post their grandma's secret concoction for any big or small you-name-it ailments. and i chanced upon this rather crazy alternative cure for sore throats. which is to gargle red pepper powder (they call it canyenne powder, supposedly related to some part of the chilli family?) mixed with water up to 4 times daily. yeah it's crazy indeed. taking any spicy or chilli hot stuff when you're having a bad sore throat is a big no-no, much less talk about gargling with pepper powder. but well, if you think that is crazy, then it's even crazier that i actually decided to try it out. yeah i'm sick in the head too alright. did it take you that long to figure that out? seriously, there's really nothing to lose by giving it a try. (hey, about 100 over folks gave a positive testimony to this as opposed to the 2 detracters). if it works, then wah-la, i wouldn't have to put up with the agony of a bad throat anymore. if it doesn't, then hello 2 days of medical leave, here i come! lol. the worse thing that can happen is that i lose my voice. but then again, that ain't too bad. i would have a sexy and husky voice for the next couple of days while in the meantime, i wouldn't have to talk to people i'd rather not talk to anyhow. all in all, a win-win situation i would say. who knows? if it's that effective, i could one day sell the potion as a quick-n-ez relief for sore-throats. so don't say i didn't tell you. you read it here first.

oh ok, maybe not first. but still you did indeed read it here. hahahaha.

will keep you posted of my lab-rat experience. red hot chilli peppers, here i come!

P.S. btw, it doesn't matter whether or not you're a registered blogger, u can now comment away! cos i finally managed to figure out how to turn on tt option. ya ya, slow indeed. but better late than never! ;P

xin nian kuai le.

happy lunar new year everyone! here's wishing you a prosperous piggy year ahead! oink.

v-day.

it's that time of the year. out come the roses, chocolates, teddy bears, plush toys and everything lovey-dovey that you can possibly think of. the air is sooo thick with romance, you can literally get choked in it. yes you can call me a wet blanket. i hate valentine's day. it's such a big insulting rub in my face that i'm still single and unattached. argh.

which leads me to that ultimate question. why the hell am i still single? trust me, i've heard that umpteen times. sometimes i wished i had recorded all the explanations that i've ever given and simply push the play button when asked. thus, i'm finally going on the record and putting it down in black and white. for the next person who asks, i'll just say, go read my blog entry on 13th feb '07 please.

most people tell me that i'm still unattached today because i've set my sights too high. there's an element of truth in there yet it ain't totally true either. it is true because hey, you are talking about a guy whom you would be spending the next half (and even more) of your life with, i don't suppose any tom, dick and harry would just do right? so yes, in that sense i am picky. i see marriage as something that is more than just a legally binding contract. it ought to be about commitment. till death do we part. definitely not something you wanna mug around with. hence, i view the first step of finding that mate important. i wouldn't settle for anyone just because i wanna be attached. however, i do not think that i'm asking for much. the legendary 5Cs are a good to have but i do not deem them of paramount importance. i think character, values and personality are more essential elements to look into. good looks are a plus lah but as long as he looks pleasant enough to me, it's more than i can ask for. after all, i've always had this impression that better-looking guys (who know that they are good-looking) tend to have an attitude problem that simply sets off the 'u wanna keep away' alarm bells in my head. but most of the time i don't pay that much attention to the warning beeps either. and end up getting burnt. well well. that's abit too much disclosure :X

i had better shuddup. happy val day to all single folks. u are not alone. cheers.