Train2eat with Danny Chen

Yahoo... I am going to the Singapore Night Race. Actually, I am going for the Friday practice race only but I rather watch the real race on tele ; P Anyway, here's pictures of my goodies wallet with tickets and entry pass.

Dinner at Jumbo (Dempsey Hills)   It was my colleagues' farewell dinner. Two of them. No, they are not leaving the company. Just moving to another department. Any cause for celebration, is a good cause. Well, nevertheless, change is always good they say. Or at least, it is the only constant. As for the food... I went in rather skeptical. You know... this... this... reputable seafood restaurants. The ones that you bring every and any other guest in town to. The food is normally just "ok" and really not anything to shout about. Since this was a farewell. we ordered a lot. Anyway, my boss is paying. Why not... we ordered the pumpkin conpoy with shrimp soup, grilled lamb with pepper sauce, shitake mushroom with egg beancurd, geoduck clam stir fry a ala kum-heong, chilly and pepper crab.       Well, let me tell you what I think. The pumpkin conpoy was great. Good start to the meal. It doesn't really taste like pumpkin, perhaps because of the infusion with the seafood flavo

Had lunch at Lao Beijing (Novena Square) Was a bit late for lunch and a bit too early for the hi-tea. So, settled for a la carte lunch. Anyway, the beef noodle was nice. Not too spicy and yet, the broth was very tasty. I like the "la mein" noodle... nice texture and perfectly "al dente". The "seow long pau" was a bit disappointing though. The meat is somehow quite tasteless... I still prefer the "Ding Tai Fung" dumplings. I know some people may disagree with me on that.    Also ordered the Mao braised pork with "man tou",  trademark  dish. Unfortunately, the dish was really disappointing. The pork was fried before braising... so the meat and the skin becomes a bit too tough for my liking. The sauce was plum sauce which could mean that the pork was cooked separately and the sauce was just poured over. Hence, you can't really taste the flavor from the pork. If braised well, the pork should be really soft and full of flavor... the sauc

Broadway Parodies Lagi Lah 20 Sep 08 (KL PAC) If you didn't know, Broadway Parodies Lagi Lah is in its second run after the overwhelming success last year. Hence, the "lagi lah"... aiyo! Anyway, this time the producers decided to bring it on a nationwide tour. First up KL, then Penang, Ipoh, Johor Bahru and kota Kinabalu.  The cast mainly consisting of new members with the exception of Ho Soon Yoon from the "Broken Bridges" fame and Glamourique Arshad. Last year, the likes of Joanne Kam, Malaysia's favourite diva, comedian Douglas Lim and soprano Doreen Tang were part of this musical spoofing ensemble but this time, it is such a delight to have Mia Palencia, our Malaysian jazz queen, Tria Aziz and Sham Sunder Binwani join the cast. The other newcomers Tabitha Kong, Zeqthy Nattrah, Janet Lee, Sarah Low and Keith Yew did well to bring the cohesiveness and energy that brought the house down laughing and cheering.  What is most impressive is that these performer

Day 4, Sep 16 - Lunch (Bulgogi) My flight was at 4pm. Had to be at the Incheon airport by 2pm latest. My friend, Ryan was kind enough to take half day leave to pick me up and send me to the airport. My morning was spend blogging.  Anyway, we reached the airport before 2pm. Checked in my luggage and went for lunch at a korean restaurant on the 2nd floor of the departure hall. I ordered the bulgogi while Ryan ordered the dry buckwheat noodle. The bulgogi was rather average. Ryan's cold noodle was not bad. Apparently, the restaurant is reputable for good cold noodle.   The flight back felt shorter. Dunno why... I had a great trip. Hope to be back in Seoul soon.

Day 3, Sep 15 - Lunch (Dumplings) We had lunch at around 3:00pm. I think I did well. I admit that I was tipsy but not completely drunk last night or should I say earlier this morning. Anyway, I had a fantastic time. I remember we had breakfast... some pork stew with rice and the whole works. Extremely heavy for breakfast but I suppose you need to rejuvenate and replenish your energy after the marathon night out. I vaguely remember eating, hence probably why I didn't take any photos. What I remembered clearly was I had a major cramp on my legs while sitting cross-legged for breakfast. Most korean restaurants are like that i.e. tatami mats and low tables. Some newer ones will have the a recess for leg room but so far, half the restaurants we went to we had to sit on the tatami floor. It took me two rounds around the block to get rid of the cramps.  Lunch was at Insadong. It was extremely busy. Public holiday coupled with regular tourist crowd. It was very nice day. Good weather.

Day 2 Sep 14 - Lunch (Beef hotplate, beef soup and mortar rice) Of course, we didn't wake up till past noon after such a fulfilling night out. Anyway, by the time we were all ready it was lunch time. Time for something nutritious and soupy... "Modeum  suyuk chongol" - mixed meat hotplate; Besides slices of lean beef meat, it comes with some ribs, tendon, tongue boiled with mushrooms, green pepper, some vegetable that looks like spinach in some delicious beef broth. This was accompanied by beef soup with rice cooked in a mortar  "tolsot seolleongtang". The rice is really cooked on the mortar... so, you have to scrap the rice from the mortar and add into the soup, which already comes with meat, vermicelli, peanuts... add a bit of salt and pepper and you are all set. The most interesting part was... after scraping off the rice, quickly pour some cold water into the mortar... what's left of the rice or crust will be "dessert"... unfortunately, I wa

This is my second time in Seoul and this trip was a very different one compared to the previous. No shopping, no sightseeing... just a whole lot of eating and drinking. Thanks to my Korean friends, I now can appreciate what is good Korean food and more interestingly, I can now claim that I understand their drinking culture better. I had discovered that there are only 3 reasons to stop drinking... #1 - it is morning already,  #2 - you are completed wasted and can't even open yours eyes (while the rest of your friends dual on while you huddle in the corner asleep) and #3 - if you or one of your friend gets into a fight... we did a #3 on the first night and a #1 on the second... ^^ As for the food... let me start with Day 0, Sep 12 onboard flight KE642 (Korean Air) from Singapore to Seoul "Bibimbap"... you are probably very familiar with bibimbap. You find it on the menu in all korean restaurants and even in the food courts. As for the airlines version, the rice comes in

"Bo Ssam" This is so delicious... eating instructions... 1. Use chopstick and pick a piece of cabbage [since the cabbbage is all rolled up; you have to unroll it and just remove a piece] 2. Lay a piece of the pork on one side of the cabbage 3. Add some pickled radish 4. Fold the cabbage and enjoy....

I think it was about 15 yuan? Don't you think the panda packaging is quite cute.