Five trucks to fix a telephone cable

My internet’s been wonky for the last month. Turns out that it’s the fault of an external cable that runs from under the paved road to University Road.

It took five calls, a whole bunch of fixit and maintenance men, five SingTel trucks, and a stoppage in the middle for them to investigate an underground cable…and I don’t even know if the problem’s going to be solved yet.

But such a large turnout for a wear-and-tear problem?

That’s just massively cool.  Kudos to the guys on making our cables reliable for Facebook, Email, and of course porn (Work comes in a close fourth).

Cheers!

Update: After three hours, five friends, opening lobangs [manholes], and threading a cable under the paved road. They’ve fixed it! I got my phoneline back! W00t! Thanks cable guys…that was great work!

Music: Chicken Shack Revival

“So long
It was so long ago
But I've still got the blues for you.”

- Still Got The Blues by Gary Moore

This is an unusual find – a band that plays old blues, jazz, swing and roots music.

The Chicken Shack Revival is comprised of four friends: lead man and multi-instrumentalist Louis Lam; bassist Chris Gomez; drummer Justin Teo; and guitarist Gregory Leow.

Photo by Chicken Shack Revival

Jammin’ the Blues isn’t the easiest road for the band. As Gregory Leow says:

“Pub owners feel that Blues doesn’t sell. It’s really due to the stereotype that Blues is boring, very samey and depressing, or too rockish and loud.

 

“Truth be told, it’s the sound for much of Blues music that’s out there. So I don’t really blame them for sticking to top 40s and established genres to sell their bar (Funk, Jazz, Latin and Bossa Nova) but hey, we try.”

And so they do.

This post contains additional material that I couldn’t fit into an article for CNNGo (5 great live music acts in Singapore).

How did you get started in the pub circuit?

We started by asking around for pub gigs through friends and family. Then it became a mailing list approach, and we got offers to play. We also sent emails to pub owners and showed them our gig list and YouTube videos with the hope that they’ll take us up.

We get quite a bit of repeat business from bar owners who have taken a chance on us and we credit them for being forward-thinking.

What’s the best thing that happened?

The usual applause, encore and dancing people. Personally as a guitarist, the cheers that I get from doing a conceived surf medley is satisfying.

The worst?

An unappreciative audience. On the whole, expats seem to get our music more than locals, which is a shame. We try our best to reach out to Singaporeans to show them that Blues music is not slow, boring or with droning vocals. :P

Oh Baby - Little Walter @ Prince of Wales (Singapore)

Thoughts on your audience?

The audience reacts to a band playing well and having a good time. It’s not just about the skill of the band but how entertaining we are. So we inject some humour into it by putting little Showtune licks that people might recognise – Pop Goes the Weasel, Sheik of Araby etc – to break up the Blues form.

What do fans say?

Aside from the usual compliments on our playing ability, people who haven’t seen our band normally say that they didn’t think Blues sounded like this, and that it is refreshing to hear us.

Where do they play?

Chicken Shack Revival doesn’t have a fixed gig list. Do check out their Facebook Fanpage for more information.

Whisky & Food pairing: Infusion @ Dempsey

Burgundy paired with delicately poached quail and a side of sautéed foie gras.

Passé, clichéd, boring.

When everyone’s doing it, it’s no longer mind-blowing; like Waygu beef – good but commonplace now. So restaurateurs have been innovating their alcohol-food pairings. After all, wine goes with dine. 

At Infusion, dining goes with single-malt whiskies. The kind that you’ll only find in Scottish distilleries. I’m not actually sure many types of whiskies that they have – but it’s a lot.

There’s Highland, Lowland, and Island whiskies. Each with their own characteristic bouquet, bite on the tongue, and fire down the throat – which makes it quite challenging to create a menu around.

Infusion interior

John See, corporate chef, says “In alcohol-food pairings, either the food goes with the alcohol or vice-versa. Whisky has about 40% alcohol which can overpower the food. Thus I’ve created a menu where the food accompanies the whisky.”

In some cases, John’s menu works extremely well.

Such as the Starter which cleanses the palate with rice (weird but it works) before imbibing the whisky, and the Main course where the duck fat nicely complements the Isle of Jura’s “wok-hei” flavour – reminiscent of excellent char kway teow.

While the soup was great on its own, but its gust-of-sea-breeze aroma blew away the whisky’s nose...and that’s a huge loss to the alcohol. The flowery  Bruadar Whisky Liquer would certainly excite folks with a nose for Bai Jiu, but I’d much prefer the whisky-vanilla cream. 

In all, it’s a fun menu which would appeal to drinkers and experimental diners.

The Menu

Starter

Whisky: Dalmore (Highlands)

Food: Wild Brown Rice Salad with semi-dry tomatoes, baby quail egg, Dalmore Whisky aspic and citrus orange dressing.

Soup

Whisky: Glenfarclas (Speyside)

Food: Seafood Bouillabaisse, Glenfarclas whisky creme, bouquet of Shiso mix

Main

Whisky: The Isle of Jura (island)

Food: Confit of salt-herbed crusted duck leg timbale, caramelized onion potatoes, arugula leaf and whisky-malted vinegar glaze

Desert

Whisky: Bruadar Whisky Liquer

Food: Rich fruit cake with a shot glass of whisky-vanilla ice-cream

Where

Infusion @ Dempsey
Add: 16A Dempsey Road
Tel: +65 6479 6188

Photo gallery

Exterior	The View
Canape	Canape
Whiskies	Whiskies

Prime Beef Dents the Wallet: The Prime Society

I love beef. My friends are put off by its gamey flavour, but I love it for its robustness and ironic melt-in-your-mouth texture.

The Prime Society has those kinds of beef.

Billed as “…the inner circle of steak perfection and cocktail appreciation”, this restaurant of red bricks and gladiatorial murals attracts a large expat crowd for its steaks. Interestingly enough, there were a number of women diners in the mix. An oddity as most women that I know of aren’t enamoured of cows.

That night, I had the 300g Rib Eye Fillet ($58) done rare and accompanied by a side of Potato Puree. First impressions were nondescript. It was simply a round cut of glistening meat on a large white plate.

“A rip-off.” I thought, “Since I‘m paying an arm and leg for it.”

A bite into it and I changed my mincing. The steak was well marbled and flavourful. It had a mere sprinkle of salt during the grilling process, which simply enhanced its umaminess. During that 15 minutes when I sliced, chomped and swallowed, it was everything that a good beef steak should be.

And like all good things, it ended too quickly.

Final thoughts: Worth a try if you’ve money to burn and happen to be in Dempsey. If you know how to cook (Google for beef steak recipes), then you’re better off getting the same kinds of “grain-fed, aged 200-day” cuts from your butcher at half the price.

The Prime Society
Add: #01-20, 10 Dempsey Road S(247700)
Tel: +65 6474 7427

Of Wanderlust: Out into the world again

Brad Newsham, author of "Take Me With You: A Round-the-World Journey to Invite a Stranger Home", wrote that he would get home from a travelling stint, get a job and live the routine life…for a while.

After years of it, he’d get antsy and bothered and cranky; so much so that he knew that it was time to get out into the world again. 

It’s like that now.

I’ve written/videoed/social-media-ed freelance  for over a year now. I’ve been a travel writer, magazine writer, website writer, social media dude, and video guy. I love the challenges that come my way, and marrying technology with creative editorial and images.

From Travelpod

But despite it all, life has gotten humdrum.

I wake, I shuffle to toilet, and typpity-type stories into my computer three inches from the toilet door. It’s gotten so much so that I’m antsy and uncharitable towards other human beans (sorry…beings), and somehow blunted my creative edge.

Friends say that it’s my natural state to be anti-social and cranky. It’s hard to deny that when I visible seethe in a slow-moving queue held up by nincompoops.

But the last time I was out in the world, I was calmer, less angsty, and more accepting. And that to find home, you have to sometimes leave home.

So I’m getting on the road again, getting out on my own with a backpack and potbelly for touring companions.

Come November & December, I’ll be out and about in wintery Beijing (to work to work; hie ho, hie ho), scampering on Taiwanese railways, yum-singing at a wedding and dozing on some island in Hong Kong, then back to Singapore.

Yes, it’s about time that I’m out in the world…again.

Hossan Leong: Singapore Boy

“Any ACS boys? All grow up to become con-men … I should know, I’m one.”

I wrote and filmed Hossan Leong for an interview with CNNGo.com. Hossan’s one of Singapore’s funniest comedians and he has some of the strongest and funniest insights into our society.

The crowd laughs because it’s funny. More importantly, they know it’s true. That’s Hossan Leong for you -- the “Singapore boy” who turns mundane observations into side-splitting jokes.

Here’s more….

Interview with Hossan Leong

Leong isn’t just a comedian. He’s also an award-winning stage actor, radio show host, director, and knight as he has received the Order of Arts and Letters from the French government for his ongoing promotion of cultural ties between France and Singapore…

Read more: Hossan Leong: Making comedy in Singapore, with a little help from his friends

Chupitos: Interactive Shots Bar

Billed as an “interactive shots bar”, Chupitos, hopes to corner the “by-the-way, let’s grab a shot before going to the disco” niche. It’s cosy, and the best part about it are their innovative shots.

The bar’s run by two lovely ladies, Cherilyn and Jamie, who won the Martell VSOP Ultimate Startup Space Contest. That gives them a rent-free space for six months and S$20,000 seed money to start up their bar.

Being a shots bar, it has a variety of shooters that range from sweetness and all things nice to really potent MFs such as the Absinthe Bohemian where a sugar cube is set on fire and left to drip into green Absinthe.

Or the Milo Godzilla which comes in a milo coated shot glass. It’s milky and alcoholic – but I really don’t see how we’re going to lick the milo powder off the glass.

One of the bar’s highlights would be the Mister Jay, the fire-flairing bartender who hails from the Philippines with his bag of cheeky magic tricks. He’s a fun chap, especially with the ladies. But then, who wouldn’t love a man who makes them laugh?

 

If Chupitos in Singapore is anything like the hole-in-the-wall shooter bar in Spain, then I’ll loving this place for some time to come.

Chupitos is at #01-02B Clarke Quay, 3C River Valley Road.

Pandan Cake	Pumpkin Pie
Kiss of Death	Molecular B-52