Beer Battered Fish at Chippy British Take Away

Rating:	★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	British
Location:	252 North Bridge Road #B1-58 Raffles City Shopping Centre Singapore 179103

okay, when i first saw it the other day, saw there was a very long queue. so assumed the food must have had a certain quality.

so went 2 days back to buy the BBF (Beer Battered Fish). It still tasted alright when it was hot. but once it starts to cool down a bit, noticed the chef put too much pepper and salt on the fish.

the dip combination was more "normal" ( I had the ketchup and mayonnaise, instead of the vinegar and salt). but too little...

Picture taken from http://sparklette.net/?p=423

on why I love Kim Sam Soon...

not in any order of preference or importance, just reasons why I like the show...

1) Great Soundtrack - easy on the ears melody. No need to know korean or french to enjoy the songs particularly. Sets a great ambiance to the show. Local production houses should take note ah...

2) Cute stuffed pig. yes, the stuffed pig grows on you. :p and the script writers actually incorporates the pig into the plot, so that it's just not a cute eye-candy. Nice!

3) surreality. especially the dream sequences and the the day-dreaming sequence. Aw, come on, you know you've done it before, where you dream of doing stuff that you wouldn't normally (dare to) do... Kinda Ally McBeal in that aspect...

4) Great food shots. okay, so this isn't another "Jewel in the Place", where you get shown tons and tons of image of food. Still, must admit the shots of the food and the preparation is a feast on the eyes. and i learnt new stuff, about patisseur*, madeline**, cakes^, pastries^, chocolates^,  "chok" 粥，kim chi...

5) Pudgy Sam soon. yeaps, apparently the actress, Kim Sun-ah, had to gain 8 kilograms of weight for this role. And it's sorta of a calculated move, to deliberately make the main lead a "fat" woman.

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200507/200507200032.html

Despite this "below-the-belt" tactics of gaining viewers' sympathy, I still love the character of Sam soon. well, cos' I think it's a realistic portrayal. Plus "rooting for the underdog" syndrome...

6) Learning about contemporary Korean culture. Lotsa of snippets. Playing cards la, going for 拜拜 to remember their dead, blind-dating 相亲， sons still being hit by moms (sob!)

7) Love tips - on what to do and what not to do. For the jerks who wanna break up in style, I recommend watching the first episode of this serial. Hear the guy's "My love can only go so far" speech. sounds very logical, but if the gers hear it, definitely would want to beat up the guys.

okay, think i've written enough in this ode for now. should start on my ode to Sophie Scholl...

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* a professional term for "baker"

** the most famous/favourite french biscuit (??)

^ on how they can really make you fat :p 

내 이름은 김삼순 My Name is Kim Sam-Soon (2005)

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Other

Horrendously funny. Wasn't inspired to watch it at first, cos it din have a flattering shot of the lead actress on the box cover. but once I started watching it, I couldn't stop! Very surreal at times, where you have a character dreaming that she is dreaming.

Standard K-Drama fare, with lotsa tears and laughter. A must watch!

more info from http://wiki.d-addicts.com/My_Name_is_Kim_Sam-Soon

Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage (Sophie Scholl – The Final Days) (2005)

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Foreign

From the film's website introduction:

"Sophie Scholl: The Final Days is the moving portrait of one of the few heroines in German history. The film depicts the last six days (17-22 February 1943) in the life of Sophie Scholl from her own perspective: that of a courageous and vibrant young woman who is willing to face death for her belief in the ideals of the White Rose. Through their resistance and protest against the Nazi regime, Sophie Scholl and her fellow members of the White Rose resistance group have become synonymous with civil courage and a peaceful struggle against the rule of violence and oppression.

Although the film follows the historical facts as closely and faithfully as possible (using the original interrogation records), it has been written and directed as a feature film. Taking a sensitive and refreshingly open-minded view of history, young director Marc Rothemund re-awakens the now virtually mythical, iconic figure of Sophie Scholl."

Website:
http://www.sophieschollmovie.com/
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Personal take:
A very good film to watch, not only in therms of cinematography and imagery, but also in content and plot. A must watch!

on skyping to friends overseas...

just talked to a dear friend for the first time using Skype. ah, the wonders of modern technology! But gotta go get myself a microphone - think i looked like a lunatic shouting to the keyboard*... :p

* the laptop's microphone is situated below the keyboard. It's works adequately enough, but better to use an external microphone. Cos my friend was saying my voice is muffled and not as clear as my other friend who's using an external microphone...

on listening to Initial D songs...

Been listening to all the great songs from this anime series... Brought back the good old memories of watching the 1st and 2nd stage anime episodes... TaKuMI!!! :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_D_Eurobeat_Song_Selection

http://www.avexmovie.jp/lineup/initial/initial.html

(Last pic taken from http://userg.go2id.net/images/hachirokuunlimited.jpg)

on having a sick momma at home...

yeaps, my mom is down with flu. The drippy nose don't get to her as much as the wracking cough*. Cos when she coughs, it's the kind of cough that wracks her whole body, almost as if she's coughing out her lungs and heart kind.

well, too bad last time didn't do well for my science bit in secondary school. If not, could have become a doctor^ and treat her illness myself. Just looked at the cough syrup that's the doctor prescribed for her - it's an "expectorant", the kind of cough mixture that make you cough more and spit out whatever phlegm and fluids that is in your body. No wonder my mom is coughing like there's no tomorrow. well, told her that if she really cannot "tahan" the coughing, then don't drink the cough syrup for a while.

well, since momma is down, means i have to do a bit more around the household. Well, still shuffling my feet about this, cos' really lazy :p still, better pitch in ah, wait "kenah" holy BBQ% :D

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* well, besides the flu, could also be because of the dust that's spreading all over the place, due to the micro-piling from the HDB upgrading works. Or could also be due to all the smoke from all the burning of the incense and the paper money during the 7th Lunar month celebrations.

^actually, my first ambition was to become an astronaut. But am not good at maths, ever since young... ah well.

% well, seems like my theology these days is still much on the "avoiding the holy BBQ" kind. Must really move on to the "Love God with all my heart, soul and mind" theology... :p