Law Shay - Lunch

Feud at Prata Shop - Again

2009-11-26T16:50:00.002+08:00

I went to that prata shop - again. The same guy waited me. I hope he'd not make mistake again. This time, I was careful. I used fingers (to show the number of items I wanted) when I said "A Prata" and, after a long pause, "An egg prata and black coffee."

What did you expect ? He came back with two slices of egg prata but there was no coffee for me. What's wrong with him ? Huh ?

Smell Sometimes Does Not Imply Good Taste

2009-11-25T11:41:00.001+08:00

Today, one of my lab-mates was having rice and mutton curry from the middle-eastern stall (yes, in the air-conditioned lab). It smelled so good that I decided to have the same.

When I got to canteen, the thing he was eating cannot be found easily (it was in a hideous container). Fortunately, the one who queued before me knew its name and ordered it. Therefore, I just point-n-eat.

Alas ! The meat and rice was so hard that I can't swallow. What an unlucky day.

More unlucky, I was sat in the lounge waiting for the experiment to end up in this afternoon. We were watching the news, and it said Tamiflu no longer is effective against some H1N1 case. So sad !

Halon Gas

2009-11-24T19:27:00.003+08:00

Today, I went to the library - which is in memorial of a famous person here in Singapore - to code in quiet environment. I noticed the hazard warning sign that showcase the furniture that that famous person had used. It read something like "Halon Gas Protected". What was that I wondered.

Halon Gas is, wikipedia says, commonly used as second or third level fire suppressing agent in important facilities. As it can be harmful to human beings, it is advised as once the alarm sounds and the light starts to flash, everyone in that room need to vacate the room immediately and seal the door tight shut. Scary !

My lunch was Hor Fun. I wanted to have Mei Fun but my mouth just pronounced "Hor Fun". Anyway, it is a good dish.

Travis Barker Remix Hip-Hop

2009-11-23T21:55:00.002+08:00

Travis Barker is the drummer of Blink-182. However, he's also into hip-hop. This is his remix of a popular hip-hop track. Enjoy.My lunch today is canned Sardine from my roommate and fried cabbage with carrot by me. Umm, with rice of course.

Breakfast Was Shan Noodle

2009-11-22T20:24:00.001+08:00

Today's breakfast was Shan noodle. I gave them my Shan noodle pack - thus they didn't have to buy for themselves. It was the kid's birthday (not an annual one).

The way they cooked Shan noodle is like how my mom did - except they also use dried soy bean in the curry. It tasted so good. I felt like I was back home.

Lunch was fried rice with Char Siew and mixed vegetables. If I didn't make fried rice, those rice leftover would be thrown away in vain.

Char Siew Fried Rice

2009-11-21T20:05:00.001+08:00

Today's lunch was Char Siew fried rice - supplemented by mixed vegetables. First, I fried Char Siew in sunflower oil. Then the vegetables and, at last, rice (from last night :P) mixed with salt. When it was nearly done, I poured some hint of black pepper. So so so yummy !

An Egg = Egg Egg, Funny

2009-11-20T20:46:00.001+08:00

I was sitting in that famous Clementi prata house for my lunch. A Chinese guy - yes, a Chinese waiter in Indian food restaurant - came and took my order. I said, "Gimme an egg prata and a plain prata and black coffee."

After a short while, he came back with a plate on which there were two egg pratas and a plain prata. How come ? When I complained, he didn't even talk with me patiently. He called his manager.

It turned out that he though "An Egg Prata" as "Egg Egg Prata". Is there any sane person that would say "Egg Egg Prata" when he wants two slices of egg prata ? May be he'd say "Egg Prata, Egg Prata" but not "Egg Egg Prata". The manager offered me to just eat and pay for what I have ordered. But I am no Suzaka ("Suzaka" is the name of the villain in one of the Buddhist literature scripts. He ate a lot and die of choke.)

I asked them to pack the extra one and paid full.

What a wield experience.

PhD Conference

2009-11-19T20:24:00.002+08:00

We had a PhD Conference today :P

This afternoon, I felt like working in Science or Science Library, I headed to Science clusters - where I used to work when I started my master here almost three years ago. Hence my lunch - Char Siew Rice with lots of vegetables - was at the Frontier.

When queuing for the fruit drinks, I saw D* - no, not that D* who is working with the robots, but that D* who is working on probability models, the French guy. We had our lunch together and talked a lot. We talked about our researches, about our supervisors, about one of the research students going round the world, meeting his supervisor only twice a year and finished his PhD within two years. Yes, since he's a French, our conversation also included about the girls.

Our lunch was, later, joined by another PhD students - freshly graduated from Cambridge I guess - one is local (Singaporean) and another is a Caucasian (I can't tell his ethnic group). Once he knew I am from that notorious country - Burma (you know, Nargis, the nobel prize winner etc) - he asked a lot (yes, a lot) of questions. What a curious guy. He is working in physics - a theoretical one.

He told me that quantum theory - the maths involved in quantum theory - can be applied in Finance. They named it quantum finance and the researchers involved in those researches - despite pure mathematicians - earn a lot.

I must make sure my research has something to do with business :P

We called it - as it is a talk among four PhD students - PhD conference.

Chili Fever

2009-11-18T19:57:00.001+08:00

I would never forget today in my life - the chili fever is on !

I will explain. Today's lunch is rice with, well, smashed chili. Smashed chili is a famous Burmese dish with regional dialects - Innlay, Rakhine etc.

I underestimate the smashed chili that the Auntie made and mixed it very well with my rice. Wow !!! It is 3 x hotter than I expected - I ended up adding salt, more rice and a huge amount of sugar into my plate.

Yes, it was super hot.

Jumbo Tank - What's That Mean ?

2009-11-17T22:01:00.002+08:00

Today's lunch was Jumbo Tank - it contains an egg (fried I guess), two slices of garlic breads, some peas, some salami and, most important of all, a large cheese pork sausage.

I don't know how the meal got its name. There is a dialect called Full tank featuring a smaller sausage.

I wondered if it is derived from the fact that it is army issued breakfast for those who operate the tanks. But if that's the case, there should be some meals called, "Jet", " Jeep or "Pounder". If all the soldiers got the same ration, then it should have called something like G.I or whatever.

However, it was a good meal

"Only After I've Got Married Do I ... ," Said He.

2009-11-16T18:21:00.001+08:00

"Only after I've got married, do I eat omelet and fried garlic noodle," my new land-lord (the husband of my new land-lady) told me, when I offered him some of my lunch.

My lunch today was fried garlic noodle since it is easy to cook. This time, I follow the easier way - boiling the meat up with light soy sauce. I used minced meat, too to save time of cutting things up.

Yes, I was extra busy with my research.

Fried Kang Kong

2009-11-15T17:24:00.001+08:00

Today's

How to Make Fried Kang Kong

2009-11-15T16:46:00.005+08:00

Today's lunch is rice with fried Kang Kong and fried soy bean paste. It is vegetarian meal !!! Sometimes, it is good to be vegetarian - it would bring good complexion, good health etc.
Kang Kong is one of the cheapest dish in Burma. It is remarked, in contemporary literature, as main dish of the Poor. It has been a cheap food to go with alcohol too. There has been a song about fried Kang Kong. It went like : "When I become vegetarian temporarily (some Burmese Buddhists do that), when I have no money and when I consume alcohol, Kang Kong plain (fried Kang Kong without any meat) was a very good friend."
Now how to make fried Kang Kong. Please note that this Kang Kong is the Chinese dialect (not the way of cooking, but the species of the leave itself). Let's start with ingredients :
Oil - 3 - 5 table spoon
Kang Kong - a pack (in Burmese packs, 2-4 packs)
Garlic - a couple of clovers.
Salt - half a tea spoon
Oyster Sauce - half a tea spoon.
Wash your Kang Kong and cut 1.5 inches. Don't take those roots - throw them away. Peal the garlic clovers and chop them into tiny peices.

Now heat the oil for 2-5 minutes. When the oil is quite hot (not so hot), put the tiny pieces of garlic in the pan and stir for a while.

Then put your Kang Kong, put the salt in it too. Stir. Now it is turn for the oyster sauce. If you like oyster sauce, you can put up to a full table spoon. However, notice that it tastes so salty and it smells aweful. Put oyster sauce and stir for next 2 minutes sharp. Then it is ready.
Don't forget to place it in the pan for a while. In that way, the remaining heat of the pan would soften your Kang Kong.
Ok, may your Kang be Kong (Kang Kong - in direct translation - in Burmese - means good luck.)

Brilliant Lunch at Home

2009-11-14T17:00:00.001+08:00

Just before heading to school, my roommate and the auntie at home invited me to lunch. Today's menu - Indian style vegetable soup containing potato, egg plants and drum-sticks and fried prawn/chili. I helped (a little) in preparing prawns.

As it has been a long time that I never have Indian style vegetable soup, it was super-delicious. The prawn and chili ratio is correct too - making it a perfect meal.

After that, I left for school.

Friday the Thirteenth

2009-11-13T16:55:00.003+08:00

Today's Friday and today's the Thirteenth - Friday the Thirteenth.

Many people think it as unlucky, frightening or spooky. For me, nothing scare me :P

My lunch, today, was instant noodle at home. I was not going to school but worked at home.

Doctoral Seminar Was Scary

2009-11-12T19:47:00.003+08:00

This morning, I attended a fellow research student's doctoral seminar. It is also called PhD thesis proposal. He is working in a field that is closely related with my research area. (Moreover, his supervisor was my GRP examiner.)

His work was quite good. Not so many professors (please read examiners) and some research students (two from multimedia lab and myself :P) attended his seminar. The question shot were scary - mainly to aim at making the candidate lose his ground. (That's why PhD defense is named that way :P) Since he doesn't have firm application area, that's his blow. I decided to have many mock thesis proposal and defense with my lab-mates.

I couldn't stay there until he's finished since I had an appointment with my supervisor. The lunch was a rush one - at Chinese cooked food stall.

My lunch was fish in lemon sauce, lady finger and egg plant. Not so yummy.

Vegetables Are Healthy

2009-11-11T12:59:00.003+08:00

Today, I have got big trouble in the morning duty (an idiom :P).

The remedy is vegetables - lots of vegetables. I had Yong Tau Fu with lots of vegetables - I added rice noodle too.

For dessert, I took papaya :D

Jerk Fruit - Best as Soup

2009-11-10T12:53:00.002+08:00

Today's lunch was rice with Jerk Fruit Soup.

Yes, I really mean it. Jerk Fruit (the one which is quite similar to Durian but the spikes are less dominant) can be made soup. It went very very x 1, 000, 000 well with fried dried fish (dried fish are boiled a little, pounded and fried).

Unfortunately, in Singapore, we don't have the dried fish nor time to prepare that one so I had Jerk Fruit soup with rice along with fried soy bean paste.

In fact, I don't have time for cooking these days. The Auntie at my new place made that soup for me. So yummy !!! Thanks !

Fried Rice with Both Tumeric and Soy Sauce

2009-11-09T22:16:00.003+08:00

For me, fried rice means either Burmese fried rice or Chinese fried rice. Burmese version is with turmeric (and possibly onions). Chinese version is with soy sauce. I have never saw a version with both turmeric powder and soy sauce.

Today, my roommate made fried rice with both turmeric powder and soy sauce for breakfast. It also featured my mixed vegetables and fried egg. Since many were left at lunch time, I had fried rice and fried eggs as lunch. It was really tasty. Unbelievable !

Sweeten Chinese Choy Soup

2009-11-08T18:05:00.004+08:00

Back in Rangoon, we used to eat sweeten Chinese Choy salad. First, chinese choy is processed (a little bit boiled, I think), then mixed together with Gula Malacca paste and some fried garlic (many Burmese and Shan dishes use fried garlic). The result is so yummy salad dish.

However, when I got to Singapore, I met many people making another version of that dish using pork ribs, guala malacca (or sugar) and Chinese Choy. The taste is similar but this version is soup.

Today's lunch is such soup (Sweeten Chinese Choy Soup) and rice. The auntie (my land lord's mother in law) made that for her family and I got a jackpot. So yummy !

Chilled Noodle Was So Spicy

2009-11-07T17:58:00.003+08:00

Today, in an attempt to reduce cost, I had my lunch at home. My lunch was rice with fried soy been paste. I didn't have time to prepare other dishes as I needed to work in my lab.

However, my lunch - lack of vegetable and oil - make me hungry again at 1600 hour.

I ended up having chilled noodle from Si Chuan outlet. It was so spicy !

The Spoon Crisis

2009-11-06T15:10:00.003+08:00

Today's lunch was rice with pig leg and vegetables from Beijing outlet.

There are two (no, three) troublesome Chinese-Language-Only outlets in NUS. They are the clay-pot from the Deck, Si Chuan from the Deck and the Beijing outlet from the Terrace.

To make the matter worse, Beijing outlet doesn't feature any fork and spoons yet use flat plate to serve rice (clay-pot outlet uses bowls for rice so that using chopsticks for rice is somewhat Ok. Si Chuan outlet, after I get this problem in one of the surveys that OSA or Estate office conducted, featured forks and spoon).

I ended up using forks and spoons of their neighbor (and rival) outlets.

So far so good until today, when they caught me do this. I simply told them I couldn't use chopsticks (which is half-true as I can't use chopsticks to eat rice on a flat plate). They let me use the forks and spoons in the end.

NUS authority should have done something for this matter.

In the afternoon, I took a bus back school (from the bank) and the bus driver was saying "Good afternoon." to all those who was boarding. May be a customer service quality control officer was on board or he's a new guy.

I replied him, "Good afternoon." :P

Google Wave, Here I Come

2009-11-05T23:37:00.004+08:00

Today's lunch was chicken rice. The way they chopped and sliced the chicken was remarkable. It was only a small piece of chicken but it could cover the whole rice bowl.

In the evening, an old friend from "Program Analysis" class, WT, invited me to use Google's latest collaboration tool, Google Wave.

I accepted the invitation but I was too busy to learn what it is. Here is a youtube video about it.

Frogs and Eel

2009-11-04T23:30:00.003+08:00

Today's lunch is what remained of today's breakfast. Again, today's breakfast is a modification of what remained of yesterday dinner - fried rice.

At first, I fried the egg. When the oil was at sufficient temperature, I crack and put the egg in it and stir hard. That gives me a whitish yellow egg fry. When doing the stir, I put the mixed vegetables. When they are half-done, rice (mixed well with light soy sauce and salt) is poured in.

My roommate offered me fried frog and eels. They were yummy too.

Pork Stomach or Pig Ear ?

2009-11-02T13:15:00.003+08:00

In Burma, we eat all parts of the pig - ears, tongue, organs and even the eyes and the tail. In Singapore, I couldn't find any tongue or ears. I used to find something that looks like ears but whenever I asked, they say "Pig stomach".

I have never seen pig stomach before. So I don't know if it is true or not. What I know is they look the same and they taste the same. May be Singaporeans hate to eat ears so they lie (that's my conclusion)

Today's lunch is so-called rice with pig stomach with a vegetable (in Burmese, we call it "Juu Phuu").