Happy Birthday, Mom
It's my mom's birthday today. She celebrated with a trip to the dentist in the morning, then a white carrot cake (chai tao kueh) lunch at Food Republic with me, then Lulu the Movie at West Mall with me and dad, then dinner at Peramakan at Keppel Club.
Her birthday was the sole reason that I came back as early as I did. I think it's worth it.
I managed to keep up with my vegetarianism today. My mom initially made a reservation at Rakuichi, a.k.a. my favourite Japanese restaurant in Singapore (and since I've never been to Japan - my favourite Japanese restaurant ever), but she read something about how the US has not lifted its ban on food imports from radiation-affected areas of Japan, whereas Singapore has, and she got freaked out. That was a convenient excuse for me not to eat there; if I had gone there, I would have ordered the super delicious prawn tempura maki with chilli powder and some kind of salad dressing.
For dinner, I ordered the vegetarian version of the assam fish and skipped the fish-and-squid otah (primarily because it's not super nice and so I shouldn't break from my vegetarianism for something not really worth it). Needless to say, it did not taste as good as its fish form. It was basically a massive chunk of beancurd skin wrapped in seaweed; the purpose of the seaweed is presumably to imitate fish skin. It would have been more delicious if I weren't the only person eating it, but alas, my parents didn't want it (actually, I didn't ask because I knew that they wouldn't have wanted it). The sauce was delicious though. I saw, too, that the restaurant had vegetarian sambal which made me quite curious. I love sambal and it contains shrimps, so I wonder what the shrimp substitute is.
My first meal back was a plate of mee siam from Wang Cafe at the airport. Alas, it is not vegetarian. I have decided that I will keep up with the vegetarianism as far as possible and perhaps only for local food. But I'm pleased that I didn't order the fish assam today.
*
Jetlag hit me pretty hard in the afternoon and I fell asleep in the car on the way to Keppel Club. It is 11.22pm and I am wide awake. Great.
Lulu the Movie was quite funny. It wasn't as hilarious as I'd expected, but it still made me laugh plenty. I cannot help, though, but think that it's a bit racist. Having lived in the UK for some time now, and having been exposed to European (American too, maybe) sensitivity over racial stereotypes, I can't help but think that Lulu would be one of such stereotypes which would be offensive in Europe. Michelle Chong, a Singaporean, is basically milking the Chinese national (i.e. someone from the People's Republic of China) stereotype for laughs: someone with a horrific and quite trashy sense of fashion and of course, the lousy English.
But then again, Europe goes overboard with the political correctness sometimes. As much as it is desirable to respect differences and avoid unfair judgements based on stereotypes, it doesn't mean that we can't, or shouldn't, poke fun at these stereotypes. I thought the movie was funny. Michelle Chong is pretty amazing.
Her birthday was the sole reason that I came back as early as I did. I think it's worth it.
I managed to keep up with my vegetarianism today. My mom initially made a reservation at Rakuichi, a.k.a. my favourite Japanese restaurant in Singapore (and since I've never been to Japan - my favourite Japanese restaurant ever), but she read something about how the US has not lifted its ban on food imports from radiation-affected areas of Japan, whereas Singapore has, and she got freaked out. That was a convenient excuse for me not to eat there; if I had gone there, I would have ordered the super delicious prawn tempura maki with chilli powder and some kind of salad dressing.
For dinner, I ordered the vegetarian version of the assam fish and skipped the fish-and-squid otah (primarily because it's not super nice and so I shouldn't break from my vegetarianism for something not really worth it). Needless to say, it did not taste as good as its fish form. It was basically a massive chunk of beancurd skin wrapped in seaweed; the purpose of the seaweed is presumably to imitate fish skin. It would have been more delicious if I weren't the only person eating it, but alas, my parents didn't want it (actually, I didn't ask because I knew that they wouldn't have wanted it). The sauce was delicious though. I saw, too, that the restaurant had vegetarian sambal which made me quite curious. I love sambal and it contains shrimps, so I wonder what the shrimp substitute is.
My first meal back was a plate of mee siam from Wang Cafe at the airport. Alas, it is not vegetarian. I have decided that I will keep up with the vegetarianism as far as possible and perhaps only for local food. But I'm pleased that I didn't order the fish assam today.
*
Jetlag hit me pretty hard in the afternoon and I fell asleep in the car on the way to Keppel Club. It is 11.22pm and I am wide awake. Great.
Lulu the Movie was quite funny. It wasn't as hilarious as I'd expected, but it still made me laugh plenty. I cannot help, though, but think that it's a bit racist. Having lived in the UK for some time now, and having been exposed to European (American too, maybe) sensitivity over racial stereotypes, I can't help but think that Lulu would be one of such stereotypes which would be offensive in Europe. Michelle Chong, a Singaporean, is basically milking the Chinese national (i.e. someone from the People's Republic of China) stereotype for laughs: someone with a horrific and quite trashy sense of fashion and of course, the lousy English.
But then again, Europe goes overboard with the political correctness sometimes. As much as it is desirable to respect differences and avoid unfair judgements based on stereotypes, it doesn't mean that we can't, or shouldn't, poke fun at these stereotypes. I thought the movie was funny. Michelle Chong is pretty amazing.