Personel sentiments of Election 2011

This year election in Singapore has been one of the most anticipated elections in many many years. There has been a higher caliber of candidates from the various opposition parties and coupled with the introduction of a new PAP team which has been perceived as more of an elite group and not able to appreciate the ground sentiment.

In addition, the ground sentiment is that the government in the past few years has not paid heed to the various grievances such as cost of housing, public transportation, in flux of foreign workers and inflation in Singapore
This has made this election much more of a closer call and I would dare say it could be the benchmark of the upcoming few elections as the Generation Y voters will play a more significant role in the votes casting.

This is the first election in which social media such as facebook, Twitter and YouTube plays more of a significant role and it allows more people to view the speeches provided by the various candidates. I have been very impressed by the eloquences and energy of some of the new opposition candidates.

The opposition parties also brought up a lot of ideas. The below are some of the proposals and areas which I am impressed and the government should consider looking into it.

1. Pegging minister/members of parliament pay against a multiplier of the median pay in Singapore rather than GDP. GDP is an overall number and is not reflective of the ground situation. A Median pay will be more representative of the ground sentiments and will drive the MPs to look into ways to improve the overall pay of Singaporeans. I do not fully subscribe to PAP idea of paying top dollars for MPs. We must reward the MPs for their sacrifice to be in parliament but if they are going into parliament for the pay then it defeats the core principle of an MP. An MP is a representative of the people on the ground and should serve the people.
the current perception is that the people are tax to give high pay to the MPs.

2. Public Transportation, the proposal to de-privatize the public buses and MRT. Though the concept of privatizing these crucial infrastructure is to lead to more competition and lower prices. However the opposite took place as transport keep on increasing prices as they are run as private business and are accountable to their shareholders. These key infrastructures should be run more as a public service. When average Singaporeans are finding transport cost is increasing and when you hear SMRT profits is running in the hundred of million, it is quite mind boggling.

3. Using other means of measuring Singapore Growth, GDP is only one aspect but it may not be the best and the opposition had proposed a couple of other means which may be more reflective of the society.

In my opinion, the government in the last few years has project an image of arrogance as they do not seem to take the ground sentiment seriously. It also seems to be less caring as they are always looking at GDP numbers and other hard numbers which are not reflective on the ground.

In spite of that, the government in general has managed to keep the country growing and our strength of our dollar is very strong. At least in my case, the candidate had delivered what he promised in the last election.
Also some of the proposals raised by the opposition is also not realistic such as the idea of free education and health care, who will bear this burden. Now we will be able to do it as our budget is plentiful but in the long run how will it be possible to sustain. The idea of moving our of manufacturing and fully focus on service is not viable. Manufacturing is one of the core of the economy and hires a large amount of people. Getting rid of it will cause a lot of lose of jobs. Manufacturing is an area which is less volatile to cyclic downturns unlike service industry.
Now the key issue for all Singaporeans is whether would you want to vote for a change in the system and it is a step into the unknown or you would rather keep to the present situation and hope the government understand that we are not always looking at hard facts but want them to engage us and appreciate what the ground is feeling.

We only hope that we will not end up in a situation where we will spend all our time debating issues without any actions while the world overtakes us.

We will know on the 7th of May 2011, how things will develop.

Unique Western food joint near Art Museum

For this eatery, it was a mistakewhich led us to try the food. We had actually wanted to go to the National Museum to view some exhibitions but due to my poor sense of direction we landed up at the art museum and saw some exhibits which we did not know what is been shown.

Anyway after the error, we spotted a cafe which is the Food for Thought Cafe and gave it a try. An interesting concept they have is they are will support a good cause in which they will donate part of their profit for good causes such as donating for the UN food programme.

We ordered a few dishes to try.

Interesting concept cafe with afforable comfort food that is quite generous on portions.

Fries with rosemary garlic. Simple but delicious

Calamari, prawns and salmon Risotto. Wanted to try what is a Risotto and realised it is too rich for me as too cheesy. Very filling though did not really fancy it :(

Hoisin Har Cheong Baby Back Ribs. It is supposed to be one of their more popular dish and it really showed. The back ribs was very well flavoured and it goes well with the potato gratins. Excellent dish and highly recommended. 

Ice lemon tea. Nothing to say :)




Highly recommended restaurant for Healthy Chinese food with an elegant touch :)

This is another long overdue posting. This restaurant was recommended by a friend and it is really very good.

The name of the restaurant is Restaurant Ten. It is located at 7 Purvis Street #01-01. Telephone number: 6333 9901.

It is a restaurant which focus more on classic wellness in a contemporary style. Below is a selection of the dishes which I had ordered there during my previous visit.



Table setting. They will offer a very pleasant starting drink.

Egg White with dried scallop in a potato nest. The contrast of the fluffy egg white with the crispness of the potato nest and the slight saltiness of the dried scallop is a wonderful combination.

Herbal Chicken. One of the best I had, the meat is super tender and infused with the various herbs that was used in the preparation. Highly recommended dish to order.

Stirred fried apples with pine nuts. Interesting combination and flavours. Something that will appeal to guest who wants a bit more crunch for their vege dish.

Ee Fu mee. Excellent in taste and presentation. Had the Wok hei flavour and succulent prawns. 

Special selection dessert platter. Three very distinct flavours of dessert with the order to enjoy it from left to right.

If you are looking for an interesting place to have Chinese Food with a modern taste which is tasty and healthy, do consider this place :)

Latest update: The restaurant has unfortuntaley closed recently :(

New Favourite food haunt for great food @ good value ( Ka Soh)

This is my first entry in quite a while as have been very busy with work.

My dad recently recommend us to try the food of Ka Soh at the Alumni Association @ No.2 College Road ( near Outram MRT).

One of the highly recommended dish is their fish head bee hoon. We decided to order a selection of dishes to try. The below are the review of some of the items that we tried during our 2 visits to the place.

Stirred Fried Hor Fun with Fish meat. This dish was superb. You get to enjoy the Wo Hek feel for the Hor fun ( not many places do it well) and it is so fragrant and tasty. Absolutely must try this dish 

The next dish we tried is the fish meat bee hoon. It was good. However if you are a fan of fish head, it is recommeneded that you have the fish head bee hoon which gives the soup a much more complex flavour.



Ka Soh version of cold dish ( my favourite item was the gong pao chicken pieces)



Fried prawn ball with spicy sauce. The prawns was very crunchy and the sauce was excellent.

Prawn Paste Chicken. Nothing much to shout about.

Wasabi Prawn. It was good but I preferred the version tried elsewhere where the prawns is coated with a layer of the wasabi sauce.

Special Fried Pork. I totally loved this dish which is both crispy and the meat is juicy with full of flavours.

Stirred fried chill Kang Kong with cuttlefish, It was delicious and there was the spicyness in the chilli.





In general, the dishes were excellent especially for the stirred fried items. On the pricing, it is quite reasonable as it is priced closer to Zhi char pricing then a restaurant price. If you would like to try some local Chinese food, I would recommend this place.

Visit to Paradise Dynasty at Orchard Ion 4th floor

A couple of weeks back, my friend and I visited a new Chinese Restaurant on the 4th floor of Orchard Ion. It is called Paradise Dynasty and is opened by the Taste Paradise group. It specialized in Xiao Long Bao and their special item is the eight flavours xiao long bao which is shown below. They also served la mien and a selection of side dishes and Shanghai and Beijing Dim Sum.

The first item to come is the 8 flavours xiao long bao. It consists of the original flavour, gingseng flavour, foie Gras, black truffle, cheese flavour, crab roe, garlic and sichuan flavour. They even recommend a sequence to have the various flavours. The most memorable one is the Ginseng flavour. You really get to enjoy the flavour of the ginseng and it goes very well with the soft and tender meat filling. Highly recommended. 

My friend had the beef brisket la mien. He did not fancy it so much as the soup based do not complement well with the rich taste of the beef. The soup in a way made the beef taste be diluted.

For myself, I had the seafood La mien. For this dish, the soup complemented well with the seafood as the seafood flavour was well infused in the soup. I found this dish quite good.

The next dish is the jellyfish. This is one of the best I had. the texture was chewy and it was complemented with a excellent sauce. Highly recommend ordering this dish.

Next is the Guo Tie. I loved it a lot though my friend was not too keen on it. The based was crisp as it was pan fried and the filling was full with the meat juice and the tender meat within it. 

 For the salad chicken, this is one of the dish which did not stick out.

The service was excellent and they also had a specialist to pour the tea into your cup using the big teapot and pouring a distance from the table. The decoration of the place was also very sleek. Best part of all, the prices of some of the items are not as expensive as suggested from the decoration of the place.

Excellent place to visit to enjoy the xiao long bao.

One of my favourite Food Centre ( East Coast Lagoon )

East Coast Lagoon has been one of my favourite food centre. It has a huge variety of delicious local food, it is near the beach and there is great atmosphere where local and tourists enjoy the food under the moonlight.

The only inconvenience is that it is not that accessible for people who is staying not near the area. Usually it is a place that you would like to visit when you have a private transport. There is ample

A couple of months back, my mum friend who is from the UK visited Singapore and this was one of the place that we brought him for dinner to let him sample some of the local delights.

Photo of the entrance of the food village.

Name of the shop where I ordered the Char Siew Noodle.

Photo of the Char Siew Mee. The serving of the Char Siew is very generous. For this stall they used the sauce of the Char Siew as the gravy for the noodle. This give the noodle a sweet and rich taste. Quite excellent value for money.

Char Siew Kuay Teow. My guest really enjoyed this dish.

On the left of the picture is the chicken and lamb satay. On the right, it is the BBQ chicken. The satay was full of flavour and the lamb was especially delicious. The BBQ chicken has a tender texture with a lovely aroma.

Chinese Rojak. It is local salad which comprises of cucumber, dough fritter, cuttlefish, radish which is mixed with a prawn based sauce and roasted peanut.

Next is the grilled sting ray with sambal chilli. It looked intimating for my guest but he was game for it and took a bit to try. He found it a touch too spicy for him. For myself, I also found it too spicy and I needed to order 2 ice cold drink to quench the fire in my mouth.

The below is the fried oyster omelet. My guest did not try this as he does not like oyster. However this is one of my favourite dish. The egg is fried to a crisp and it goes well with the quickly cooked oyster and the chilli. Fantastic dish!!

The below is the dessert that we had which is a chilled jelly and an ice kacang which is a local dessert. Perfect for an evening under the moonlight.

My guest really enjoyed the experience as well as he was amazed with the myriad of delicious food all located in one area. This was the type of experience he was looking forward when he came to Singapore.

Tasting of Wines from Alsace in France

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a trade tasting of various wines from the Alsace region in France. Alsace is located on the France eastern border and adjacent to Germany and Switzerland.

This is a region in which wine cultivation has been going on for centuries which reached its peak in the 16th century. It was disrupted by the Thirty Years' war which devasted the region and it only started to recover only after the First World War when the focus was getting the best quality wines.

In this region, the main focus of the grape varieties are Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Muscat D'Alsace, Piont Gris, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Noir. Among all the grape varieties, only the pinot noir is made as a red wine. The rest are all whites. Hence Alsace is a region famous for the quality of their white wines. Two of the most famous grape varietals from that region would be Riesling and Gewurztraminer.

During the tasting, I managed to try quite a few different style of Riesling from Alsace. There is quite a different taste between the Alsace Riesling and the Riesling from Germany. The Riesling from Alsace are more of a drier style with a refined and delicate fruitness. Some of which also have mineral notes. Personally I prefer the German Riesling as it is not so dry and like the sweetness of the German Riesling especially the Spatlese.

However the Alsace Gewurztraminer is something which I enjoyed. It has a full body with a very rich bouquet of sweet fruits,flowers and spice. It is also full of flavour and totally enjoyable.

I also managed to try a bit of the Pinot Blanc. It is a dry style white as well which is well rounded and delicate. The one which I tried did not have a long finish. There is a good acidity and will go well with seafood.

It was really an eye opening experience and really let me know more about Riesling as have always tried German Riesling and thought Riesling in general is of the sweeter variety. I also was surprised about the Alsace Gewurztraminer.

The below is a photo of a bottle of Riesling from Alsace. The design of the bottle is always this elegant shape.

Photo from Wine foot