A Monument To Romantic Love

Taj Mahal, Agra (Uttar Pradesh), India

The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj to enshrine the body of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died shortly after giving birth to her fourteenth child in 1631. He was devastated by her death and set out to create an unsurpassed, eternal monument to her memory.

The story is given an exquisite poignancy by the fate of Shah Jahan himself, who became a tragic and inconsolable figure.

Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort, where I took the photo above from with the help of a little zoom. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoleum next to his wife.

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My contribution to Julie's Taphophile Tragics

Baja Fresh Has Opened in Singapore

On the way back from Chinese food last night, we noticed that an outlet of Baja Fresh had opened at the Rendezvous Hotel (9 Bras Basah Road #01-03, 6337-7300). I haven't been to a Baja Fresh since back in school, when this Fresh Mex thing was all the rage. But I figured that if it was the same as it was back then, then they should at least have a salsa bar at this outlet.

Fortunately, they did. None of them were particularly spicy, but having it fresh nonetheless was key, even if they were a bit stingy with the chips. And I liked both my shrimp and grilled fish tacos, the latter of which was surprisingly smoky. At the end of the day, it was still just another chain restaurant, but at least I don't need to hover around Spruce's weekday lunch hours if I need a quick taco fix now.

Donkey On A Small Boat

Edfu, Egypt

Beijing Nengren Ju, Tyrwhitt Road

This was a completely random visit. We were originally trying to hunt down a Thai place nearby, only to find that it had closed, and thus stopped by this random northern Chinese place on a side street out of sheer convenience (25 Tyrwhitt Road, 6396-8006).

Fortunately, it was a lot better that we had figured it would be, with string beans spiced up just the right amount, as well as some cold flat noodles that were much better than that Yang Gui Fei place (i.e., nowhere as salty).

The thing above may seem a bit strange, but it was basically a white version of shui zu yu, leveraging some sour pickled vegetables (a bit like the white broth from Wei Lu in Taipei as opposed to the standard red one). I liked it, but it was definitely a lot more veggies than fish. Next time we should give their Mongolian hot pot thing a try.

Mya Theindan Pagoda

Mingun, Myanmar

Udon Factory, Lau Pa Sat, Singapore

Ever since we hit up an outlet of Rakugama in Japan, I'd been hoping to find a similar setup here in Singapore: a fast assembly line where one orders noodles first before progressing to pick up sides of tempura and then paying. So I was pretty happy to come across a place that did exactly that, at stall number 32 of Lau Pa Sat, of all places.

Unfortunately, I didn't like it. The tempura was the biggest disappointment, the batter being off-puttingly thick. Maybe it would have been better had I gone during the busy lunch hour instead, when the high turnover would have forced it to be fresh from the fryer rather than having to gnaw on the cold pieces that I ended up with tonight.

But I didn't care that much for the noodles either. I mean, I suppose that it did the job, but it definitely wasn't the thick chewy stuff from Rakugama. I'm gonna have to stick to Tsuru-Koshi for udon then...and hit up either Ten or Teppei for tempura.

When The River Is The Grave

Cremation at Pashupatinath, the holiest place for the Hindu people in Nepal

A father says goodbye to his sixteen years old son, whose body lies on the ground (top photo), before taking him to the pyre and set it on fire.

The ceremony is not completed until what's left of the body is thrown into the water, but I left before it happened, the smell was too intense.
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My contribution to Julie's Taphophile Tragics

Squash Blossoms from Pizzeria Mozza

Mmm...these were so much better than the zucchini blossoms that we had at Piperno in Rome. The batter on these was so thin yet crispy that I gobbled up these rich cheese-filled things in no time, nearly going so far as to ask for another serving. And yes, the crispy pizza was just as good as before too, although next time we need to remember a few things: the pizzas really are single-serving sized (i.e., load up on the delicious appetizers), the salumi is pretty salty, and the counter seats are cool since one gets to watch the kitchen in action.

The Fishermen's Wives

Matosinhos, Porto (272 kms north of Lisbon), Portugal

Table Mountain

Cape Town, South Africa

Boiled Pork Slices from Bibigo Singapore

I'm sure that the name of this dish sounds much better in Korean. And I'm sure that if I had known what I was doing, this dish from Bibigo probably would have been a lot better. But I ignorantly assumed that this plate of cold meat would come with a standard issue assortment of fresh greens to wrap this stuff up in. It did not. I ended up eating all of the meat straight - or at least, with those raw garlic slices that will surely garner me a welcome reception at home later. In retrospect, this was probably meant to be a dish for a family to share. I should have gone for the bulgogi instead. Oh well.

Khufu's Tomb

Oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis (around 2560 BC)

Giza (Cairo), Egypt

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My contribution to Julie's Taphophile Tragics

Beach Bungallow

Posada Ecologica Dos Ceibas, Tulum (Quintana Roo), Mexico

Thai Tantric, Orchard Towers, Singapore

Yep - it's a third place serving Thai food at Orchard Towers. This one was just around the corner from Korat (400 Orchard Road #03-23, 9056-3958), but with much fewer seats. And yet all of those seats were filled early this evening, whereas Korat was completely empty. I'm not sure how true this is, but someone said that people from the Thai Embassy come over here to eat too.

All of that got my hopes up too high; I ended up walking away unsatisfied. Part of it was my own fault for ordering the wrong thing; a soup that I got was not the spicy glass noodle soup that I thought I was ordering. I also suspect that part of it was because they intentionally toned down the spices on our dishes. But some of it was simply just bad ingredients; the prawns in our tom yum soup above had clearly seen better days.

Well, at least the veggies that we got were fresh. And I'm still willing to come back as long as someone suggests the right dishes to order. But frankly, I got more excited by the shop downstairs that w`s selling pizza by the slice. I was too full to eat it, but it smelled like it would hit the spot after a few beers.

Lake Manyara

Northern Tanzania

Just Curious

Kensington Gardens, London

Over The Douro River

King Luís Bridge, built by Eiffel's working partner Theóphile Seyrig in 1881, Porto, Portugal

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For more bridge shots check Louis' Sunday Bridges

Reflections

Guimarães, 2012 European Capital of Culture (312 kms north of Lisbon), Portugal
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For more reflection shots check James' Weekend Reflections

Hangoga, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

I wasn't planning to come here (10 Bayfront Avenue #B1-01B, 6688-7385). I actually came by to check out the Indian place next door, but when I walked by this place I smelled fatty beef being grilled on a flame. I inexplicably couldn't pull myself away, and somehow found myself sitting at a table waiting for food.

I ended up with this bulgogi, which they brought out on a little hot plate rather than using the proper grill underneath. And it was delicious: thin slices of beef marinated ever so sweetly without being annoying, all resting on slivers of onion that caramelized at the bottom. I gobbled it up in seconds. Too bad the banchan provided was so skimpy though.

Interestingly, these guys appear related to Kraze Burgers - although they are on complete opposite sides of the shopping mall. And the aforementioned aroma that drew me in here? Yep, it stuck to my clothes too. I saw a sign that said that they offered to spray you with some deodorizer after leaving, but I didn't get it.

Up In The Mountains

San Juan Chamula (Chiapas), Mexico

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My contribution to Julie's Taphophile Tragics

White Belly Fish for Lunar New Year

I have no idea what the English name of this is, but directly translated from Chinese, it is called "white belly fish," and it is specifically eaten for the Lunar New Year holidays. I was told that no one really eats it any nther time of the year, and that the price skyrockets just before the holidays, in part because it's the spawning season now and the fish should be filled with roe.

In that sense, it was similar to that fish we got the other day, although this meat was much cleaner-tasting, presumably because it was a saltwater fish instead. Ours was done two ways: one sauteed with garlic and leek, while this one above was fried to the point where the meat was almost jerky-like, but in a good way.

Yes, those are two skeletons sitting underneath the uneaten fish in the center; I liked it enough that I ate three of them in one go. Granted, there really wasn't much meat in these things. In that sense, it was a bit like eating Chesapeake blue crabs: a lot of effort for not that much meat, but the point was more of a savory nibble to be washed down with some suds rather than a proper meal.

Shabu Shabu from Yoshinoya Singapore

It looks like a few Yoshinoya locations are now offering this so-called shabu shabu meal in Singapore. Considering that all of the ingredients arrived pre-cooked in the pot, this wasn't really "shabu shabu," but rather just a generic nabe - and not necessarily anything that I'd go back for either. Well, one can't exactly expect much from a fast food chain that only charges about S$7 (US$5.50) for it. But next time I'm sticking to what they do best: the basic gyudon.

Anyone Want Some Poon Choi?

Yes, the juvenile inside me couldn't help but snicker a bit at this unfortunate transliteration. But all joking aside, this was the first time that such a dish has been brought to my attention. I'm sure that I've had something pretty similar before at a Chinese banquet or something, but this was the first time that I had heard this referred to by name.

What is it? If I understand it correctly, this is a simmered dish that is popular in Hong Kong for special occasions like the aforementioned banquets or - in this case - for the Lunar New Year holidays. And while there are a lot of dishes served like this, this one in particular is supposed to be layered up with all sorts of fancy stuff like abalone and shark's fin.

This version tonight had none of the latter, but it did have duck feet at the bottom (or were they chicken feet?). I'm usually one that avoids that upon seeing it at dim sum, but I ate two or three of them tonight, largely for the sake of being polite. But I have to admit that I kinda liked them in the end; it was basically like eating chicken skin, albeit with a bunch of little bones that weren't as frustrating to navigate as I had thought. I couldn't help but wonder how great that skin might taste when grilled on a fire or even deep fried.

Da Lian Teochew Noodles, Balestier Road

After reading about these guys online a few weeks ago, we made a note to ourselves to come down here for breakfast one of these days. And today, we finally did. Located at the Kai Juan Coffeeshop (395 Balestier Road) across from Boon Tong Kee, it sat next to a larger bak kut teh stall, which most of the customers seemed to be patronizing, seeing how there was no line in front of the noodle man. Our jaws just dropped then when we were told after placing our noodle orders that they wouldn't be ready for at least 30 minutes.

We went ahead and waited for it anyway, picking up a little steamed fish from the bak kut teh stall in the meantime. The fish's meat wasn't anything special - in fact, it tasted a little muddy. But then I unsuspectingly ate a white jelly-like organ near its stomach, which I think was its roe sack or something. It turned out to be very rich and creamy, which was probably why most people were getting these fish too. Sure, it was a little bitter, but nothing that those pickled veggies that they threw on top couldn't fix.

Anyway, when the noodles finally came out, we liked what we got, mainly because of its dark condiment mixture that gave it a unique character. This was supposedly due to the use of the buah keras nut, which - if I understand it correctly - is different from the similar sounding buah keluak nut. I also liked the fact that he used dried chili seeds rather than a sauce that most other Teochew noodle places would use. I don't know if I would wait 30 minutes for that again, but it was good and certainly unique.

Sloth

Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

Evita

Cementerio de la Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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My contribution to Julie's Taphophile Tragics

Piao Xiang Ma La Xiang Guo, 313@Somerset

These guys have been up here for a while now (313 Orchard Road #05-01), but I never made any huge effort to come here, largely because my experiences with ma la xiang guo were never very interesting to me. Yet, we were in the neighborhood tonight and decided to give it a try, selecting a few items out of their fridge and telling them to make it extra spicy. They took it in back and threw it all into a hot wok before giving it back to us.

It turned out that it was good that we asked them to do so, as that made it a bit more exciting. To make things even better, they addressed the pet peeve that I have about getting this thing in China: there were no bone fragments accompanying the meat - yay! But alas, I am not going to go out of my way for this again though; I've lost my taste for a lot of this salty greasy stuff. Besides, I don't suppose there is any way in this food court setting for them to turn this into a soup afterwards.

Jungle Beer and Kawaebi from JiBiru

These guys (313 Orchard Road #01-26, 6732-6884) opened sometime ago, specializing in Japanese beers. But I never had the chance to sit down there until this afternoon, when I needed to park myself somewhere for a few minutes. Most of their selection is bottled, with only Sapporo and a couple of Hitachino varieties on tap. Well, that, and one more name I didn't recognize: Jungle Beer.

Seeing how these guys specialized in Japanese beer, I figured that maybe it was a Japanese brand. When I asked the bartender, he told me that it was English instead. But something didn't sound right, since it seemed like they were merely serving the English Ale version of Jungle Beer rather than Jungle Beer actually being English. And I was right: I subsequently looked it up online and found this to be a local Singaporean brand. Interesting that I had never heard of it until now.

Unfortunately, I didn't like it. It was strangely a bit sour and tangy, which was very off-putting when I was expecting a smooth English ale. I think they used fruit or something like that in it. I thus migrated next to Hitachino's Pale Ale, but I didn't like that one either, again because of how floral it was. Oh well. At least the salty crispy kawaebi made for a nice little nibble.

Houses With A View

Positano (Amalfi Coast), Italy

Trying to Figure Out Kagami Biraki

Meidi-Ya has had a bunch of these kagami mochi things on sale for a while now, in a range of nicely packaged sizes from this small baseball-sized one to gigantic watermelon-sized ones. It wasn't very clear what they were; they looked a bit like seasonal decorations, but it also said that it was made of glutinous rice, and the package had instructions on how to break the seal on the packaging. After reading up a bit more on it, I realized that it was exactly for that dual purpose: it was a seasonal decoration for thd Japanese New Year, and to be opened up on January 11th. I thus waited until today to open it up and figure out how to eat it.

It was totally different from what I figured it would be. First off, this thing was rock hard. I mean, given its mochi name, I was expecting a soft gooey thing that oozdd right out, but this thing was practically like plastic. And if I read up on the tradition correctly, one couldn't use a knife to cut it since it symbolically represented the cutting of ties. Yet, I couldn't break it apart no matter how hard I pounded on it. I thus capitulated and cut it with a knife, which frankly wasn't that easy either; despite how it looked, it was much stiffer than a hard cheese (and yes, the little daruma head on top really was just a plastic decoration).

Next, I had to figure out how to prepare it. I saw a recipe online that suggested pan frying it with just some simple seasoning. Seemed easy enough. And once heat was applied, it suddenly softened up. But it didn't just soften up; it became stickier than I ever thought it would be, pulling all my scattered pieces into a cement-like clump no matter how hard I tried to keep them separate. I figured that they should have behaved like a Korean ddeokbokki or even those Chinese stir-fried rice cake slices, but these things just held together like glue. In the end, I failed massively; it was nasty and nearly inedible, and I pretty much threw most of it out. One of these days I'm going to have to figure out how this is really done.

Mentaiko Cream Udon from Tsuru-Koshi

Here's a special that Tsuru-Koshi is running through next month. It admittedly didn't look nor sound very enticing when I saw the sign, but it turned out to be delicious, especially since it was rich, piping hot, and topped with a dallop of mentaiko and a dash of white pepper. I gobbled it up in seconds and savored it until the last drop. I was nearly ready to lick the bowl at the end to make sure that I didn't miss out on any of it.

Highest Place I've Been To

Lalung-la (5.220 m), Tibet

Bright Colours

Antigua, Guatemala

Tendon from Ten Tempura Restaurant

This was the shop that replaced the Central outlet of Kusabi (6 Eu Tong Sen Street #01-68, 6221-2185). I'd prefer to have my pieces served up individually like the way Teppei does, but this tendon set still did the job. Either way, it was definitely light years ahead of that nasty tempura that they serve at Yayoiken.

On The Rudolfino Stairs

Prague, Czech Republic