had to go sentosa to check in my little girl(14) for her birthday beach and pillow party with her school friends and so need to check on them again in the evening...looked up the degustation at il Lido and though the menu looks attractive on the website, a call quickly decided that it was not for us that evening as the ribeye was not on the menu that day...for a S$100+ degustation it always pay to call & ask the menu first... can't imagine paying top $ if we don't like the main course..
anyway we booked Braise and what a discovery...
took the $98 5-course degustation and the food is really great, true fine dining...
chef's compliment - not much a compliment this is not that good an item to start...
pressed foiu gras (terrine) - not comparable with pan seared foiu gras but still very nice with toasted bread & jelly
lobster bisque - very flavorful silky smooth like the lobster capuccino at Fifth Floor in San Francisco and among the best I tried...only complaint is this is really too small a portion more like 1/3 normal portion
seared scallop with angel hair - this pasta is really tasty but it seems to be not on the ala carte menu
roasted fillet of beef - best taken rare...tenderloin is usually lady's meat tender but tasteless but this one is flavorful...usally i don't take much of the meshed potatoes even if it very good but these ones come with sandwiched minced beef cheeks and i walloped the entire helping...
OR
roasted cod with an usually nice sauteed mushroom sauce - Lisa had that and it is really nice too don't mind having that the next time i want a healthier diet
apple crumble pie dessert - very unique pizza like almost like the chinese red bean pancake, good first time, not sure will like it again next time..
altogether a very satisfying meal for the price...we feel that there are many items which are special like the beef, cod, lobster bisque, angel hair we would try again and the pan seared foiu gras with langoustine (tiny lobster) which we will want to try next time...though Desmond Lim the chef was from Restaurant Ember and Sabestian Ng is certainly famous, we cannot really finger any particular food - appetizer, main course or dessert that we would specially want to go back to at Ember though we been there at least 3 times maybe..through the open kitchen concept we can see bespectacled Desmond busy supervising every concoction and tasting the food before they are served...good to have a young upcoming chef ever eager to please...
however though the $98 degustation is worth trying, we will probably go for ala carte next time...degustation portions are at best 1/2 portions and if we take the pan seared foiu gras ($32), lobster bisque ($28), cod ($38) we can enjoy full portion and it would just come up to $98 anyway (though with tenderloin will set us back $108) if we are not going for dessert...take your pick...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Fire & Water
fire
self destruct
pockets of short-lived brilliance ignite 10,000 years of torched history
mankind's fading footprint in the shifting sand of time,
or is every spark a moment in eternity?
water
indestructible permanence
an unstoppable force against which there is no immovable object
is forever a timeless omnipresence
or an exercise in futility?
self destruct
pockets of short-lived brilliance ignite 10,000 years of torched history
mankind's fading footprint in the shifting sand of time,
or is every spark a moment in eternity?
water
indestructible permanence
an unstoppable force against which there is no immovable object
is forever a timeless omnipresence
or an exercise in futility?
Friday, July 11, 2008
class and mass marketing
so the marketing guru opined that Nadal will be no Andre Agassi..Nadal has class so give him points for that..but his english or lack of it and the reserve conservative image he projects doesn't keep the till ringing and bring in the big bucks?
seems that Federer has closer to US$20m career earnings and Nadal just topped US$5m, and he is not in the top 20 non-US sports earners...not a phenomenal like Agassi...
well maybe US$5m is enough or a few more US$5m over next few years is enough to keep a man happy...the amercian mass culture worship "attitude" maybe like McEnroe talent with attitude (meaning "spoilt brat").... so Nadal's marketing agent said they have been working on it 5 years and they believe it is best to communicate Nadal's down to earth, humble personality...
you know he flew to Munich after the Wimbledon weekend just to personally apologize to the Mercedes Cup (where he is ranked No 1 and the main attraction) organisers that he cannot play because he had a thigh problem and advised by his doctors to rest...the humility and consideration that come with true greatness...
maybe his marketing guys know a thing or 2...the modern mantra of marketing to please your customers and exceed their expectations seem to collide with this "attitude" thingy...but attitude is just a few seconds advertising video, can easily be "produced" by a good producer...
the underlying class and humility combined may actually endear Nadal to the masses of idol worshippers?
seems that Federer has closer to US$20m career earnings and Nadal just topped US$5m, and he is not in the top 20 non-US sports earners...not a phenomenal like Agassi...
well maybe US$5m is enough or a few more US$5m over next few years is enough to keep a man happy...the amercian mass culture worship "attitude" maybe like McEnroe talent with attitude (meaning "spoilt brat").... so Nadal's marketing agent said they have been working on it 5 years and they believe it is best to communicate Nadal's down to earth, humble personality...
you know he flew to Munich after the Wimbledon weekend just to personally apologize to the Mercedes Cup (where he is ranked No 1 and the main attraction) organisers that he cannot play because he had a thigh problem and advised by his doctors to rest...the humility and consideration that come with true greatness...
maybe his marketing guys know a thing or 2...the modern mantra of marketing to please your customers and exceed their expectations seem to collide with this "attitude" thingy...but attitude is just a few seconds advertising video, can easily be "produced" by a good producer...
the underlying class and humility combined may actually endear Nadal to the masses of idol worshippers?
Friday, July 4, 2008
organs trading
Indonesian sulaiman got sentenced 2 weeks + S$1000 fine (or 1week jail) for failed attempt to sell his kidney to 55 yr old prominent listed company chairman, and Toni sentenced 14weeks +S$2000 fine (or 2 weeks jail) for being a runner having himself already sold his kidney to another rich Indonesian...sulaiman collected 186m rupiahs (like S$20k+) which is about 16 years working as a labourer, the job he lost 6 months ago...
guess S'pore court is quite measured in not taking away too much of Toni's "blood money (or kidney money)" but still having to send strong message that organs trading is "illegal" to deter runners & sellers...but what about the named middleman who actively sourced out both these punished sellers and coached them to fabricate the family tree and stories to get the Transplant Ethics Committee to approve...what about the rich buyer and "attempted" buyer...will the same law be seen to apply to them?
for the long lists of arguments against organs trading, some doctors & care-givers truly believe that it is greater wrong to see a human being dies when there is an organ available, and the seller (like Toni) can in fact have a chance for a better life for himself and his loved ones through the only means he will ever have. by the same argument that the poor should not be exploited, the poor should also not be assumed to be incapable of making the right decision for themselves when all the facts are presented to them instead of others making that decision for them...
the problem may be more a practical one...then we need to find a practial solution...say set up a charity trust where rich or filthy rich recepients will donate (NOT pay to buy) $x, and living donors (NOT sellers) will get extended periods of annual payments from the charity trust (instead of likes of Toni wittling away his 186m rupiahs though i guess we are still deciding for him here)...and poor recepients can still get donors..courtesy of extra donations from the rich ones...
this way (1)there is no trading (2)do away with middlemen-any trading will need middlemen to be efficient, but a charity trust can advertise publicly via Internet (3)poor recipients can get organs (4)better help the poor donors through a extended period of support...
guess S'pore court is quite measured in not taking away too much of Toni's "blood money (or kidney money)" but still having to send strong message that organs trading is "illegal" to deter runners & sellers...but what about the named middleman who actively sourced out both these punished sellers and coached them to fabricate the family tree and stories to get the Transplant Ethics Committee to approve...what about the rich buyer and "attempted" buyer...will the same law be seen to apply to them?
for the long lists of arguments against organs trading, some doctors & care-givers truly believe that it is greater wrong to see a human being dies when there is an organ available, and the seller (like Toni) can in fact have a chance for a better life for himself and his loved ones through the only means he will ever have. by the same argument that the poor should not be exploited, the poor should also not be assumed to be incapable of making the right decision for themselves when all the facts are presented to them instead of others making that decision for them...
the problem may be more a practical one...then we need to find a practial solution...say set up a charity trust where rich or filthy rich recepients will donate (NOT pay to buy) $x, and living donors (NOT sellers) will get extended periods of annual payments from the charity trust (instead of likes of Toni wittling away his 186m rupiahs though i guess we are still deciding for him here)...and poor recepients can still get donors..courtesy of extra donations from the rich ones...
this way (1)there is no trading (2)do away with middlemen-any trading will need middlemen to be efficient, but a charity trust can advertise publicly via Internet (3)poor recipients can get organs (4)better help the poor donors through a extended period of support...
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Wimbledon 2008
Nadal is so good (as they reported-bludgeoned Andy Murray in 3 sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-4)...well guess got to wait till he beats Federer in the finals...semi-finals shld be a coast thru for both...
Zheng Jie (fm Chengdu) is donating all S$500k (for getting into semi-finals) of her Wimbledon earnings (20% of her career earnings) to Sichuan quake victims (less the cut to China Tennis Association)...good gesture & earnest...though oddly it may be more practical and impactul to donate to CTA and get more Chinese players to succeed internationally and inspire a whole generation...
told by quake frontline reporters China don't really need quake donations, and have the equipment, manpower and resource (incl $) to help the victims but just accept aid to show transparency...
Zheng Jie (fm Chengdu) is donating all S$500k (for getting into semi-finals) of her Wimbledon earnings (20% of her career earnings) to Sichuan quake victims (less the cut to China Tennis Association)...good gesture & earnest...though oddly it may be more practical and impactul to donate to CTA and get more Chinese players to succeed internationally and inspire a whole generation...
told by quake frontline reporters China don't really need quake donations, and have the equipment, manpower and resource (incl $) to help the victims but just accept aid to show transparency...
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Wimbledon 2008
Zheng Jie (ranked 133) into Wimbledon semi-finals..defeating czech girl in 3 sets..don't think she can get past Serena Williams...but who knows...
anyway such a great achievement already...the whole China must be watching...imagine she got thru' 4 rounds + quarter-finals eliminating Anna Ivanovic (world no. 1) along the way
anyway such a great achievement already...the whole China must be watching...imagine she got thru' 4 rounds + quarter-finals eliminating Anna Ivanovic (world no. 1) along the way
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