Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Beijing, Oh Beijing!

I'm off to Beijing on the 15th of next month! No, not for an internship or something studious, but just a holiday jaunt to my ancestral land to celebrate me Dad's birthday.

Great Wall of China, are you ready for moi? *excited*

I just hope the pollution doesn't make this trip memorable for the wrong reasons.

Monday, March 19, 2007

I Heart Morton's

Double cut fillet mignon, $79.

Tattinger Sparkling Wine, $160.

Tuxedo-ed maitre d speaking Singlish, priceless.

I luurrrvveee Morton's Steakhouse. It serves handsdown the BEST steak in Singapore. Seriously. I think I ate a piece (or many pieces) of heaven last night. Plus, the service was impeccable, save for that one shock of hearing the maitre d speak Singlish to my Dad. It was so shockingly out of place that I had to stifle a giggle because our server of the evening was a Malay girl who spoke flawless English with a slight British accent, and yet the maitre d was a backslapping, laugh-out-loud Singlish speaking Chinese dude who seemed more at home in a Chinese restuarant.

My family had dinner at Morton's last night to celebrate Cheryl's promotion. She was treating, hence I had no qualms about eating well. Hey, how often do you get to indulge in decadent steak?

Cheryl and I wisely decided to share a double cut fillet mignon because the portions are insanely big. When the steak first arrived, I sniggered slightly at the seemingly small steak. After halving it, it looked even more pathetic. Well, looks are deceiving. While it may be small in size, it's thickness more than overwhelmed me.

But my first bit into the steak has made me a lifelong devotee of Morton's steak. Morton's is famous for its aged beef, hence its steak is incredibly tender and moist. Never have I tasted steak that is so incredibly tender that it seemingly dissolves after a few light chews, and yet retain enough texture so that you don't feel like you're eating air. Lightly charred on the outside, but beautifully pink and juicy on the inside. A light sauce accompanies the steak, but seriously, the steak in all its wonderfully beefy juices was more than adequate flavouring.

Geraldine devoured a prime rib steak by herself, Dad ate a steak and king crab legs combo till he became slightly sick from all the food, and Mum delicately polished off a fantastic pan-seared peppercorn tuna steak. That too, was amazing, and my one single bite afforded me a peppery, substantial tuna that was still beautifully raw in the middle.

The steaks are served without any side dishes, so we ordered a couple. Even the side dishes are deserving of worship. The sauteed mushrooms and onions (I know, I know, onions) exploded with amazing flavours. The potato skins were tasty, but disappointingly pedestrian.

And the desserts. Oh god, the desserts. We were all really stuffed, but hey, what's a meal without desserts right? And people, we always have stomach for desserts.

Morton's Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake deserves all the accolades. Lovingly warm in the centre with gooey chocolate oozing out, the crust is crunchy and not overpoweringly sweet. We also ate the creme brulee that felt like a gazillion calories with every bite, but oh so worth it. A crispy, torchblown sugar crust hid a deliciously light whipped cream bottom.

Sparkling wine throughout the meal complemented a great meal. Oh god, I love Morton's so much. And more importantly, I love my crazy family. A lot of people may think that we are very rich and extravagant, but it's not true. We stay in a HDB flat, my family doesn't own a car, Cheryl has one but it's so embarrassingly banged up that it's heading for the scrapyard (boy, was that embarrassingly when we passed the car to Oriental's valet), and I wear clothes from Far East Plaza and Bugis.

But we love our food, man do we love our food. We have no qualms about spending big on food; it's our one biggest vice and pleasure. Food is the source of life. We truly, truly appreciate gastronomic delights and experience. So Amen for that attitude and I can only imagine better things to come.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

A Rose By Any Other Name...

I'm fucking annoyed. Some people are really, really stupid turds of shit. Seriously, how difficult is it to get my name correct?

It's like a global virus hitting the stupid button. Brains are freezing. The ability to discern between similar names has evaporated. A lot of the people left standing just call people by whatever name they deem fit. Fuckfaces.

It started with York during Leadership and Team Building. He kept calling me Joanna. Presentations, group meetings, emails; even on the cover pages of our projects. He would introduce me as Joanna to the class, directed work to me as Joanna. I was beyond mad.

I love my name and I refuse to allow it to be bastardize. So I took action. I specifically emailed all our group members and signed off as JoannE. I explicitly told him to please take care because my name was spelt as JoannE with an "E". You know what he did?

He replied, "I'm sorry, JoannaE."

I nearly fell off my chair. It was only after 6 weeks of constant bombarding, a feedback session during which I told him it was rude that he mis-said, misspelled my name because I felt it showed a lack of concern to properly learn my name, before he finally got it right. Sheesh.

Over the years, I encounter people who are so accustomed to Joanna that they slip up occasionally. But usually, they get it right once I politely correct them.

But never have I met such a fierce adversary. She's relentless, aggressive and stubborn. She's also my prof. Not only does she call my by the wrong name, but also by the wrong SURNAME. I don't even know how she comes up with it.

It started harmless enough. She called me Joanna, I said Joanne. She persisted, I countered nicely. But then she started calling me Joanna Lee. And I'm totally like, What the Fuck? Not only do you disrespect me, you disrespect my surname!

But she's my prof. I can't tell her she's a blatant retard, right? I was so exasperated once that I just yelled out "Joanne Chan!!!!". But no, she's old. She's a spinster. She's my prof. How much more can I protest?

Someone please tell me what I can do. I'm despairing. And if any of you call me Joanna, I'd have to kill you. :)

And to all those people with similar sounding names, I completely sympathize with you.

Abused Names...
~ Joanne/Joanna ~
~ Martine/Martina ~
~ Christine/Christina ~
~ Florentine/Florentina ~
~ Coral/Coralla ~

Ok, this is spiralling out of control. Will take it as my personal mission to exterminate stupid people. So I say, vote for me. Bring me to power. And then I'll go about reducing the number of idiots walking this earth.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

It's The Small Things In Life...

...that brings tears to my eyes. Sometimes, we get so caught up with grand ideas that the little things in life get forgotten.

And these are the small things that make me happy to be alive...

1. Making it to the toilet just in time after holding your pee in for the last hour because your professor/annoying class mate simply won't shut up.
2. Biting into a warm bun after having missed breakfast because you woke up too late.
3. Knowing that the weekend is just around the corner.
4. Letting rip a burp after a great buffet.
5. Receiving a flower even though the giver thinks it's a waste of money.
6. Offering to hold my laptop as an act of chivalry.
7. Walking into sunshine after being cooped up in an air-conditioned, sub-zero temperature room.
8. Getting a compliment on my outfit.
9. Taking off my killer shoes after a long day and relieving the pressure of the blisters on my toes.
10. Getting to the end of an annoyingly boring class.

Yup, like I said, the small things in life. And also, I'm easily contented. Haha!