Arriving in Canada! Day 1

The flights today really gave me a big butt-ache!

From Tokyo to Chicago to Edmonton is really no joke! I seriously dont recommend anyone! We flew united airlines and it was pretty decent except for the movies that are always repeating!

Tokyo was cool! Got sushi bar and ANA food court.. Saw that even Phiten necklaces are cheaper! Costs about $40 bucks compared to 60+ in S'pore. En route to Chicago, a Canadian teacher sat next to me and we chatted about the education system in Canada and how different it was.. quite a cool intro to Canada that he gave me.

Chicago was really cold.. -2degrees.. Had Chili's Mexican food which was bad.. then we walked from end to end of terminals! Really bad that they kept shifting our gates.

Edmonton is MEGA cold.. minus 30 degrees! We froze all the way to our hostel! Then after repacking and redressing we wanted to go out for awhile.. but we barely made it to the junction and we had to go back! It was too cold for us! Really quite bad eh..

Now im in the library updating this blog..

Tatsuya's Bento Sets..

Tatsuya Revisited: I started with the Omakase which killed me cause it costs $120 for 8 pieces of Aburi sushi. It is sushi that is broiled over a flame.. and added with sauces and garnishing that includes exquisite items like Foie Gras and sauces.

Its served with the signature Tatsuya Tamago which is sweet, also with radish and sweet potato. The line-up: Otoro (Tuna Belly), Salmon, Scallop and Shrimp! Amazingly, the shrimp stuck the greatest impression of the four!
BENTO SETS:

First up is the Unajyu Sashimi Bento ($30++).
It comes with slices of grilled unagi on a bed of rice with seaweed. Accompanied by assorted tempura and 6 thick slices of Sashimi, chawanmushi and miso soup. The tempura was well-battered and fried, resulting in a light tempura.

The Sashimi is fresh, no doubt. Coming from Tsukiji, one can expect the standards to be high. And it doesnt disappoint, the tuna, yellowtail and salmon were indeed fresh.

Ladies Lunch ($28)

This set consists of Fried Kakiage, Assorted Sushi selection, potato salad, and handmade cold noodles served with quail egg.

The cold noodles were exquisite. They were smooth and downed with the sauce that was thickened by the quail egg. Special mention for the california maki. The roe was so fresh that it just burst in the mouth with each bite!

The Kakiage was novel and crunchy. and the sushi was light enough. This is the perfect lunch for office ladies. Just enough and not too much so that they wont fall asleep after lunch!

The Sashimi Bento ($30)

The key difference in this is that the rice here is vinegared and is certainly one of the best sushi rice I have tasted. With a generous amount of Sashimi, this bento set is certainly worth it!

Buta Kakuni ($18)

This dish is quite a dampener! It didnt live up to what I had expected. But then again, its also not one of the specials! It was rather tough and I felt it wasnt well braised and simmered enough..

All in all, Tatsuya is a class above all Japanese restaurants in S'pore and understandably charges a premium for its food. Its been a real privilege to have savoured the food here.

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2009

This is my 100th blog post ! And it coincides with the post on my 4th marathon: The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2009. Affectionately known as Stanchart, this race holds good memories for me given that last year, I was organising an Adventure Race the day before then i went to run in the race.

Characterised by a relatively flat route, this year's edition is no different and the weather was absolutely perfect for a long run. In fact, it was so cool that it helped in the evaporation of sweat. I completed the race with a time of 4h35mins . Though its 8 minutes slower than my time last year, I was glad and proud that I completed because my legs refused to listen to me anymore after 36km.

I had made a tactical error at the 12km mark as I followed the 4.15hr pacers and felt comfortable when I should have restrained. As a result, my tank went flat and I paid the price for a tactical mistake. Wiser head belongs to the wise old man. Haha.. young man should have followed Old man.

Nonetheless, it was a good race with the exception of the merging with the half-marathon and 10k runners.

No disrespect to them, but I feel the organisers should create lanes to avoid having the massive blockages that we saw today. And we wouldnt have to zip around avoiding them and waste our energy.


With Mentor and Chin Seng

We had matching DS-Trainers from Asics. Old man really no joke, did his PB with a time of 4h25mins! Really commendable and he's going to do more marathons next year! Haha.. Im going to rest now.. Legs are jellied and abrasions to armpits and nipples. Super jialat..

Okay, its chillout from now on!

Foodie Aspect

Tatsuya

The highly-famed Tatsuya, holy-grail of local sushi, certainly lived up to its name. Hosting a stable of Japanese Chefs, seating at the sushi counter can be a stressful experience, well.. at least for me. Furthermore, this place is certainly one that has great potential to damage your wallet and burn a large hole.

I had the chirashi rice bowl which cost a bomb of $55 ! Thankfully, my Citibank card saved me with a 10% discount. This rice bowl came with a bowl of miso soup that was splendid as well. The sweet-vinegared rice was accompanied with shredded seaweed and I really took to the rice. The key word to the fish here is FRESH. No doubt about that. The toppings were the star of the show and I shall go through each one individually:


Salmon Roe: Generous and they burst in your mouth. Interesing

Salmon: Firm to the bite and had a fresh flavour

Tuna: Nothing much

Tamago: Sweet and cold, with Tatsuya's chinese characters on it.

Hotate (Scallop): Sweet and fresh..

Shrimp (Ebi): Gosh, this was so fresh that I think it even twitched in the bowl.. Sweet

Crab Stick: Normal

Grilled Saba: Nicely done with the sauce and soft.

Chu-toro: Semi-fat Tuna Belly! This rocks man! Really rich in flavour and soft like cotton candy!No wonder such a delicacy..

Verdict: Tatsuya is an institution in itself and every trip is an education. So it is holistic for a foodie to make its pilgrimage there. =)

Big D's Grill (T-Bone Steak)

Had something different, tried the T-Bone steak which was quite a moutful, the meat was tender and all, given that it was Black Angus. But the done-ness wasnt really well spread, due to the bone causing some parts to be rarer.. Anyway, cant see myself ordering this anytime soon..

Blessed

Thank God for Year 2 Semester 1.

What a semester it has been! The tough timetable, not being able to attend Ultimate trainings, physically demanding as well as mentally stimulating.

Studies:

PE modules this time around have been quite good, especially M&E. It has been relatively light compared to other modules and its really direct and straighforward. The heavy one is Psych and Motor Learning. No joke studying for this two and then being collapsed into one module. Its really kinda unfair given the amount of time and preparation to only culiminate in a grade for one module only. Futhermore, with so many components, chances of scoring have become super tough. Sports-wise, Soccer and Rugby have been good. Soccer could have been better if we had more games rather than drills, oh well.. and Rugby, dont even mention it.. its not worth the air time..

Bio Modules have been quite good also. I particularly enjoyed the ones where we had field trips to Bukit Timah, MacRitchie and Botanic Gardens. Seeing things live and first-hand really helped. Doing the transect thing at the Wallace Lab was cool.. Maybe thats why im into experiential learning coz im more kinesthetic.. Thanks to him that we really could go out if not staying on campus would be dead boring. Other mod was okay as well but plants killed me as usual.. i prefer animals so much MORE..

General Mods like 201 was good. Our presentation I felt went really well and got commended by the prof.. alk was sad though.. couldnt ace it.. well i did my best!

Sports:

Did SuniG and GrabHuckScore and was disappointed on both accounts as I didnt play well..Ditto for soccer games and running. This sem really not fit! Ate too much I guess.. Ultimate Training clashed with timetable was really unfortunate.. But i couldnt do much about it though..

Races:
Olive Run, TNF100, REal Run..

Friends: Oh.. Ms Goblin reminded me that I got to mention my friends! Oh yes, how can I forget?! From PESS, thanks to my retards kleb and aloy, then eliza. and of course TiffTan. Bio: Thanks to Kelvin and Yiting! These people made my NIE left meaningful as they stand by me as I would do for them. Kleb, was good doing AED 201 with him, soccer madness. Aloy: Ever-present with me this sem, in bio we were together in everything, soccer and rugby also. Eliza: Thanks for all the walks to school and back. Makan sessions and studying together! Dont worry! I will CHILL.. Next Sem la..

Haha this is like my report card for the semester..
Thank God!

The North Face 100 2009

This is officially one of the most painful running races that I have done!
It felt as though I was doing an adventure race.. I signed up for the 25km with Gerald. As usual,
didnt really train much this semester.. Was rather confident with the route as I have trained there almost my whole life doing x-country runs and also training for AR.

We flagged off at 10am, which probably didnt help our thermoregulation as we sweat buckets. Route was expectedly tough because of the terrain and PLENTY of uphills and slopes.
The climax was when we even had to climb to the summit of Bukit Timah and that was no joke!
One thing commendable is that the race organisation was good, the food was generous and they gave bananas, gels (Which I took 5), mars bars and lots of other stuff. At the end of the race, we even had Subway sandwhiches and cookies for lunch. Free! Super good man.

Spoke to Shawn Lum today and he said we were destroying the natural habitat.. oh wells, another conservationist.. haha.. But the run was shiok la, if i had trained harder, then i wouldnt be in such pain...
Me and Mentor Me and Race team mate: Gerald

My race mantra: TRAIN HARD, RACE EASY

Recess Week!

Well Well! Its the recess week!

Started it with a bang last saturday! went for Paintball at Bottletree Yishun with retards + yujun. Had a blast shooting people and getting shot. Then followed by movie called whiteout and then dinner at Changi Village and watching soccer at Aloy's place. That's what I call a shiok weekend! Non-stop fun..

The recess week began quite badly, I was down with rashes and had to be jabbed twice, couldnt go for training also. But this week's good for clearing my work and reading up on the notes that I have not touched.

And for the boomz! We had the mad class chalet just last night! Im sure they are talking about me being the mad policeman and all.. But hey! I knew what I was saying okay..not drunk.. just a little tipsy.. I think everyone in the class expects me to put on my best behaviour and when I get abit crazy they are kinda shocked though.. Food was awesome, lamb cutlets and wagyu beef! Shiok man!

Today, still abit hangover from last night, and im going to review this restaurant called Capricci later! Hopefully the food is good!

This semester has been crazy. Committment to training has dropped drastically because lessons end daily at 830pm. I havent been able to do my regular runs either. Work-wise have been managing well except for the postponement of psych test really didnt rub me the right way. Social context was a great success! It showed that with consistency and diligence, you have a shot at doing well!

Now is the half-time before I sprint for the finish.. Im anticipating Alberta, but also apprehensive. I think its pre-trip jitters! I just got my winter wear from Shaan and she gave a hell-load of clothes! Settled flight and accomodation, so now its just my own mental and emotional prep left, and also leaving the ultimate team behind and my close friends.

Shall spare myself the emotional road-trip.. will chill for this break, and work hard! I want to also thank God for sustaining me up till this point and also for his providence!