Movie Date "Inside Out" at The Cathay feat. Soi 55

We went out on a movie date at The Cathay to watch "Inside Out", a Pixar animation film which personifies emotions and illustrates the mental architecture of a girl named Riley. "Inside Out" is arguably the best movie that we have watched in a long time since "Up" (also by Pixar), as its ingenious and realistic depiction of "psychoevolutionary" theory is relatable to both children and adults alike. We were laughing and "aww"-ing throughout the movie in our couple seats, while also busily analysing the movie with reference to the brain model we know of (such as the Memory Dump, Core Memories, Personality Islands etc.). Definitely a must-watch movie of the year!

If you haven't watched "Inside Out" yet or want to watch it again, do grab your tickets fast before the movie ends its run. (:

Credits: Disney/Pixar

Cat figures his primary emotion is more of Disgust, while my primary emotion is Joy - just like Riley!

Before entering the cinema, I grabbed a cup of Thai Iced Milk Tea (also known as Cha Yen) (S$3.90 each) from the newly-opened Soi 55 branch near the ticketing counters. The catch? You can bring any drink bought from this Soi 55 branch into the cinema (legally)! The price for the drinks are hence a little higher than those sold at Golden Shoe Food Centre, but the Cha Yen tastes as good as it looks.

Soi 55 Thai Iced Milk Tea!

Between Thai Iced Milk Tea and Coke, which drink would you prefer to bring into the cinema for the movies?

Hweecat April snippets

Hweecat meow.

First and foremost, apologies for the blog hiatus as I have been busy for the past month. For those who follow us on Facebook and Instagram, you guys would more or less know what we have been up to. (;

1. We spent the first 7 days of April in Taipei. Food was generally awesome, we would have eaten more if not for me falling ill on the 5th day. More about that next time!

Okay, let's start with a photo of Ximending:

The scoops are so big like baseballs that I wonder how they managed to balance on the waffle cone. And this double-scoop costs less than S$2!

These are super-fresh seafood. No joke. Our heads were spinning after sucking the prawn's head.

For Cat and Hweecat, this is one of the must-go places in Taipei. After eating Din Tai Fung quite a few times in Singapore, it's a must to eat the real deal in Taipei right?

That's all for now. More pictures and commentaries when I have the time!

2. We went to WOLF once again for Restaurant Week in March 2015. Sadly when we came back from Taipei, we found out that it's closed. ): We'll miss those mind-blowing pork chops and crispy pig ears. Then again, its former head chef is now cooking at Meatsmith (which is also in Telok Ayer) so we might pop by there to try the food. (:

3. Since February, I have been working on a MOOC (massive open online course) on Coursera called "Introduction to Mathematical Thinking", which is conducted by Stanford University. I have always been interested in Maths, and I'm glad to say that I have successfully completed the Extended Course last Saturday. Much credits go to my unofficial study buddy Cat, who happily discusses some of the maths and logic concepts with me over cups of Ice Teh-O. If you are interested in pursuing a degree in Maths and / or would like to improve your mathematical and logical thinking in general, I would highly recommend this MOOC.

Any good food finds this month? Let's just say, our stomachs were too pampered in Taiwan that we need time to re-adapt to food in Singapore. For the time being, I'm sticking to old favourites such as Real Food. :P

Old Kallang Airport area (Dakota Crescent) feat. Tian Kee & Co.

Hweecat meow.

Thanks everyone for reading Cat's post on our first date anniversary! Do support our posts as we keep you guys updated with our cat-ventures. (:

Today's post will be slightly different from my typical posts whereby the focus is on food. Let's just say...it's more about the exploration.

It started out as a typical Saturday whereby Cat and I bought some snacks at Paya Lebar to chomp on during Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) sessions. Alas, our Dungeons Master was unable to run the session! Hence, I decided to drag Cat along for a long afternoon walk from Dakota to Stadium MRT station.

Our plans were disrupted by a violent thunderstorm when we arrived at Dakota MRT, so we ended up taking refuge at Old Airport Road Hawker Centre while the thunders raged. It wasn't a total waste of time though; we stumbled upon Geylang Lor 20 Banana Fritters which sells really sweet and crispy-yet-not-oily Goreng Pisang made with Pisang Raja (King of Bananas)! No photos of these small deep-fried delights, so here's a photo of the stall from ieatishootipost. Note that it costs $1.30 per big Goreng Pisang, and it's best eaten fresh. (:

Photo Credits: ieatishootipost

Thankfully, the thunderstorm ended soon after and we continued with our afternoon walk.

Our next stop is at Dakota Crescent, one of Singapore's oldest public housing estates. Built in 1958 by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) (HDB's predecessor), the estate was named after the aircraft model Douglas DC-3 Dakota that often landed at Kallang Airport, which was Singapore's first civilian airport. Dakota Crescent consists of 17 blocks of white low-rise flats which are less than 10 storeys tall. Unlike its more popular SIT cousin Tiong Bahru, which has undergone gentrification and is now a hipster enclave and café hotspot, Dakota Crescent is a quaint backwater which seemed almost entirely untouched for more than 50 years.

When we stepped out of Mountbatten MRT station, we were greeted with colourful Renaissance-like balconies which look oddly picturesque in contrast with the white walls.

Colourful balconies - Singaporean style

We saw community cats - loads of them. Some of them like lounging around on chairs.

Cat boss of the chairs

 Some of them prefer frolicking under staircases.

"Meow."

We found a bird taking refuge at a ground-level balcony which looked like a blast from the past.



"Chirp chirp."

We walked along Dakota Crescent and spotted a cafe at one end of the row of shops, near a TCM clinic. Tian Kee & Co. used to be an old-school provision shop, until the previous owners retired and the current owners turned it into a cafe. The current owners of Tian Kee & Co. kept several artifacts from the old provision shop - the signboard of the provision shop remains, as well as the 20-cent kiddy ride outside.  

Tian Kee & Co.

Tian Kee & Co. retains a rustic charm that is difficult to find nowadays in 21st-century Singapore. Rusted-out black-and-white sign which says something along the lines of "no sale of cigarette and alcohol to persons aged under 18"? Check. Green wooden stools? Check. The ubiquitous orange Bonjour bread shelf that we 90's kids see in old-school provision shops? Check.

Pensive Cat

At this point in time, we were getting a little thirsty and craving for some food. The cakes had interesting names and looked so mouth-watering; we had a hard time deciding on what to order! 

Instagram-worthy Rainbow Cheesecake!

We like the pastel colours of the Rainbow Cheesecake (S$7.50), which reminds us of Rainbow Paddle Pop which is popular among 90's kids. The texture of the cheesecake is not too dense or overwhelming; rather, it has a jelly-like texture which is closer to a yogurt cheesecake than a typical cheesecake. The crust is thin, crispy yet not too dry, which is ideal for my palette. Cat usually does not like cheesecake, but he enjoyed this Rainbow Cheesecake beyond the last crumb. (:

Root Beer Floats for 2

We noticed that the cafe was having a 2-for-S$8 root beer float promotion, hence we decided to give these root beer floats a try. Based on the recommendation of a young female waiting staff, we had our root beers topped with coconut ice cream and lychee ice cream respectively. It's probably the best root beer floats we had so far - the ice cream complemented the taste of the root beer such that we could discern the sweetness of the drink. Cat usually finishes his drinks in double-quick time; he made an exception for this root beer float, slowly sipping and savouring the sweetness of the root beer float.

Half Breakfast Set

Tian Kee & Co. also serves all-day breakfast sets. As we had eaten earlier, we ordered a Half Breakfast Set (S$7.90) to share. The Half Breakfast set comes with scrambled eggs, two pieces of evenly-toasted bread, butter and salad. The scrambled eggs are fluffy yet not too airy and overcooked. Truffle oil, which is used to season the scrambled eggs, accentuated the rich natural egg flavour and elevated the status of these scrambled eggs to egg nirvana. In Cat's words, "These people really know how to cook!"

While chilling out at Tian Kee & Co., we noticed that the people who visit the cafe are mostly casually-dressed young adults decked in slippers. The surroundings are mostly quiet, except for the sounds of the baristas preparing the drinks and food. We spotted more cats around the area too - yes, Dakota Crescent has a lot of cats! :D

It was getting a little dark in the evening, so we left Dakota Crescent and continued with our long walk along Kallang River, towards Stadium Waterfront. (:

P.S. Sadly, Dakota Crescent may not be around for long, as the estate has been slated for redevelopment by end-2016. This means the Dakota cats and Tian Kee & Co. would have to go. ): Do check out the Facebook page set up (not by us, but by kind-hearted feeders) for the Dakota Crescent cats!

Cat and Hweecat First Date Anniversary

Cat meow.

Cat and Hweecat are unofficially one year old today (: Our first meeting and date occurred exactly 365 days ago on the 17/12/2013 when Cat decided to go back to NTU after a really long absence to help a friend.

In the most part of 2013 I was absolutely looking, in society terms desperately looking, for a girlfriend. Actually, since the start of 2013 I was already absolutely looking and absolutely sick of looking. Those who knew me since my Hall days know very well that not having a Hall-time gf has always been and will always be the greatest regret of my life. Since graduating technically in 2011, life has always been hard for it is destined always to be. On the last day and last hour of 2012 I made what most of society will no doubt judge as a harsh and warped logic decision for myself, that no matter what I must get a girlfriend in the coming year, should this quest mean resorting to taking home a Vietnamese bride. Yes, whether I was desperate is up to judgment, that this is a grave matter indeed however is not up to dispute.

For the most of 2013 I was bumping around seeking to sort out this mother of all problems. I tried everything, and just like my attempts while I was in school, everything backfired disastrously. Some of these highlights in the wrong way included overseas trips with the intent of looking for dates and joining a choir for hitting on a new girl every other session under the pretext of socializing and networking, and hanging out playing the freelancer as the dating magazines say, choosing my cafes carefully to only pick on those with pretty waitresses, and most certainly texted every girl that I chased before, dated before, had a so called crush on before, or in any sense found her pretty. I was predictably hated in every such circle with my "reputation completely thrashed" in all of them, particularly in some circles I was informed by an informant that I "thrashed my reputation so badly that she also had no idea how I did it" but I kept trying, something that I failed to do in my Hall days, I kept trying. I made lots of enemies and pissed off and freaked out a lot of potential targets, including some who regrettably on hindsight I actually might have had a little fair chance with had I taken my time. I did not regret it however, for time was not on my side, or so I have decided. You may say I am still young, what's the hurry, but according to my expectations, this is a piece of homework that I should have completed 7 years ago as a freshie, and yet it was still outstanding, therefore, the time remaining was negative 7 years.

The year passed unproductively and things were not looking good. My friends were mostly busy with their own lives and could not be bothered enough to directly step in, not that they could do much to say a word in fairness. On 7/12/13, right after a Christmas bridge party, I called a clan meeting with WenHan and Kai Leong and we decided that it is time for extremely active measures, first I should try to meet the girl I met online a few months ago through a strange twist of events, failing which, SDN, Vietnamese brides, social escorts and in the worst case, prostitutes shall come into the picture.

I was fortunate that I never had to go past the first desperate step, for Hweecat became my girlfriend shortly after our first date one year ago of today, almost literally at the eleventh hour, more than 11 out of 12 months have passed.

Side Quest: Raffles Alumni Chinese Orchestra Beautiful Sunday Concert

Cat meow.


Today we take a break from food as a side quest to talk about Hweecat's involvement in the Raffles Alumni Chinese Orchestra (RACO) Beautiful Sunday concert at the Esplanade.


About a month or more ago, Hweecat received an invitation from her JC's alumni CO group to be part of the free concert that is what happened two days ago. She enquired about the repertoire and found it interesting. In particular, the opportunity to perform at the Durian Shell Theatre (Esplanade) was not to be taken for granted.


No thanks to this commitment, like pageant in Hall or university, Hweecat's personal and social life was greatly affected. Besides the obvious time commitment, the practice sessions were at everyone's favourite time of Saturday mornings and afternoons, which is especially precious to us because we have a weekly gathering of friends for dragon hunting game (Dungeons & Dragons). The logistics especially in the last one week were also tiring both for Hweecat and for her faithful cat, that is, me.


Most particularly, Cat spent the whole of Friday night and Saturday afternoon doing nothing much except to give my Hweecat the maximum support. This involved not having any activity on these two time slots that are normally good as gold.


The morning rush today was also not to be underestimated. As Hweecat needs to fall in at 9.30am, I was there at the same time and I have to find something to do for the next four hours. I decided to start with breakfast at Toast Box, whereon I glanced across to Coffee Bean and happened to spot a very pretty girl in a white dress. A year ago I would totally have approached her to try and strike a conversation. Today however I was far more concerned with getting my nasi lemak and wondering whether Hweecat will have her lunch sorted out. Assuming her to be some full time actress or singer, I moved on with my food.


I went to the library after breakfast. To be exact, I improvised a LAN shop in the library and started playing all my favourite video games. How ironic that I was so engrossed in them that I forgot the time, and left myself with no time for lunch and only a tea and toilet break. So much for whining about the injustice of being forced to arrive four hours early.


The line to enter the concert hall was already one concourse long by the time I joined. Still, the wait was long and honestly boring, not least because the Esplanade has no reception for phones and therefore I could not do my own work.


As the performers filed in eventually, I looked keenly like a cat sitting like a vase for a pretty girl in a long maxi dress. Eventually I saw her, flanked to the left, right and front by two erhu style instruments and to the back by a grand piano. A grand piano? In a CO setting?


The concert started with the first three arrangements being not bad at all. The music was professionally arranged and most particularly they were not the mundane type of CO songs.


The climax of the concert was when a soloist was to enter to sing a long medley. To my surprise, the soloist was someone I have met earlier in the day, for she was the white dress girl I saw at Coffee Bean in the morning.


A year ago I would have immediately after the concert attempted to approach her to strike a conversation with the readily available topic of "I saw you earlier today." Today however I rushed out straight after the concert to look for my Hweecat, though strangely she too happened to be right next to my Hweecat when I did find her.


Having greeted a few of Hweecat's old friends and after a little bit of cocktail post reception, Hweecat and I being anti-social cats for the right reasons, decided to head straight for dinner. I then just realized that the Esplanade is directly accessible to our favourite sushi place - Sushi Express.


My comments about the concert as a whole: WELL DONE.


1. A good attempt to popularize Chinese Orchestra.
2. CO has a name for being overly traditional in a lot of bad ways but the RJ alumni has certainly done a very good job in changing this image. After all, what do you expect from RJ people?
3. The songs are well arranged not just in terms of the methods of musical logic but also the choice of instruments and the balance of sound.
4. There was appropriate use of pageant charisma. The performers of the front line including my Hweecat, it was clear they took special effort to dress up, and look good yet appropriate. They looked like musicians, not something sleazy, which people often could not tell the difference.
5. The choice of songs really makes me on hindsight think that the people who I invited but chose to not make it a priority, really missed out a lot.


After the concert, we went to write our first wish ball. Here's our wishes:

(Yes, please like our Facebook page too!)

Here's Hweecat with the wish ball. Cat meow. (: