dash's bites on bytes #1

dash and ilya were at suntec this afternoon to jostle with the crowd at the singapore toy and comic convention. in order to prepare for the dive into the human traffic, dash knew she had to gain adequate energy and manna, and to be ready for spontaneous ducking, jumping and/or rapid sidestep out of another's path.

every move that dash has her maple story character do, dash knows the moves may come into play here at the convention! afterall, there may potentially be some excited singapore version of otaku, passionate teenagers and/or avid comic readers who will exclaim, "it's [~insert name of cosplay character~]!" and start an inevitable elbowing through the crowd.

and location of our intake of bio-fuel: indinine @ suntec. located next to chen fu ji -- where the price of its signature famous fried rice is S$25 per pot -- its lime green and white walls made a happy impresson on dash ( : though the young cooks in the kitchen who were busy browsing the handphone offers on pamphlets initially did not boost dash's confidence in their culinary skills, we decided to give the place a try!

we ordered the pho laksa and the bruschetta. and here they are:


when the pho laksa arrived at the table, it was accompanied by a small side dish of doughstick chunks (otherwise known as you tiao, a popular singaporean food). and boy did it look appetising and very promising! : )

and the rich and spicy laksa soup did not disappoint us! the generous serving of thin strips of japanese cucumber added much light crispness to the rich and flavourful laksa soup. the spices used in the making of the soup combined to create a taste that was authentically close to the traditional laksa soup with its belacan (shrimp paste) and cockles! though it was not as heavy as the traditional version, yet this vegetarian version of the soup danced a swinging foxtrot with the soft yet chewy pho noodle that was soaked in the hot water for just the right amount of time : )


a totally satisfying dish! :D yes, dash and ilya will be back for more!

dash gives the pho laksa dish a 3-tofu!!


who/where/when/what
Indidine
@ Suntec City Mall, Tropic Atrium
3 Temasek Boulevard #03-016
12noon-9.30PM

when ilya makes pancakes for breakfast

precision.
precision is necessary.

and so ilya measures out the milk, eggs and sifts the pancake mix in a big bowl. stirs them up well in a consistent batter.

at the frying pan section of the kitchen, a battered up pancake simmers.

and when the edge curls, that's when you make the decisive flip.
decisive is key.





while all this is on-going, a bottle of maple syrup sits in a hot tub.
warming up after a night in the cold of the fridge.

and the coffee machine gives a polite ahem after a splutter.
coffee's ready too! ( :







and voila! ilya makes dash a happy breakfast of pancakes! ( :

with a little pat of butter melting on top of the hot pancake, and a generous soaking of maple syrup.

^_^

and now dash can totally understand why hellboy loves pancakes! yes, it is enough to make one want to fight on the side of humanity! ( :




and here is just a pacman lookalike pancake! ( :

from maddie's shutters #2: tompopcorn

Tom gives a cautious sniff to the yellow and white crumb-like object -- imaginary thought bubbles say:

"will it run or not?"
"do i know the smell?"
"what is it? can it be eaten?"

satisfied that the object in sight is most probably not going to run away, and though of a foreign olfactory yet possibly edible, Tom even licks his furry nose in anticipation.

And *maddie assures me that* Tom ate it all up! Yay! :D

"we are what we eat" - moses lim

dash met moses lim (aka tan ah teck) at a creative engagement talk at her school about 2 months ago.

moses lim's talk was titled "we are what we eat". and dash thought it was a refreshing angle to see how we only have about 3 meals a day, and hence we should make every meal count -- in terms of taste, nutrition and happiness! : )

mmm. yeah, and dash's colleague, daniel was so inspired by moses' words that he even started a food blog!

Zzzzz...huh, wha? #@$%!! Come back here!

this is clocky. he runs away from the desk every morning and makes an alarmingly disorientated beeping. and yes, this means that dash has to get out of bed to hunt him down.

and interestingly, one morning, half a minute before clocky was scheduled to wake up, dash observed that a second before clocky woke up, he actually rolls back a little, as if he was doing a "arrrrhh... what the #&%**? whhhhaarrr?!" and then rolls off in a rush.

more brushes with cats

ilya's post-modernist sketch of a cat in green.
and then a picture of a cat in his room in san diego.

absolute tom

tom dozing off .. zzz flliizz

tom giving an elbow - eehee!

at tom's fine-dining area, michaelangelo looks on.

is it a ufo in the bathroom?

another interesting sight at a hotel bathroom in taipei.

and the name of the toilet is "UFO". probably on account of it looking like a spaceship.

really. i kid you not.

but if it is a sleeping cat ...

best to let it lie (:

ilya and dash saw this cat (who looks like one of dash's family cats, crazy) taking a siesta in a cardboard box at a trolley in a thai restaurant in taipei. it slept so well that a loud clang from the kitchen -- caused by a careless dropping of some cooking utensils/implements -- only saw the cat raise its head slightly, look in direction of kitchen, and went back to sleep after tucking itself more into the box O_o wah, like that one arh?

Is it a ... an ENORMOUS rice dumpling?!

Narr, it is actually a sleeping dog all wrapped up in a quilted blanket : )

Narr, we just can't let sleeping dogs lie. or at least unwrapped. hee!

lonely god potato chips, anyone?

ilya also found this strange packaging for a packet of chips on the shelf of a convenience store in taipei.

erm. a packet of chips named "lonely god"? ... hmm O_o
and the picture of a happy angel boy makes it all the more strange for the name.

oow-ee! *bumps knee on table leg*

O_o

dash's expression at the bumping was like that of her quick sketch of a bean stretching himself on ilya's whiteboard in his office

a mouthful of guts, anyone?

ilya found this chocolate bar named "guts" on the shelves of a convenience store in taipei.

erm, what a name! can you imagine the advertisement for this chocolate bar -- a boy says, "come on, take a bite! it's all guts!" and much encouraged, the boy's friend takes a bite ... and suddenly his guts spewed out from his mouth across the room and splattered onto the camera! eeeks! O_o

on the *really* forgetful giant ...

seems like the forgetful giant has still yet to return for his cage ...

(picture taken by dash in Taipei on 24 June 2008 at about 12pm along street outside Cheng Pin DunHua Bookstore)

seeing quadruples

dash saw this miffy-filled advertisement at a taipei mrt station.

hmm, and dash wonders whether the parents of these miffies can differentiate them if these little miffies swap their clothes!?

誠品書店!

eslite bookstore : )

dash saw the exact same slogan on the banner in 2005.

and in 2008, it remains so.

good to know that some good things remain unchanged : )

beagle brigade on patrol @ Taipei

dash caught sight of this industrious beagle on patrol duty when she arrived in taipei last week.

and in that short 10 minutes dash was waiting for her luggage, this serious dude was sniffing away at the baggages. and at least 2 passengers had to open their bags for inspection, and *bingo* foodstuff were found! *dash is impressed*

dash bet her nickel that dmitry and cindy's beagle, April, who is a vegetarian, would be able to sniff out all the hidden broccoli in the bags too! :D

"give me a five!"

sneak picture

of the galvanting geographer's open palm

while he was practising his buddha's palm stance --

"ommm... haaaaaiii yakkkk!"

a snooze-a-zing

ilya is still in taipei.

and dash just arrived in singapore!

arwww.

oh well, at least we are in the same time zone.

snooping in economics

( :

popped out

after a huge bowl (erm, okay, basin) of popcorn!

*burp*

Corn in Vietnam

Ethnic minorities drying their corn. The photograph does not really capture the vivid orange fully though.

on life's fundamentals ...

stacked out

Zzzz ... mnrgh ...

你知道当你需要个夏天 我会拼了命努力

caffeinization begins in 10... 9... 8...

school starts tomorrow! :D dash will be diving back into classes again! woohoo!

yes, a caffeine boost for the 8 weeks of classes ahead is necessary! see, dash has got them all lined up, in the fridge and the counter too! it'll be grab-and-go in the morning! : ) wheeeeee...!

Rock(s) On!

and so the galvanting geographer (aka the dieheartromantic) is off to eastern europe, on one of his quiet travels. again. almost like a snufkin.

yep, and like moomin who will miss snufkin during his winter travels, dash will also miss the galvanting geographer.

oy, come back soon arh!! and eat more fries with peanut butter sauce!! rock on!!

the dieheart romantic's cuppa

and a measure of milk! :D

btw, the dieheartromantic is now the galvanting geographer! check out his new blog! :D

只有 單純的喜悅

(ilya and dash with their senbei @ hakone, japan in oct 07 : )

from maddie's shutters #1

ilya finding a right hat ( :

Love is in the Air - 8 June 2008!

Thanks everyone for your help and well-wishes! ( :

are you ready?!

another O_o

ah-hem. O_o

so, dash is supposed to make sure that there are people in the container first, then she can close the door?

really?! O_o

pedro the river otter says ...

"eh, how come no genie in the bottle one?"

on a more serious note, this is pedro the river otter. one of the candidates for the singapore zoological gardens. but alas, he lost to ah meng's granddaughter for the accolade/position.

oh well.

but dash still supports you pedro!! :D

(s)poof!

dash's spoof on lord kitchener's famous poster ( :

(sketch also done at the multi-modal communication talk : ) one of the speakers was using lord kitchener's poster as an example to illustrate effective multi-modal communication.)

on multimodal communication

dash attended this talk on multi-modal communication last tuesday. basically multi-modal communication is the combined use of more than one mode of communication (words, visual pictures, sounds) to bring one's message across.

at the talk, dash was inspired to sketch this based on her learnings: and this picture wants to communicate dash's doubts about PSP being able to bring freedom to the gray matter in one's head.

can see or not? or is it too cheem?