Lunch: Blanched baby bok choy, 2 vegetarian pau, 1 egg scrambled with scallions.

Dinner: Salmon kaminabe teishoku at Sento, cold sake.

Breakfast: Bowl of muesli with skim milk. Rather peculiar taste, I was expecting something more like the overpriced imported stuff I'm used to, chewy with plump fruit bits. This was more crunchy and strangely dusty tasting.

Lunch: Went over to Cuppage Food Mall, had sweet and sour claypot fish with rice, pineapple juice.

Dinner: Chicken rice set from Food Chain on Orchard, sourop juice from Healthworks. Am I predictable or what?

Lunch: Tori something wazen teishoku at Sento. Had miso soup, (either extremely chunky miso, or it had natto added in to it) salmon sashimi, a little tempura, (which was flavourless) screaing neon pink pickles, rice with a little ume seasoning, and some chicken and scallions thing (I forget if it was techinically teriyaki or not) which was served with a small portion of French fries on the side. I tried 2 or 3 of the fries, and even in the sauce from the rest of the dish they were still just unremarkable deep fried starch so I ate around them. I'm not sure if things like that are actually popular with younger Japanese, or just simply filler. I had a glass of cold tea to drink, as well as a watered-down Coke (or Pepsi, not quite sure) which came with the lunch special. I wonder if I could have saved money by skipping it.

Overall fair, price was right at just under S$18, and it was a lot of food, but the taste was just so-so. Still, I've gotten far poorer meals for more money at Japanese restaurants in the US. Next time I do Japanese for lunch I'll try Tamaya.

Dinner: Holy crap! M Y * H A N D S * A R E * O N * F I R E ! ! !

I chopped up a couple of chili padi for dinner and about 20-30 minutes later my fingers started burning. Forgot about that side effect. Dinner was grilled shrimp, noodles stir-fried with scallions, blanched baby bok choy, and grilled kai lan. Water with lime juice and a pinch of sugar.

20 medium shrimp, peeled
juice of 2 limes
chopped and bruised ginger
splash of Chinese light soy sauce
pinch of sugar
splash (maybe a tablespoon) of vegetable oil
a few (3-5) finely chopped chili padi
several good glugs of worsteshire sauce

Mix in bowl, add shrimp, coat with mixture and marinate 10-30 minutes. Skewer and quickly grill.

Breakfast: Sleep still as screwy as ever. Maybe I'll be able to stay up all day and keep myself occupied, sitting around somewhere drinking juice, sweating incessantly and watching the pointless display of Capitalism out on Orchard Road. (Not that that I think Communism is a good alternative, mind you... but the sort of vacant, soul-sapping serial shopping they seem to enjoy doing here just creeps me out. In a vancat, soul-sapped sort of way.)

Anyhoo, since I was up and feeling a bit peckish, I wandered over to 67 Killiney Kopitiam and had my usual quick breakfast of nasi lemak and kopi with milk. I still don't know exactly how I'm supposed to eat the fish that comes with it... I usually just whack it around on the banana leaf with the provided plastic spoon until I get some manageable chunks flaking off, tho' often that's easier said than done, and I end up getting pieces with lots of bones in them, which I eat lock, stock and barrel, figuring that's probably a fair way to do it, and even if not, it's good calcium anyway. Then the head I usually save for last, and I have to tell you, what the Chinese say about the head being the best part of the fish... it's absolutely true. At least on these little buggers. It's the sweetest, most succulent bit, with a crunchy skeleton surrounding the softer inner bits. Yummm!

Actually, I try not to think about it too much and instead just chow down. It's fried to all shit anyhow, so it's not like you can really tell definitively if the eyes are still intact or whatever.

Funny, the things that different cultures accept as being edible or not. Having previously dabbled in near-vegetarianism for about 4 or 5 years, one might think that I'd be disgusted by the thought of tucking in to a nice plate of prawns with the shells still on or whole fish heads or sea urchin gonads or whatnot, but actually it's quite the opposite... I consider it more barbaric to try and pretend that the meal in front of me was not once a living thing. That's not to say that I neccessarily like stewed chicken feet or pig organ soup (I still haven't figured out which organ, specifically, they're referring to) or beef brain burritos, but I do have a certain appreciation for the honesty such culinary offerings convey, as well as the idea of not letting anything go to waste.

To me, far more revolting and profane is the idea of rubbery chicken chunks floating in alfredo sauce of a Lean Cuisine TV dinner, completely detatched from the reality that a living, breathing animal gave its life for me to eat my "Only 6 grams of fat!" sustenance simulacrum packet in the insulated privacy of my apartment. As Americans we don't understand our food, where it comes from, how it lived, how it died, what all the little parts are... we just get things pre-packaged, pre-prepared, and stripped of all the less-than-savory little bits that we'd rather not have to think about. You never have to get any blood on your own hands. And in many ways, I feel this mirrors other problems in our society, as well. Many of those in power and positions of authority wage remote-control wars, restructure organizations without understanding how they operate, and generally see fit to muck things up from their detatched and insulated perches on high.

Where was I going with this? I dunno. Eat honestly!

Lunch: Tekka-don and an iced oolong tea over at Sento.

Dinner: Seafood kushiage (I think?) rice burger and a salad from Mos Burger, soursop juice from HealthWorks. The kushiage burger was the best thing I've had so far at Mos Burger... it wasn't overly bready or greasy, and had a nice peppery sauce on it. Superior to the ebi and unagi rice burgers, no contest.

Breakfast: Stayed up all night trying to get my sleep schedule switched around. Had a bowl of cornflakes with milk at I'm guessing maybe 4 or 5am.

Lunch: Went to Cuppage Food Mall, had sweet and sour fish cooked in clay pot with rice, fresh pineapple juice.

Dinner:Surprise! Chicken! Another one of my mom's diet recipes. Some sort of chicken breast thing, the specific flavors of which I can't really recall, not bad tho', and miscellaneous vegetable roasted vegetable bits thing, salad. A little bit later I went out to Orchard Road and got a starfruit juice, which I hadn't tried (as juice) before. Rather fibrous and 'green' tasting, with a subtle sweetness... kinda' vegetable-like. In a good way. Not something I'd go for all the time, but not bad.

Breakfast:Finished the final remainder of the overpriced spicy noodle thing and kailan from Newton Hawker Centre. 2 sliced apples, one Gala, one Granny Smith. Water with lime.

Lunch:Rolled around uncomfortably on the couch drifitng in and out of consciousness all afternoon, occasionally waking up to look at Ginny Seah on the news. Missed lunch, natch. Had a handful of pecans at some point, around 5pm I think.

Dinner: Chicken rice and a plum red tea from around the corner. The chicken rice place actually ran out of bok choy, which I had really been looking forward to. Damn. Had a couple of stalks of celery and some water with a squeeze of lime, then later a Granny Smith apple and more water.

$43 hawker stand

2 grilled barbecue tiger prawns, kai lan in oyster sauce, spicy mixed noodle thing, lime juice (another $2)

Slight (ahem) communication problem with the guy there who, against regulation, was touting when I walked up, obviously looking extremely white. I didn't want all of what I got, but somehow methinks he conveniently didn't understand the change of mind I made during ordering. Wasn't bad, but wasn't worth S$43. A meal of satay, 2 kinds of veggies and bee hoon goreng for 3 people only ran S$36 over at Clark Quay.

A learning experience, I suppose. Must learn how to say "Go away, I don't want what you have to offer" in Singlish.

Dinner: Chicken meatloaf, (I'm a lot of chicken lately, aren't I?) zucchini and squash, salad, 100Plus cut with water.

Lunch: Celery sticks and hummus. Ruby red grapefruit juice.

Dinner: Sento in SturHub Plaza. Salad, zaru tofu (hiayakko), tsukemono, hama something yaki, yakitori assortment, (including chicken hearts! firm, and chewy) okonomiyaki, Calpis soda, o-cha.

Later: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, grapefruit juice, cheese stick.

Breakfast: Apple slices and peanut butter.

Lunch: Chicken katsu curry set at Tonkichi in Ngee Ann City/Takashimaya SC, included salad, miso soup, fruit. Semed a bit bland to me, I was hoping for more 'oomph' from the chicken katsu, but the texture on it was done right.. nice crispness without being greasy. The curry I found unremarkable, a bit more sweetness, saltiness... something was missing and needed. Service was lackluster... I felt like I was getting the 'does the stupid ang mo know what he's ordering/eating/doing?' looks. Maybe it was just me. Maybe it was just them. Think I prefer Ajisen, at least they play Ayumi Hamasaki on the stereo instead of 'lite rock favorites'. Christ, you'd think places here would at least play Chinese drivel pop.

Breakfast: Japanese packaged corn soup, 2 stale crackers.

Lunch: Rojak with cuttlefish and a lime juice at the Scotts Road Picnic food court, afterwards a soursop juice (with a thick slice of lemon in it... hmm, not sure if I like that or not) which I nursed while walking aimlessly up Scotts Road, eventually ending up at the Newton MRT station.

Dinner: Tamaya Japanese restaurant on Cuppage... rice, pickles, miso soup, tororo natto, (natto mixed with grated slimy yam, mustard and scallions... maybe some raw egg as well?) tori (chicken) shioyaki, 2 shochu and Calpis cocktails, tea.

Apple and banana fruit mush cup thing, some Ceres-brand juice I can't recall the name of.

Breakfast: Leftover canned curries, rice, mango chutney, sliced cucumber drizzled with corriander chutney, Earl Grey tea with sugar and lemon.

Lunch:

Dinner: